Douglas Blyde

Douglas Blyde

A former documentary man, Douglas Blyde is utterly gripped by gastronomy: driven by a love of good taste and fascinated by that almost nocturnal, nervously energetic breed known as chefs. He longs, one day, to own a pristine restaurant, boutique hotel, almost mythically revered vineyard and a vast chocolate factory

  • Brasserie St. Jacques

    Thursday September 9th, 2010

    Champion sabreur, at table philosopher and Depardieu look alike, Weiss is the front man of Brasserie St. Jacques, the jolliest incarnation of what was the original ‘Petrus’ many arguments ago...

  • Tabasco British Oyster Opening Championship

    Sunday September 5th, 2010

    Douglas Blyde heads to Mayfair to see the country's finest oyster shuckers prise their way to victory...

  • The Rheingau's Bright Leitz

    Tuesday August 31st, 2010

    Douglas Blyde heads to the sheer terraces of Germany's Rheingau wine region to sample the pure tasting rieslings of producer, Johannes Leitz...

  • Wartenberger Mühle: Schlossberg

    Wednesday August 18th, 2010

    Scharff, who wears a chef’s jacket embroidered with as many logos of professional bodies as a racing car driver sports adverts, is patron of ‘Wartenberger Mühle’, Pfaltz, a restaurant, brasserie, boutique hotel and substantial, sweet smelling, stepped herb garden...

  • Boxing Clever: Dirk Würtz

    Wednesday August 18th, 2010

    Tall, blonde, and under his John Deere baseball cap, beaming, Dirk Würtz does wine in a former water mill in the now tranquil village of Gau-Odernheim, Rheinland-Pfalz...

  • Horses Eight Courses

    Wednesday August 4th, 2010

    Intrepid dipsomaniac, Douglas Blyde headed to Clerkenwell's Coach and Horses pub for a tasting of ‘Marc Fine Wines’...

  • Brasserie Joel

    Monday August 2nd, 2010

    Despite criticism of the building it occupies, Brasserie Joël provided an authored insight into La Belle France, as Douglas Blyde found out...

  • Crabby Aikens’ Winnebago

    Monday August 2nd, 2010

    Despite reservations, Douglas Blyde found himself making the short journey past the ‘Sloany Pony’ for day one of two of Cloudy Bay’s pop-up Crab Shack on Parson’s Green.

  • Stick and Tumblers

    Wednesday July 28th, 2010

    Under Greek sunshine, Douglas Blyde tasted three renditions of one of Scotland's finest whiskies in glamorous company...

  • The Savoy to reopen Sunday 10th October 2010

    Friday July 23rd, 2010

    The Savoy, A Fairmont Managed Hotel, will reopen its doors on Sunday 10th October 2010.

  • Hot Stuff

    Tuesday July 20th, 2010

    Douglas Blyde heads to a less than salubrious part of Oval for a deeply spiced feast at cult Indian brasserie, 'Hot Stuff'...

  • Going Gaga Over Gago

    Friday July 16th, 2010

    We meet Peter Gago, British born Australian winemaker of Penfolds in the deliciously cool, candlelit cellars of Mayfair’s Stafford Hotel...

  • A Lowland Adventure

    Monday July 12th, 2010

    With the aim of finding ‘Real France, Real Close’, Douglas Blyde takes the Eurostar to the flatlands of French Flanders...

  • Brisk Steps to a Brighter Future

    Saturday July 10th, 2010

    Residents at Hilton’s Park Lane hotel witnessed the spectacle of chefs, critics and other ‘culinarians’ bounding into the lobby and up 56 flights of stairs for charity...

     

  • Leith’s Students of The Year Announced

    Wednesday July 7th, 2010

    From an annual intake of 96, the finest students to graduate the diploma at Leith’s school of food and wine were recently rewarded with a tally of elegant and engaging prizes...

  • Taming the Toro Beast

    Tuesday July 6th, 2010

    Over a not so light lunch at ‘Apsley’s’ at The Lanesborough, the wine world’s literati congregated to taste the wines of Manuel Fariña from the not so known Spanish wine region, Toro...

  • Re-Fuelling at An Architecture ‘Feastival’

    Sunday July 4th, 2010

    Marking the final days of London’s 16-day long Festival of Architecture, a feast for 100 occurred in a decommissioned ‘Texaco’ petrol station in Clerkenwell...

  • High Spirits at Angelus

    Sunday June 27th, 2010

    We joined sixth generation Armagnac producer, Florence Castarède at Angelus restaurant to nose and sip four expressions of the real amber nectar...

  • Rose’s Bottle Shock

    Monday June 21st, 2010

    Christopher and Khadine Rose are the latest crusaders of corkage. Launching this month, their well-intentioned initiative is the unambiguously titled ‘Bring Your Own Bottle’ club (BYOB).

  • Sunshine Sweetly Captured

    Tuesday June 8th, 2010

    His mother being Genoese, Douglas Blyde was particularly interested to attend a workshop by Liguria’s most esteemed confectioner, ‘Pietro Romanengo fu Stefano’. He headed to Richmond's most esteemed greenhouse, 'Petersham Nurseries', to find out more...