Food and Drink

By Jonathan Hatchman, Food Editor, @TLE_Food Back in the 1600s, Markets such as London’s provided the beating heart of the City’s fresh local produce. Nowadays, thanks to large Supermarkets and multiples now account for 98 per cent of the Nation’s food shopping, leaving farm shops with less than one per cent of the food trade. However, a new business – Farmdrop – is looking to reverse this current trend. Allowing Londoners the chance to use their virtual market of locally...

By Jonathan Hatchman, Food Editor, @TLE_Food Imagine breaking into the realms of your wildest dreams whilst retaining full self control. Multiply that by ten and you’d most probably have something in mind that’s similar to The Lecture Room & Library at Mayfair’s Sketch. In fact the art heavy interior is so otherworldly and bizarre that it’d be no surprise to find Salvador Dali dining in one corner, stroking his gravity defying moustache while on the opposite side a man-size white rabbit...

By Jonathan Hatchman, Food Editor, @TLE_Food As you may already be aware, Monday (May 11th) marks the start of British Sandwich Week. There are a number of events already set to take place across the five days, but one that’s really caught our attention is the effort from Artesian Bakery Frankonia. In celebration of British Sandwich Week, the bakery that supplies high-quality bread for a range of the country’s finest chefs and restaurants has created a “Super Sandwich”. Comprised of...

Photo credit: Ben Fisher/ Photoshelter By Jonathan Hatchman, Food Editor, @TLE_Food Striving to completely take over the summer’s social calendar this year, luxury Champagne brand Lanson will be beginning their “Perfect Start Campaign”. Most recently the brand has teamed up with Chestertons Polo In The Park as the event’s exclusive Champagne sponsor, taking place at Hurlingham Park between June 5th-7th, for which they’ll bring their largest ever Champagne Garden which will overlook the field of play. And, what’s more, Lanson...

By Jonathan Hatchman, Food Editor, @TLE_Food Best known for his simplistic style of cooking, attempting to make the kitchen an approachable environment for even the least competent of cooks, celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has recently introduced a new Sunday menu to the mother ship of his restaurant empire – Fifteen. Proving a welcome break from the a la carte menu that’s on offer throughout the week, Jamie’s Sunday roast menu provides a reasonably priced, informal dining experience, while the food...

By Jonathan Hatchman, Food Editor, @TLE_Food With the continuing success of acclaimed Pizzeria Homeslice, it’s been announced that the restaurant is set to take over a brand new premises in Fitzrovia. Beginning as a street food vendor attached to an East London brewery, Homeslice opened their first permanent restaurant in 2013, located in Covent Garden’s Neal’s Yard, where they’ve been serving their 20-inch Pizzas over the past couple of years. Few details surrounding the new Fitzrovia outpost have been confirmed...

By Jonathan Hatchman, Food Editor, @TLE_Food With plenty of exciting restaurant openings constantly taking place across the Capital, here's our pick of the best new restaurants and bars arriving in London over the coming month. The Melt Room – Soho The latest single menu restaurant to open in Central London is Soho’s The Melt Room – a small shop that specialises in grilled Cheese Sandwiches. The 12-seat diner is set to offer a limited menu that includes a range of grilled Cheese Sandwiches, including...

By Jonathan Hatchman, Food Editor, @TLE_Food Branded simply online as “E17”, thankfully there’s absolutely no connection to Brian Harvey’s band, of the same name, present at the latest outpost of Grillstock. Just a short walk from Walthamstow Central station, the chain’s latest Smokehouse follows the success of the music festival of the same name: taking places across three cities and bringing a weekend of “meat, music and mayhem.” This year’s music headliners include Grandmaster Flash (Manchester), De La Soul (Bristol),...

By Jonathan Hatchman, Food Editor, @TLE_Food “Well at least Michel Roux came to greet us,” one ageing gentleman bellows from a few tables away, adapting the audacity of a dated Town Crier. Unfortunately Marcus Wareing isn’t present at his mother ship restaurant at The Berkeley Hotel but he can be forgiven the day off, especially due to an injury that he's currently recovering from, as was explained on our earlier tour of the surprisingly calm kitchen. In fact, if that’s...