⦿ Jay Rayner of The Observer sweated his way joyfully through a chilli-spiced dinner at Thai pop-up-turned-permanent Som Saa near Spitalfields Market, which he described as “an action movie full of crash, bang and wallop.” “The food wanders restlessly from north to south. It is a deliriously fearsome bash of fire and sour and salt and smoke.” ⦿ The Guardian’s […]
Sponsored post Cocktails designed to accompany food – instead of merely bookending a meal – were served to the winners, nominees and guests at the inaugural Harden’s London Restaurant Awards After Party at the Hippodrome Casino in Leicester Square this week. The endless variety of flavours available, and the bespoke nature of cocktails, make drinks based […]
Cerebral foodies will gather at the LRB Bookshop near the British Museum next Thursday, September 22, to discuss the gastronomic debt England owes to French cuisine. Speakers will include chefs Stephen Harris (pictured) of Whitstable gastropub superstar the Sportsman, hailed for his “phenomenal” cooking by the Harden’s Survey, and Alexis Gauthier — one of those debts in person […]
Fred Clapperton has been appointed head chef at Drake’s in Ripley, Surrey, in succession to founder Steve Drake, who has left following his divorce from Serina. The couple founded the restaurant in 2004, winning praise from the Harden’s Survey for “adventurous” and “memorable” modern British cuisine. Clapperton, 28, joined Drake’s four years ago and has taken charge […]
You wait years for a restaurant from the old Silk Road to arrive in London, then two open in the same month. Samarkand, named after the oldest inhabited city in central Asia, has already launched in Charlotte Street, Fitzrovia, with a menu led by the Uzbek national dish plov (pictured), beef short ribs cooked to […]
The kitchen at Pied à Terre became a waterbath-free zone last week when founding chef Richard Neat returned to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Fitzrovia gastronomic temple. “I’m a dinosaur – I don’t like gadgets,” Neat declared as he led current head chef Andy McFadden and his team through a menu of his greatest hits, […]
This year’s Balham Food Festival kicks off on Sunday September 25 with the all-day Balham Banquet in pedestrian Hildreth Street and Bedford Hill Place, followed by a week of special offers in the restaurants, bars and cafés of the surrounding area. Hildreth Street was transformed into a modern foodie hub as part of the £2million makeover […]
⦿ Clipstone in Fitzrovia, which is still basking in AA Gill’s ecstatic review in the Sunday Times last week, attracted further praise this time around, the Observer’s Jay Rayner finding its food “delightful, with a few excursions into bliss and ah”. “From the short list of cold cuts and crudos comes a plate of lardo, the cured back fat of […]
Brexit could destroy the British restaurant industry if it becomes impossible to hire European staff, Bruce Poole warned as he received Lifetime Achievement recognition at the inaugural Harden’s London Restaurant Awards on Monday September 12. “I’d like to say, in light of recent events, that without these young European people we’d be fucked,” he said […]
The Araki, a nine-seater Japanese counter in Mayfair that at over £350 a head is Britain’s most expensive restaurant, has been crowned London’s Top Gastronomic Experience at the first ever Harden’s London Restaurant Awards, justifying sushi master Mitsuhiro Araki’s gamble in closing down his Michelin three-star operation in Tokyo to move around the world. He shared the […]
