Written by
Ben on
29 April, 2013 : 02:10
It’s not too far off a year since the gates opened for Taste of London 2012, and now the pace is building in preparation for Taste of London 2013. With it comes the return of this weekly blog from Ben Norum, looking at all things food, drink & London.
Taste of London 2013 marks the tenth year for what has been a truly trendsetting show. The first Taste of London took place in 2004 in Somerset House, before growing massively and upping sticks to Regent’s Park for year two. There are now Taste festivals around the world, including in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Melbourne, Milan and Dubai. While this has been going on, London’s food scene has been having just as an exciting time. Here are my highlights of how the way we eat out has changed in the past ten years.
Everywhere’s A Gastropub
It’s the rather unassuming looking The Eagle in Farringdon which is supposedly the country’s - and by extension the world’s - first proper gastr...
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on
23 June, 2012 : 10:35
Another day, another foodie fest at Taste of London - and what a busy day it was. After a light drizzle of rain around midday, the weather settled down and it was the crowd making the commotion as Jamie Oliver and Blur-bassist turned cheesemaker Alex James arrived on site for a few happy snaps followed by Jamie demoing some of his British classics in the AEG Taste Theatre.
Away from Jamie Mania, there was plenty going on. An impressive show from Angela in the Angela Malik Cook School showed how surprisingly simple it can be to make the likes of hanoi noodles with wok tossed chilli beef; whilst Michel Roux Jr, Jacob Kenedy, Angela Hartnett, Vivek Singh, Theo Randall and Gary Rhodes were just a few of the chefs who took to the stage to show us their stuff. Pollen Street Social's Jason Atherton was spotted sampling some other stalls' wares, the guys on the Cotidie stand were feeling fairly confident about Sunday's football match (we'll show 'em…) and The Cocktail Lovers ...
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on
22 June, 2012 : 10:42
Day 1 at Taste of London 2012 had it all. A glimpse of beautiful sunshine, lots of less beautiful rain, a good smattering of mud, an opening by Wolfgang Puck and all the foodie fun that's come to be expected plus some. Taste is now legendary for its resilience against this most British of summer weather, and so it seems are the visitors. Mingling, munching and being merry in defiance of the downpour, could this event be any more English?
And what's a little rain when Hardeep Singh Kholi has been causing an absolute storm on stage at the AEG theatre, which chefs such as Raymond Blanc and the Ivy's Gary Lee performing to a packed house. Also spotted about on site yesterday were Michel Roux Jr, Pascal Aussignac and
I'm still working my way around the dishes and the features - follow the @TasteofLondon twitter feed for the action as it happens - but here are a few highlights so far:
Goat's caramel with shiso and blueberries, Corner Room
A heady combination of silky dulce de lec...
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on
21 June, 2012 : 11:12
We’re in! After much anticipation, the gates to Taste of London 2012 have been inched open - for a select few at least. Ahead of today’s launch, last night saw the Secret Garden play host to the show’s now legendary preview night.
The great and the good of the food world gathered over heady cocktails from Shaker & Company, sumptuous canapés from the Taste of Thailand feature and a constantly flowing stream of Champagne to hear the winners of the Best in Taste Awards and Best in Taste Wine awards, celebrating the finest of the finest at Taste of London. There was also, of course, some networking, back patting and double-kissing to be done, but with guests such as Alex James, Tom Aikens, Hardeep Singh-Kohli, Jason Atherton, Wolfgang Puck, David Chang, Jun Tanaka, Vanessa Feltz, Simon Rogan and more, who could blame them.
The wine awards were in first, selected by a team headed up by Neil Phillips aka The Wine Tipster. And where better to start than ...
Written by
Ben on
18 June, 2012 : 12:23
Only someone from the East coast of Scotland would recognise the phrase ‘Salt and Sauce on yer chips?’ It’s one of those strange local quirks that develop regional differences in food. Of course the Glaswegians are utterly horrified at this ‘poncy’ Edinburgh-ness and only have salt and vinegar on their chips. Even to this day I mourn the loss of the sticky sweet sour brown sauce on my fish and chips, it never quite tastes the same. One of the standing jokes amongst us expat Edinburgh wallas now living in London is don’t forget to bring us back a bottle of Chip Sauce next time you’re up.
At the Angela Malik Cook School in Acton I teach that the Five Taste Sensations sweet, salty, hot, sour and umami need to be balanced perfectly in every dish. Interestingly now when I look at the salt and sauce that we so liberally added to our fish suppers it is a good example of how the taste sensations apply in our everyday food. Salt and sour are ac...
Written by
Neil on
14 June, 2012 : 02:50
In 2011 we organised a very successful inaugural Best in Taste Wine Awards, with the winners announced on the Preview Night for Taste of London. The three winning categories featured wines from Spain and Italy, with shortlisted wines from Portugal, France, Argentina and Brazil. The wines entered of course had to be featured at Taste of London.
For the 2012 Best in Taste Wine Awards sponsored by Baccarat, famous producers of the finest wine glassware, we have just completed the judging for our three serious but fun wine categories featuring an Aperitif Wine Award “ whet my appetite” , where we were looking for the sparkling, champagne, sherry, rosé or light red that might tickle your taste buds; for the Innovation Wine Award “Now you’ve got my attention” for the best of what’s new in the wine world; and for The White Table Cloth Award “ Let’s spend some time
together” , which focuse...
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on
08 June, 2012 : 03:28
Innis&Gunn, brewed in Edinburgh is a beer with a difference. Here we talk to the team behind it, and learn how accidental it was.
Read their story below, watch the video and then come to Taste to try the beer for yourself...
The Innis & Gunn Story...
It all began in 2002 when a famous Scotch Whisky Distillery called us. They wanted to make a whisky with a “beer finish”. They had tried dozens of beers but none of them had worked. Could we help?
We were intrigued by this. So we set to work and created a special beer that we believed would season their barrels with a sweet, malty character. The distillery filled their casks with this beer and left them to mature in their granite warehouses.
After thirty days our beer was poured away and the barrels were re-filled with whisky. The flavour of the whisky turned out to be very good and so the distiller ordered thousands of gallons of our beer to season their barrels.
We thought no more about it until we rec...
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on
08 June, 2012 : 02:46
There's little to say about Dinner that hasn't already been said. Anything remaining from its launch last year has been well and truly covered in the stories surrounding its placing at number 9 in the recent World's 50 Best Awards - making it the UK's top restaurants by this measure.
We spoke to journalist, blogger and trainee chef Qin Xie, who has something new to add. She hasn't just eaten at Dinner, but actually worked in the kitchen for a week. In her words...
After working 9am to 11pm for seven consecutive days, you get a pretty good idea of the whole operation as a stagiaire. Certainly by the end of the week, I was more than impressed.
It wasn't everything that I expected. Like the kitchen; you'd expect it to be noisy but one comment from Head Chef Ashley Palmer-Watts and the noise is reduced to a bare minimum. The entire operation runs so smoothly that it's not just the show kitchen that makes an entertaining viewing, rather, the whole thing is theat...
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on
06 June, 2012 : 12:34
Taste of London brings out the city and nation’s best chefs, all vying to show off their most popular dishes as well as creating exclusive plates for the show. With their menus now confirmed, we can all take a look at what will be being served up in Regent’s Park in just over two weeks’ time. As well as making everyone salivate, this exercise is a good opportunity to see a snapshot of what’s going down in the culinary world, what ingredients are bang on-trend, and what we’re likely to be seeing more of in London restaurants in the coming months.
Here’s a few trends which I’ve spotted from perusing the menus...
Ceviche Is Cool
South American food has had a buzz around it for a while in London, with the opening of a few dedicated restaurants and the arrival of Pisco Sours in bars around the city. Ceviche has spread, though. At this year’s show Asia de Cuba will serve a Scottish salmon ceviche, whilst both Corner Room and Gaucho opt for s...
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on
18 May, 2012 : 05:08
As we inch into summer, the weather begins to perk up and the countdown to Taste of London begins, there's only one thing that we can think of other than summer food: summer drink.
Here journalist, trainee chef and stagiaire at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal enthuses over a drink first enjoyed at one of Heston's other venues, The Hinds Head.
There's nothing more refreshing than a cool glass of G&T at the height of summer, but the simple drink is not always treated with the respect it deserves. A G&T is not just a G&T. Each gin has different characteristics, as does each tonic. Then there's the garnishes to contend with. Preferences will vary from person to person, but finding a harmonious blend is like striking gold.
To my taste, The Hinds Head has one of the best combinations sorted. They do a fabulous G&T with my favourite gin – Gin Mare (pronounced mar-ray) - and perk it up with a floral tonic and some unusual garnishes.
Even on gloomy rain...
Written by
Neil on
21 May, 2012 : 04:42
Yes my friends are envious when I mention that The Wine Tipster will be spending Tuesday
lunchtime on a Taste of London Safari Lunch taking in three fabulous restaurants with a starter at Spice Market, main course at Aurelia and dessert at Pollen Street Social. My task as the Wine Ambassador for Taste of London is to provide and present my wine match for each course to the assembled journalists.
My first food and wine match was put to the test at Spice Market, with a delicious dish of black pepper shrimp with sundried pineapple, which was savoury and sweet with a bit of a kick all at the same time. The Coopers Creek Pointer Pinot Gris 2009 from Marlborough, New Zealand, was intensely fruity, yet dry and minerally which made it a fine match with this really balanced spicy dish.
Next up was the stylish and relaxing Aurelia, which specializes in contemporary Mediterranean cuisine and their Aurelia porchetta with homemade pickles, was a delight and...
Written by
Ben on
14 May, 2012 : 06:40
Taste of London this year is all about global flavours, so for me hugely exciting as it fits in so exactly with my five taste sensations philosophy that we teach at the Angela Malik Cook School.
Although the Five Tastes are Asian inspired, it fits into every great world cuisine. For me the greatest recipes take familiar ingredients from across the world and by balancing sweet, salty, hot, sour and umami they make magic in your mouth, but let’s not keep this philosophy for main dishes, we should also look for it in desserts and even in drinks.
Tamarind is one of my absolute favourite ingredients; it is the main ingredient in Worcester sauce, as a child growing up in Edinburgh my mum added HP sauce into many of her home made Indian street snacks because she could not find tamarind in Scotland. I use tamarind not only for Thai stir fries and Indian chaats, but also create magical marinades and salad dressings with it.
When I heard Thomas...
Written by
on
08 May, 2012 : 12:18
Part of an ongoing series exploring the world of cuisines on offer in London, created in honour of Taste of London’s most international year yet and a truly global summer for London.
Italian is Britain’s favourite cuisine. At least it’s the food we eat the most of. It’s not surprising when you think of all the big high street pizza and pasta chains which line the city. Spaghetti Bolognaise has become one of our best loved national dishes, and pasta is the country’s default ‘quick supper’. If you consider takeaway pizza to be at all Italian, then the deal is sealed.
The first record of an Italian restaurant in London comes as far back as 1803 in the form of The Italian Eating House just off Leicester Square, run by Joseph Moretti. Since then there hasn’t been any let up. From the 1820s to 50s there are 4000 recorded Italian immigrants into the UK, and half of these chose to settle in London. With these numbers came deman...
Written by
on
19 April, 2012 : 03:25
Part of an ongoing series exploring the world of cuisines on offer in London, created in honour of Taste of London’s most international year yet and a truly global summer for London.
This strand of blog posts has seen me get all excited about the world of international cuisines available in London. I’ve already raved and drooled over Thai, Indian and French offerings. Before I continue my travels, it seems only right to take a moment in appreciation of our own culinary talents. The best of British.
Not so long ago food in Britain wasn’t anything to brag about. Countries such as France would mock our paltry offerings. And probably our poultry, too. But this has well and truly changed. London is now amongst the greatest cities in the world for eating out. And what’s more, it’s no longer the case that it has to be French or Italian or Asian to make a fuss. In the foodie world right now there’s nothing cooler than being British.
One of the ...
Written by
on
30 April, 2012 : 03:13
Ahead of Taste of London's summertime extravaganza of feasting, we've got a guest blog post from those regular figures on London's drinks scene, The Cocktail Lovers. For summer eating, they say forget wine (don't tell Neil Phillips), if you really want to bring out the flavour of your dish, try pairing it up with a cocktail...
Think of cocktails with food and aperitifs spring immediately to mind. Little wonder really, nothing gets the appetite primed for a full blown meal quite like a cheeky Aperol Spritz or nifty Negroni. Then there’s the digestif. Ah, the digestif… Even the word makes you want to loosen the top button of your waistband, settle yourself into a comfy chair and sip on something warm, dark and comforting. What’s not to like about those full-on, big boy drinks? We’re talking expertly mixed Manhattans and Sazeracs, as well as slowly and carefully stirred Old-Fashioneds – all perfect ways to roun...
Written by
Neil on
20 April, 2012 : 02:38
At Taste of London, as well as discovering new exciting dishes, on your vino journey at the show you will discover new wines to savour. So get on down to Regents Park this June. And, of course, you don't have to leave the memory of these new wine discoveries at the show because at Taste of London you will be able to find out where to buy your favourite new tipples so you can enjoy them at home too.
At home though, are you getting the most value and enjoyment from the lovely wines you have selected? I mention this because on a Friday night when we decide to open a bottle of dry bubbly or enjoy a fruity white, I'm invariably guilty of choosing the wine that has been happily chilling in the fridge for the past week. The result is that we are losing out on many of the nuances of flavours that you were expecting. Put simply, many of us are guilty of serving our bubbly, still whites and roses too cold . So, be patient! Leave the opened wine outside the fridge because it will soon ga...
Written by
on
12 April, 2012 : 04:18
Part of an ongoing series exploring the world of cuisines on offer in London, created in honour of Taste of London’s most international year yet and a truly global summer for London.
France has been at the centre of the restaurant industry since just about forever. It’s the French who have coined the term Haute Cuisine, and who run the esteemed Michelin guide. French food is, in many ways, the benchmark of good cooking. It’s commis chefs or a chef de partie that will blanch vegetables and julienne carrots. French is the language of our kitchens.
But French restaurants have taken something of a backseat of late. A cultural shift away from heavy butter and cream based dishes in favour of lighter, healthier versions has driven a shift to Italian, whilst familiar French food lacks the exoticism of Asian flavours and isn’t particularly compatible with our seemingly insatiable appetite for “small plates”.
But French food certainly hasn&rsquo...
Written by
on
03 April, 2012 : 03:42
In need of a Tuesday evening pick-me-up? Thought so... Why not try whipping up this treat from the Club Gascon kitchens. Don't tell Pascal Aussignac, but you could even use shop bought meringues if you're feeling lazy...
Gascon Mess
Our tribute to the great classic English summer dessert, Eton Mess – marinated prunes stirred with crushed meringue in a creme Chantilly. A great party dish.
Serves 8-10
Ingredients
4 egg whites
240g caster sugar
1 litre double cream
25g icing sugar
100ml Armagnac
Marinated Prunes
Ingredients
300g Agen prunes, soaked if not
semi-soft or ready-to-eat
50g sugar
1 cinnamon stick
1 star anise
5 cardamom pods
grated zest 1 orange
1. If the prunes are not semi-soft, then they should be blanched first in a pan of boiling water for 1 minute, then drained. If they are semi-soft there is no need to blanch them. Make a syrup with the 50g sugar and 150 ml boiling water in a saucepan, adding the cin...
Written by
on
29 March, 2012 : 01:36
Part of an ongoing series exploring the world of cuisines on offer in London, created in honour of Taste of London’s most international year yet and a truly global summer for London.
Few cuisines catch on as quickly as Thai food has. It now sits behind only our anglicised stalwarts of Indian and Chinese in terms of representing the flavours of Asia, but it’s not many years ago that a green curry would have sounded truly exotic. We now see green, red and yellow varieties on the aisles of every supermarket and as a nation we’re becoming as familiar with pad thai as we are with pizza. Even non-asian restaurants are catching on, with the likes of lemongrass and galangal fast becoming staple ingredients.
With any widespread cuisine, some versions are bound to be better than others, and London certainly has its fair share of greasy noodle joints. But you needn’t look far at all to find Thai food worth shouting about. Be it refined for fine-dining or rough, ready...
Written by
Neil on
27 March, 2012 : 02:12
Hi folks, The Wine Tipster here - and when I say "here" I mean here I am surrounded by mountains and vineyards in the wine region of Stellenbosch in the Western Cape of South Africa! The temperature is mid twenties which is great for sitting by the pool, however at this time of year winemakers don't have time for relaxation because the 2012 harvest is taking place in the vineyards and has been for several weeks. The first grapes would have been picked in late January for the sparkling wines, followed by the well known white varieties like Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc and Viognier and then reds like Pinotage, Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon. As I write I can see bunches of Cabernet Sauvignon grapes still on the vines which will be picked this week and next. In a region like the Western Cape, the harvest lasts for several weeks but it will only take a few months before you and I will be able to purchase Chenin Blanc 2012 from around July this year. In contrast, in England, at the Chapel D...
Written by
on
26 March, 2012 : 03:46
Ben Norum takes a look at Indian food in London in the first part of a blog series exploring the world of cuisines on offer in London, created in honour of Taste of London’s most international year yet and a truly global summer for London.
No cuisine is as embedded in the British psyche as Indian, and no high street is complete without a curry house. Therefore it’s no surprise that statistics show Indian to be our most popular alternative to traditional British dishes, way ahead of next runners Chinese and Italian.
Recent years have seen a tide of change for Indian cuisine. Whilst ubiquitous anglo-indian curries and ready-meal chicken tikka masala will always have their place, us Brits are starting - slowly - to take into account the style of cooking which actually goes on in India, and the vast regional differentiations within it.
There is not really any such thing as true ‘Indian’ food, but rather an excess of thirty different regional cuisines wh...
Written by
on
19 March, 2012 : 11:25
Firstly, hello from me - the official Taste of London blogger.
I’ve interacted with Taste quite a bit over the past few years in my varying roles as a journalist, restaurant critic and just general greedy person, so it’s nice to be properly on board.
This year’s show runs from 21st - 24th June, and as it starts to take shape over the coming months I’ll be on hand to share teasers, talk to chefs, introduce you to some of the small producers who’ll be getting involved, and - most importantly - have a bit of a chit chat about foodie goings-on in London.
With a certain big international event going on, the world’s eyes will be on London this summer, so there’s no better excuse for Taste to celebrate the unparalleled multiculturalism of London’s dining scene. And from my point of view, that’s all the reason I need to start exploring the different worlds of cuisine which can be found in the capital.
Even since last ye...
Written by
Neil on
07 March, 2012 : 10:33
Soon this Spring-like weather will be changing to Summer and, as an oenophile, foodie, presenter and punter, my taste buds and palate will be salivating ahead of the ninth Taste of London 21st-24th June. Last year, despite the music festival conditions, we all mucked in, put on our ponchos and wellingtons and enjoyed the star-studded restaurants, palate-enhancing vino, and the vast array of specialist offerings. It was great show, and in this Olympic Year there is going to be an even larger international food and drink treasure trove.
What I love about Taste of London is the diversity of wonderful foods and flavours on offer, giving you the chance to taste signature dishes from restaurants you know like Gauthier’s truffle risotto, and to sample the delights from others you know you have been wanting to visit. This year reflects the international theme with Jason Atherton’s Pollen Street Social, Nuno Mendes’ The Corner Room, Cinnamon Soho and Iberica Canary Wharf j...
Written by
Christine on
08 July, 2011 : 02:52
We came, we ate, we… er… trudged through lots of mud (but nowhere near as much mud as the Glastonbury revellers were enjoying!).
Yes, for four days, it rained on the 2011 Taste of London Festival at Regent’s Park. Did it stop people from visiting? Far from it, we came in droves in our wellies, brollies and sunnies (for when the sun peeked out from behind the clouds those rare few minutes). This year, I went to Taste of London as the official Taste Critic, thanks to the lovely people at Toptable and Taste. My prize for winning a competition through submission of a restaurant review (mine was on Pollen Street Social) was three VIP tickets and £200 worth of Crowns (Taste currency) to spend on our visit.
K, my friend Y and I didn’t really have a ‘plan of attack’ but just went along to any one of the 40 restaurant stalls which looked like it was serving up at least one interesting dish accord...
Written by
Josh on
21 June, 2011 : 12:47
2011 marks Taste of London's eighth outing, an event that has come to define the capital's summer food scene. Taste popped up before 'pop-up' became foodie parlance, did 'street' food before it became hip, and pioneered the now ubiquitous trend for small plates. Inevitably for a restaurant festival nearly a decade old, there has been an annual need to percolate new ideas, attract an ever-changing cast of chefs and remain at the sharp edge of eating in London.
But Taste isn't only about what's new; there's a vein of dedicated chefs and restaurants, artisans, importers, sommeliers and distillers who've returned year-on-year to cross the counter and meet their audience, pow-wow with colleagues and challenge the competition.
Best in Taste
To round-up four days of Taste, we've put together a by no means definitive assortment of highlights, starting with the Best in Taste awards launch. The judges, led by Pomp editor Joe Warwick and including Jay Rayner and Noma's René Redzep...
Written by
Josh on
09 March, 2011 : 03:39
After The Fat Duck and the most anticipated opening perhaps ever, can Heston maintain his gastronomic glory with Dinner?
Of all the big openings over the past year – Koffmann's, Bar Boulud, Les Deux Salons, Polpetto and Spuntino - and those to come, notably Jason Atherton's Pollen Street Social and St John's Leicester Square hotel, none has generated more international attention, PR and press hype more than Dinner by Heston Blumenthal in Knightsbridge's Mandarin Oriental Hotel.
Despite inevitable comparisons to The Fat Duck, Heston and long-term collaborator and Dinner's beating heart, Executive Head Chef Ashley Palmer-Watts have pulled off something very different: an elegant, robust celebration of historical highlights in British cuisine.
Inside, interiors tend towards international five star with a masculine edge, while jelly mould wall lights provide a whimsical foil to the baronial fixtures overhead, reining back some sense of Englishness. The terrific, presumably b...
Written by
Neil on
18 June, 2011 : 10:07
On Wednesday night at the VIP Taste of London Secret Garden party we announced the winners of the inaugural Best in Taste Wine Awards sponsored by Blue Tomato magazine.
This competition was open to all the wine exhibitors and producers at Taste of London. We decided on three fun wine categories for the awards: Taste of Summer Wine, Foodies Wine and Indulgence Wine. I enlisted the help of Mickey Narea, sommelier at Launceston Place, Denise Medrano, The Wine Sleuth, and Roberto Della Pietra, sommelier at Gauthier Soho for the judging.
In order to taste the 80 wines entered, we set aside three hours for our blind tasting - this is the correct way to judge wines by covering up the labels. Each of the wines were then marked out of 20. We agreed on a shortlist of three wines per category. Our Foodies Wine Award shortlist revealed diversity, with Pizzato Concentus 2005 - a Brazilian red made from Cabernet Sauvignon Tannat and Merlot – gaining a place (Stand: Go Brazil); whilst a ...
Written by
Josh on
07 June, 2011 : 04:45
World Cup 2012, Rio Olympics 2016, the 'B' in BRIC... these days, Brazil's riding high. Taste takes a look at the country's growing influence as a premier wine producer, and talks to a UK importer bringing Britain up-to-date with Brazilian wine.
Next time you reach for a budget bottle at your local off-license or supermarket, odds on it's a Chilean Merlot, Australian Shiraz or Kiwi Sauvignon Blanc. The rise and rise of New World wines has challenged the long dominance of Europe around the world - particularly in English speaking countries comforted by easy-to-read labelling and recognisable brands, and among consumers gravitating towards sharp pricing and punchy flavours at the high end of ABV.
Brazilian wine from established vineyards has been around since the 1850s, about the same as New Zealand's oldest vines and likely a few centuries after Europeans attempted to create vineyards in the region. Unlike its South American neighbours, Brazil's wine hasn't become a supermarket st...
Written by
Josh on
12 April, 2011 : 05:36
Small plate dining is the flavour of the month in London, with new openings and firm favourites vying for the capital's seasoned grazers. Taste investigates.
Despite the past few years of apparent economic gloom, London has been a mecca for openings of every possible shade. The capital seems to be sprouting restaurants and the online chatter is as much about opening dates for reservations as actual openings. Along the way, we've learnt to eat on communal benches, breakfast with the conversation turned up and dine at crowded bars - typically ones that sit somewhere in the interior design nexus of reclaimed materials and industrial fittings.
On the culinary front, a now firmly established theme is menus encouraging the casual pick-and-mix of small plate dining in its various regional iterations: from tapas bars to Japanese izekaya joints, Chinese dim sum to Venetian cicheti. It's a noisy, boozy way to eat, privileging an indecisive, picky crowd as intent on each other and the drink...
Written by
Josh on
02 June, 2011 : 02:57
In a week of reports that world food prices are set to double in 20 years, it's worth focusing on how we eat fish - our main source of 'wild' protein, and one with considerable environmental costs attached.
The Zoological Society of London, campaigners and artists have partnered with Selfridges to launch Project Ocean - "a creative public call to action to defend the fish in the sea." The campaign and debates hinge on the projected collapse of the world's major fisheries by mid-century, its purpose to engage the public on the cost of overfishing and possible alternatives.
We're increasingly aware of high-profile issues about eating farmed meat - cutting down for health reasons and supporting local farmers with higher welfare standards (like RSPCA Freedom Food approved sources); and free-range eggs now represent about a third of the UK's egg consumption, a relatively successful expression of 'ethical consumerism'. Alongside the RSPCA and PETA, figures like Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fe...
Written by
Josh on
03 May, 2011 : 02:43
Sunny days and long weekends... it's ice cream weather. Taste seeks out some of the hottest ices in the city.
La Grotta Ices
Every Saturday, Maltby Street is the market for in-the-know SE1 locals and foodies avoiding Borough Market's weekend tourist crush. Centred on a few railway arches near Tower Bridge, this collection of established and occasional producers is a lean and well calibrated riposte to nearby Borough. St John alumnus and frequent flyer to gelato central, Sicily, Kitty Travers sets up shop from her Piaggio van, serving "cones, cups, scoops and peaks" with flavours changing each week. Think French kiwi sorbet; rhubarb and cream; and buffalo milk, Amalfi lemon and almond.
Towpath
North of the river and along a sweep of Regent's Canal straddling some of London's hipper districts, the Towpath café does soft serve in old fashioned sugared cones, an apt accompaniment to a stroll among the tight-trousered denizens of Hoxton, Dalston and Broadway Market.
The Ch...
Written by
Josh on
27 May, 2011 : 02:01
Summer kicks off with a cluster of openings of small, inventive offerings.
We're only half way through the year, yet London has seen four openings by key chefs. Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, Fergus Henderson's St John Hotel, Jason Atherton's Pollen Street Social and Marcus Wareing's The Gilbert Scott.
And still there's more on the way in June - particularly a handful of smaller, innovative locations.
José Pizarro - ex-chef partner of Tapas Brindisa at Borough Market - opens tiny sherry (19 by the glass or bottle) and tapas bar, José, on June 1. He joins the immensely popular modern Italian, Zucca - also on Bermondsey Street - as well as Magdalen, Constancia Argentine Grill and others in an area developing fast. Pizarro is already working on another eponymous restaurant somewhere in SE1: expect news later in the year.
da Polpo, the fourth chapter of Russell Norman's bacaro/speakeasy empire, opens in Covent Garden's Maiden Lane early June, building on the...
Written by
Neil on
27 May, 2011 : 11:50
On Monday evening we held the second of the Taste of London restaurant safaris for the press. My job is to find the right wine and food match for each of the dishes suggested by the featured restaurants and hope that everyone approves!
First stop, Quo Vadis, part of the Hart Brothers Group which includes the consistently crowd-pleasing Fino and Barrafina tapas bars.
Before testing my food and wine match we had a delicious, dry aperitif sherry made by the high class sherry house of Lustau. The cream sherry and carpet slippers market is becoming a thing of the past and it's now time to indulge in fabulous dry sherry styles such as manzanilla and fino – so join the growing throng of new, hip and trendy sherry fans sampling such delights.
Post sherry, we enjoyed grilled rib of beef with triple cooked chips and Béarnaise sauce matched with the intense dark fruit flavours, spice, balanced tannins and full bodied structure of Chivite Coleccion 125 Reserva 2005. Made from...
Written by
Josh on
19 May, 2011 : 11:04
Think street food and Londoners might reflect on shameful encounters with a late night kebab or a dubious burger en route to the stadium. But beyond the grease and mystery meats, there's an emerging cohort of innovative, quirky and quality focused vendors setting up shop in traditional market streets and among the weekend farmers' stalls across the capital.
Keeping up with these vintage vans and temporary stalls - particularly when their locations are passed word of mouth or flagged on Twitter - means being plugged into the right conversation. It's the digital whispers that make this new wave of street food, underground supper clubs and pop-ups so compelling to adventurous foodies, with its veneer of exclusivity beyond the reach of traditional media.
Here are a few gearing up to make the rounds on social media and across our A to Zs this summer.
After closing his hugely popular January to April underground diner Meateasy in south London, Yianni Papoutisis has been planning...
Written by
Neil on
16 May, 2011 : 11:43
This week we held the first of our two Taste of London Safari Lunch press launches in which we visit three different London restaurants in two hours, enjoying an entrée course and wine match at the first, followed by a main course and wine match at the second and a dessert and wine match at the third. My pleasurable task in the days beforehand is to prepare the wine match for each course - then on the day, hope all the journalists agree with my choices!
First up, was the high quality and always popular seafood restaurant Scott's in Mayfair, with a delicious and beautifully textured starter of octopus carpaccio and slow roasted datterini tomatoes, capers and rocket, which I matched with the impressive dry white Chapel Down Bacchus 2010 from Tenterden in Kent. Scott's is a restaurant where you need to book if you plan on eating here as it's one of London's top dining spots and the day's dish certainly proved that point .
Our next stop was ORA, a modern Thai restaurant whic...
Written by
Josh on
10 May, 2011 : 04:49
Dinner By Heston Blumenthal takes the the top gong.
Taste joined the Tatler Restaurant Awards on May 9 for all the theatre, regulation quaffing of Laurent-Perrier, cup cakes and canapés that make up a cracking award ceremony. Tatler's 2011 Restaurant Guide is out now with the June issue of the magazine, so the awards - presented by the guide's editor, Jeremy Wayne - bookend what appears to be a thoroughly enjoyable romp through London's best dining rooms over the past year.
Best Restaurant went to Dinner By Heston Blumenthal.
Executive chef Ashley Palmer-Watts collected the award on behalf of
Heston and the team while Jeremy Wayne suggested the audience hope for
the best and attempt to secure a booking by the 2012 Olympics.
The Laurent-Perrier Lifetime Achievement Award struck a sadder note, with Ruth Rogers of The River Café accepting the Laurent-Perrier Lifetime Achievement Award on behalf of herself and co-founder of their iconic restaurant, Rose Gray, wh...
Written by
Neil on
04 May, 2011 : 09:34
Last week I was in Milan meeting the S. Pellegrino team. Milan has a great reputation for restaurants like Cracco, where Carlo Cracco produces some original dishes like baked veal kidneys and sea urchins, and goat's milk ravioli. In contrast, my trip to the pretty wine area of Oltrepò Pavese in the Lombardy region just south of Milan was full of stunning scenery, excellent under-rated Pinot Nero spumante wines, fruity Moscatos and the local, family-run Ristorante Belvedere which produced the largest antipasto I have ever had and delicious ravioli.
At S.Pellegrino we had an informative and intriguing tasting of various dishes, a range of wines which were light, fruity, oaked, unoaked, tannic and mellow with the still Acqua Panna and sparkling S.Pellegrino mineral waters. This was fascinating in terms of realising the importance of storing and serving mineral water correctly, how the style of Acqua Panna harmonises with different food and wine dishes and how S.Pellegrino works ...
Written by
Josh on
27 April, 2011 : 05:17
Taste takes a look at the soon to be opened The Gilbert Scott, Marcus Wareing's British brasserie at the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel.
We've seen a flurry of big name openings across London in the past year or so, with hotel restaurants among the highest profile. No sooner has the online chatter and media's attention focused on the latest returnee (Pierre Koffmann, Bruno Loubet), Atlantic crossing (Daniel Boulud and Wolfgang Puck, imminently), or second coming (Heston Blumenthal) the foodie world's capricious gaze seems to move on, looking for the latest action.
One hotel restaurant thoroughly bedded down since 2008, Marcus Wareing's eponymous, two Michelin starred restaurant at The Berkeley routinely sends critics weak at the knees with his modern French cuisine. Now London's aflutter as Wareing prepares to open his second restaurant, The Gilbert Scott, in one of the capital's most dramatic locations. The "British brasserie" occupies the 1873 entrance hall and coffee room of Si...
Written by
Neil on
26 April, 2011 : 05:46
Last week I was lucky enough to attend The S.Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurant Awards 2011at which it was great to see René Redzepi pick up first prize once again for Noma in Copenhagen. What is exciting about this competition is the diversity of countries represented in the top 50 including Brazil, Peru, Russia, Finland, and of course the UK.
At Taste of London 2011, where I'll be presenting on food and wine, there will be an amazing and highly eclectic range of restaurants and wines featured.
Just as a teaser on the vino front, expect an impressive range of wine specialists and producers, including St Clair Family Estate from Marlborough, New Zealand. St Clair produces stunning, high quality Sauvignon Blancs and Pinot Noirs and is hugely respected - they also won the prestigious International Wine and Spirit Competition award in 2009 for Best New Zealand Producer.
From the northern hemisphere, you will find Grossi Wines at the show, an Italian specialist import...
Written by
Josh on
19 April, 2011 : 04:54
The 2011 top 50 are out.
Snapping at the heels of Michelin's gastronomic dominance with its emphatically internationalist line-up and chef heavy London ceremony, the World's 50 Best Restaurants awards is a far cry from the red guide's annual pre-publication leak and subsequent sniping over who got too many stars, who not enough.
The top 50 departs from the diner reviews of Zagat's or Harden's, and Michelin with its byzantine system and secretive reviewers. Here a mix of critics, restaurateurs, chefs and gastronomes vote to rank winners, with results that can markedly contrast with the established status quo. This year, world number one Noma was awarded two out of three possible stars by Michelin inspectors. Japan, with its reverence for cuisine focused on locally sourced seasonal ingredients and artful presentation saw two restaurants in the top 50 - in the world of Michelin, Tokyo is more starred than any other city.
At the awards in London's Guildhall, the judges announced...
Written by
Neil on
12 April, 2011 : 10:50
In addition to being The Wine Tipster, on Saturdays I'm a horse racing pundit - last week I delivered a healthy windfall by tipping the second and fourth in the Grand National! Follow my racing tips on thewinetipster.co.uk.
But enough of the world of racing and on to another of my favourite events - Taste of London. I'm delighted once again to be the food and wine matching expert for this fantastic gourmet festival in London's Regent's Park. This gives me the enviable task of tasting a huge array of dishes from a diverse range of high-class restaurants - and enjoying great quality wines from around the world in my quest to recommend some stunning food and wine combinations.
On the food side, one of the chefs who will be at Taste of London and who I really admire is John Williams MBE, Executive Chef of The Ritz Restaurant. Since joining The Ritz in 2004, John has done a terrific job in establishing the quality and value of the restaurant experience at this landmark hotel. John i...
Written by
Josh on
29 March, 2011 : 04:02
There's nothing like a financial crisis to get the creative juices flowing. An East London-sized universe of creative thrift, vintage clothing and work wear is having its day, and exclusivity - in bars, clubs and restaurants - is more about hard-to-find destinations than a credit card on the bar. While top flight sashimi might have hiccupped with the banks, comfort food is the business and cheap cuts of meat and farmers' markets ascendant. Austerity Britain has seen a boom in underground dining and private supper clubs spurred by the return of the dinner party - they're boisterous, secretive affairs; competitive, hyper social and all about the food.
Sadly, few of us can afford the sorts of bashes thrown a century ago by robber barons and aristos (New Yorker C.K.G. Billings put on a shindig involving horses in a turfed high-rise hotel ballroom where waiters dressed as grooms served mounted guests), but London has plenty to offer those in the know seeking a night out somewhere a littl...
Written by
Josh on
15 March, 2011 : 11:07
Perhaps there's more to mid-Atlantic cross pollination than an easterly drift of upmarket burgers, distressed brick walls and filament light bulbs from New York City. A decade of experimentation and the revival of pre-prohibition cocktails in America has seen an emphasis on 'lost' flavours, botanicals and hard to find mixers championed by bartenders who emphasise the scientific over the circus act. Cocktails have caught on over here, and a new crop of bartenders and their advocates have done more for the bijou bar scene ('speakeasy' in the imported parlance) than any number of bouncer patrolled 'VIP' entrances - and there's not a Cosmo in sight.
Hiding behind anonymous doors, speakeasies gravitate toward the media-land matrix of central and East London, where security and celebrity are less important to punters than a bit of glamour and a departure from the mainstream - Mad Men and Broadwalk Empire haven't hurt, either. Seating only policies and a focus on ingredients shift th...
Written by
Josh on
28 February, 2011 : 04:41
London's getting to know serious coffee, with independent cafes using
old-is-new methods and seasonal beans forming a small but inventive
coffee scene.
The capital's long relationship with the world's premier (legal) pick-me-up has been patchy, with a great start -18th century coffee houses
were centres of politics, business and literature - before tea muscled
in and getting a decent cup in the city became near impossible outside
the Italian bits of Soho. The baton passed to Europe where its cafes and
great manufacturers like Lavazza
still enshrine coffee culture. Europe had pavement seating, elegant
interiors and chromed espresso machines, while in Britain medicinal
caffeine came in mugs of dishwater fortified with milk. But there's a
new coffee culture emerging, and it looks and tastes very different to
the cafes of Paris, Milan and Vienna.
The emergence of good coffee in London over the past decade or so has
much to do with the influence of anti...
Written by
Josh on
22 March, 2011 : 03:55
London's an inward looking city - it's less about big windows and urban vistas than street scenes and Tubes and interiors; feet walking past basement windows and road rimmed villages.
Most of its restaurants follow suit - and that's not a bad thing - a lot can be done with lighting and furniture and art, but the lack of a view makes those things more important. You can forgive brunch at a rickety table on a narrow footpath in Sydney when you're looking over yachts scudding across a glittering harbour; New York power dining will always get a boost from some high altitude attitude; and cocktails and jazz might never be the same after a trip to the New York Bar in Tokyo.
While some of London's coolest and cosiest restaurants have no view to speak of beyond the people watching and what's on the plate, there are a few boasting views that remind us how vast London is, with knock-out eyries reigning over the patchwork quilt architecture of the metropolis.
There's the commanding,...
Written by
Josh on
04 April, 2011 : 05:01
"Throughout the history of civilisation, food has been more than simple necessity. In countless cultures, it has been livelihood, status symbol, entertainment - and passion."
So goes the announcement that Penguin Books is launching its Great Food series on April 7, with a line-up that extends beyond today's chorus of usual suspects and delves into the recipes, travel, fictitious diversions and historical cul-de-sacs of great food writing.
The 20 books span four centuries: Claudia Roden's nostalgia laden evocation of a food culture scattered by migration; Parmesan-loving Pepys' diarising of his excesses in the taverns and oyster bars of Stuart London; and Elisabeth David's hugely influential meanderings through the sun-ripened flavours of the Med sit alongside home cooks, gastronomes and novelists.
You'll find stiff upper lip meets British eccentricity in Colonel Wyvern's Notes from Madras and Alice Walters, founder of the iconic Chez Panisse - the forerunner of organic, we...