Food and Drink

Header photo: © Photopoint.com By Jonathan Hatchman, Food Editor, @TLE_Food When it comes to gourmet food, no nation excels quite so well as the French. So what better city than Paris for a food lover’s pilgrimage? The rightful home of the Michelin Star, as well as hundreds of humble patisseries, suave brasseries and cafés, plus some of the greatest produce that’s known to man. In fact, Paris is home to 72 restaurants with one star, 13 with two, and nine with...

By Jack Peat, TLE Editor England is among the only prominent wine drinking regions in the World that is completely devoid of an identity. Black and Blue, a classic steak house with outlets in Borough Market, Covent Garden and Waterloo amongst others, lists no fewer than ten wine-growing countries on its red wine list alone. Their varietal smorgasbord of robust clarets is typical of British consumers who have enjoyed trade from across the New and Old Worlds for centuries leaving...

By Jonathan Hatchman, Food Editor, @TLE_Food When restaurants are opened with names that fall towards the less helpful or imaginative end of the spectrum (street addresses included), there’s often an air of tremendous pretention. Thankfully, however, this is not the case with No. 11 Pimlico Road, an independent all-day venue that’s nowhere near as pretentious as its name or postcode would suggest. Opened at the beginning of 2013 in place of The Ebury, located between Victoria station and Sloane Square,...

By Jonathan Hatchman, Food Editor, @TLE_Food London’s biggest shopping thoroughfare – the World famous Oxford Street still continues to divide opinion across the city. Name any high street shop and you can almost guarantee that Oxford Street is the home to their London flagship outlet, stocking nearly everything you could ever need, conveniently squeezed into one street for optimum efficiency. That’s before 11am, of course. Before every shop is filled like a rush hour train, littered with the contents of...

A fresh pasta dish which champions a severely under-appreciated ingredient in the UK.

By Jonathan Hatchman, Food Editor, @TLE_Food Set up as a roaming restaurant pop-up, the continuously popular Chateau Marmot has recently teamed up with top Australian Thai Chef Sujet Saenkham, tying in with the release of his new cookbook ‘Spice I Am’. Taking over a luxurious apartment designed by British designer Tom Dixon on the up-and-coming Greenwich Peninsula, the event included a five-course tasting menu cooked exclusively for 36 guests on each of the two evenings. Including the likes of steamed...

By Jonathan Hatchman, Food Editor, @TLE_Food Strength: 5.1% ABV Brewed: Ipplepen, Devon Although better known for its range of grooming products, The Bluebeards Revenge has teamed up with their local Devon-based brewery - Hunter’s – in order to craft ‘The Ultimate Pale Ale For Real Men’. Available as a conditioned man-size 500ml bottle, the brew is unpasteurised and unfiltered for optimum taste and made using Citra and East Kent Golding’s hops. Upon pouring, an opaque amber complexion is joined by...

By Jonathan Hatchman, Food Editor, @TLE_Food Upon searching for the true origin of choux pastry, it’s almost impossible to find an absolute, definitive result. Some cookbooks name check a chef named Pantarelli (or Pantanelli) from the 1500s as the rightful inventor, using the dough to craft a gateau named pâte à Pantanelli. Others believe that the pastry’s origins stem from a more modern pâtissier named Avice - said to have created the first choux buns, which resembled cabbages (choux in...

By Jonathan Hatchman, Food Editor, @TLE_Food Opened right at the end of 2014, Enoteca Rabezzana is perched upon the southeast corner of Smithfield’s famous meat market. Essentially, a wine bar with its impressive list of almost 150 Italian wines, the venue does also include a strong focus on Italian food. Inside, the humble residence is cosy and inviting: there’s an open kitchen, a sleek tiled bar with a design that amalgamates into the flooring, and plenty of wine used almost...