Food and Drink

By Jonathan Hatchman, Food Editor, @TLE_Food The concept of socialising does become very different upon being surrounded by local bankers and city folk out on business, making more noise than a bull in a china shop. The social element of dining out is, obviously, very close to Jason Atherton’s heart – the owner of London’s City Social, Pollen St. Social, Little Social, and Social Eating House… The list goes on. Of course, there’s the conversationally riveting chance to pour glass...

By Jonathan Hatchman, Food Editor, @TLE_Food Based within Mayfair’s luxurious Berkeley Square, renowned celebrity chef Atul Kochhar’s Benares has been serving incredible Indian inspired dishes since 2003. And cosily nestled alongside a Rolls Royce dealership and Celebrity hotspots such as Robert De Niro’s Nobu just a few doors along, before even entering the restaurant; we could tell that our evening out at the dining institution would be a most classy one. Fusing culinary processes from his native India with his...

By Jonathan Hatchman Having already swept America there is a new dining craze that has arrived on the streets of London. “Underground Restaurants”, or Supper Clubs, are eateries run by chefs with a real flair and passion for delicious  home cooked food and throwing paid-dinner parties. Think Channel 4’s Come Dine With Me, yet with less sarcastic commentary and more adventurous cooking. You know, the sort of food that’s actually fun to eat. It follows a trend at the end of last year where...

By Jonathan Hatchman, Food Editor, @TLE_Food   Before dining Mayfair’s Heddon Street Kitchen, my only Gordon Ramsay experiences had featured a man with a thunderous temper, shrieking profanities and hurling abuse at some poor, less competent chefs looking as though they were about to burst into floods of tears at any given moment. Not the most satiating of first impressions, needless to say. However, the sheer quality of the food served up at the celebrity chef’s newest venture, alone, has...

By Jonathan Hatchman The annual celebration of the Patron Saint Patrick of Ireland will take place on Tuesday March 17th, and as expected, it’s not just Dublin and Belfast that will be offering a plethora of celebratory events to mark the affair. Across London, hundreds of pubs, clubs and restaurants will be partaking. But if joining the masses in Leicester Square’s Wetherspoon’s or Yates’, draped in novelty green hats and spilling pints of Guinness all over the place, isn’t for...

By Jonathan Hatchman Following the success of Shot Espresso and the recently opened pizza and ice cream parlor - Ice & Slice, the team behind these two ventures will be opening a brand new 40-cover restaurant; Bistrò by Shot in Parson’s Green next week (March 19th). Headed up by accomplished Head Chef Fabrice Meier, the new all-day dining concept will offer seasonal dishes with a French-Italian twist that’s set to use ingredients sourced predominantly from a range of local suppliers....

By Jonathan Hatchman, Food Editor @TLE_Food One of the cultural pinnacles of Central London – The National Portrait Gallery -situated on the edge of Trafalgar Square re-opened the doors to its Portrait Restaurant last month. The current contract is owned by Company of Cooks, who took it over in 2013 from another company, the restaurant closed for refurbishment at the beginning of this year, also reigning in a new culinary director Helena Puolakka, having previously worked alongside the likes of acclaimed chefs...

 By Jonathan Hatchman, Food Editor @TLE_food The city of London seems to have been following a real trend for high-altitude dining within the Square Mile, over the past few years. And joining the impressive skyline’s restaurants in postmodern structures such as The Shard (Aqua, Oblix, Hutong), Heron Tower (Duck & Waffle, SUSHISAMBA) and Tower 42 (City Social), is the newly opened Sky Garden that’s located across the top three floors of 20 Fenchurch Street – AKA The Walkie Talkie. With...

By Jack Peat, Editor of The London Economic  Step aside Preston, a new ‘over the counter culture’ has been born in London and this time it’s of a far tastier variety. Herman Ze German is one of several ventures popping up across the capital championing good, regional food served with haste. Akin to US outlets Five Guys and Chipotle Herman is flying the German flag by offering all things schnitzely in a three-step menu system that ensures you’re not far...