Archive For March 2012
He is handsome and tall with casual-chic attire, and has a winning smile, but when he talks about food his visage changes to reflect a serious regard for his art and passion. Although still a young man André Chiang has had a lifetime filled with food and restaurants. His Mum was a chef and had…
Roast is a very aptly named restaurant in London’s famed Borough Market. That might conjure images of a steamy-windowed greasy-spoon cafe (note no accent over the ‘e’ so pronounced to rhyme with safe). Roast could not be further from that vinyl vision. The menu here celebrates the best of British food and that includes roasts…
A Passion for Cheese is another classy book by Paul Gayler. The visual delight is supplied by, once again, Gus Filgate and his camera. The book offers us more than 130 ways to cook with cheese but it also enlightens us about cheese making, choosing and storing cheese and what wine might work best. I…
We think of afternoon tea as being the quintessentially English event. Well, in fact if we were to be purists we would say that it’s a traditionally Chinese occasion. Tea is, after all, Chinese, although India can lay claim to commercial production for mass export. The British were not even the first Europeans to appreciate…
Even the address of Flemings Hotel gives a clue to the style and quality of this boutique establishment: Half Moon Street, Mayfair. It’s one of the smartest areas in London, although the eponymous and long-gone pub had a considerable and iffy reputation. Mayfair takes its name from the popular annual gathering which, several hundred years…
Bread Street is a ward of the City of London in the neighbourhood of Cheapside, and its name is taken from its main thoroughfare, which was originally and unsurprisingly a bread market. Historic records show that in 1302 the bakers of London were ordered to sell no bread from their homes but only in the…
Dukes boutique hotel is tucked away in a quiet courtyard in London’s stylish St James’s. It was the winner of “England’s Leading Boutique Hotel” at the World Travel Awards 2011 and it’s no surprise. Whilst its salubrious location is part of the charm it still stands apart from much of the local competition. It has…
Even the most dedicated European outdoor griller or BBQ enthusiast might be a stranger to plank grilling. It conjures visions of a scaffolding board hanging out over the ends of the barbecue, or perhaps a discarded floorboard being put to fiery culinary use. Well, not quite. The boards in question are like miniature roofing shingles,…
Well, perhaps that’s a bit of an overstatement! Perhaps the phrase might more aptly be “A year in the kitchen with some of Britain’s best chefs” but if that’s the only criticism of this cookbook then the editor need not feel too aggrieved. And, yes, that is my only complaint of Cook – A year…