Joanna Biddolph

Foraging for supper at Bailiffscourt Hotel & Spa

A pheasant strutted beside the drive as we arrived. Hams hang from trees beyond the car park (an Aston Martin, a couple of Jaguars – the cars you want to see to be sure you are where you want to be: somewhere classy but not showy).  A peacock strolled languorously past the door leading to my gorgeous bedroom ... Joanna Biddolph visits the Bailiffscourt Hotel & Spa at Climping in Sussex for a spot of foraging and a lot of indulging. 

More KitchenCool from KitchenAid

It’s the culinary equivalent of Apple Macintosh in its heyday. Its products are undeniably on-trend cool; are available in irresistible colours; do exceptionally clever things; and come from across the pond. It’s KitchenAid and its newest products are stunning.

Jansson's Temptation - a creamy, decadent potato dish from Sweden

This is a wonderfully creamy, decadent potato dish from Sweden which is super-easy to make using the new KitchenAid Artisan food processor with dicing kit. It was originally made with sprats, not anchovies. Even if anchovies don’t float your boat, try it - their presence adds depth rather than strident fishiness making this dish so moreish it could well convert you for ever. 

Satisfy your choc-orange cravings with Fox’s Limited Edition Rocky Double Choc Orange

Where there is chocolate there is orange – as artisan chocolatiers and well-known big brands always seem to discover. Those nice people at Fox’s sent us a packet of their new Limited Edition Rocky Double Choc Orange biscuit bars and cheered us up on a chilly winter day

Indulge your appetite by going backwards in Cornwall at the Llawnroc Hotel

Picturesque harbours, calling seagulls, locally caught fish, television-famous pasties and a check list of world-famous sights you still haven't visited - isn't it time you caught up with Cornwall? Joanna Biddolph eats her way round as much of it as she can in two days and nights, staying at the luxurious but backwardly spelled Llawnroc Hotel in Gorran Haven. 

Nostalgia and contemporary excess from Fox's

If you held back over Christmas and the new year, dipping into generously chocolate-dipped Fox's biscuits won't seem over-indulgent, particularly as they are now on offer. Half-price must mean half the calories, Joanna Biddolph asserts. 

Learning how to taste cheese for the World Cheese Awards

Do you reach thoughtlessly for a packet of hard Italian cheese - or make your decision based on colour, age and flavour? Joanna Biddolph urges you to look carefully when you buy - including for evidence of success at the World Cheese Awards. 

Asda and Leiths Stir up Sunday Christmas Pudding

Stir Up Sunday, the last Sunday before Advent, kickstarts preparations for Christmas over-indulgence - it's traditionally the day the Christmas pudding mixture is made and cooked. It's extraordinarily easy to make, as Joanna Biddolph discovered at a Stir Up Sunday event with Asda and Leiths School of Food and Wine.  

Cheddar gets fiery with Tabasco

Last year, bloggers turned their noses up at Alex James's flavoured cheeses so have Tabasco® and Long Clawson dairy made a big mistake, collaborating to create Tabasco® Pepper Cheese? Joanna Biddolph's tastebuds decide.  

Eating steak with a spoon at The White Oak in Cookham

Do you like your steak dry-aged, wet-aged, from cows that roam the Scottish Highlands or run free on pampas grass in Argentina - and how can you tell the difference? Joanna Biddolph visits The White Oak in Cookham for a steak masterclass with chef-patron Clive Dixon and master butcher Peter Allen – and unexpectedly bites off more than she can chew. 

Learning to shuggle with Nick Nairn and Falcon

The point of cookery courses is not just about working through the recipes; it’s equally about the snippets of information you pick up along the way. Nick Nairn and his team are generous with their information - and gave Joanna Biddolph the chance to try out the fabulous Falcon cooker Nick has endorsed for decades, while producing an impressive but easy three course dinner party menu. 

Annie's in Barnes

Don’t expect to leave discussing the cleverness of a cappuccino foam, the intensity of a wine reduction, the artfulness of the presentation. Annie’s in Barnes avoids every competitive, nonsensical expectation of gimmick-loving gastronauts. What it does is glammed-up home cooking, well-executed and fun, in a relaxed, rococo-mixed-with-rock-and-roll atmosphere. Joanna Biddolph urges you to brave the easy journey west.  

Improve your dinner party chat at a tutored champagne and smoked salmon tasting

Masterclasses are much less about learning than an excuse to do something different and entertaining with friends or partners. They add an extra dimension to the day. They can also improve your dinner party chat, as Joanna Biddolph discovered at a Flûte Bar & Lounge tutored champagne and smoked salmon tasting.

New Covent Garden foodie tour with Celia Brooks Brown

It takes more than a hearty interest in food, and decades of greedy eating out, to pull together an insightful and expansive tour that opens doors and minds to new experiences and, importantly, to parts of the London foodie scene that you have walked past repeatedly and snootily ignored - as Joanna Biddolph discovered on Celia Brooks Brown's new Covent Garden gastrotour. 

PopKakery cakes on sticks for instant glamour and glitz

Every now and then a new product bursts onto the market and you wonder why no one had thought of it before. Just one bite and you will be hooked, Joanna Biddolph reckons as she demolishes her twelfth PopKake ... 

Tips from Mark Sargeant at a Harrods Chop, Slice and Dice masterclass

After a major refurbishment, the Harrods cookshops are jaw droppingly captivating, the route to them, through sparkling glass and china, dangerously distracting. If that wasn't tempting enough, Harrods has launched a series of masterclasses, demonstrations and Q&A sessions to draw us in. We loved the chop, slice and dice masterclass with Mark Sargeant and Zwilling knives. 

Graze at Vista as you gaze at the vista – at The Trafalgar Hotel

The Graze at Vista concept is very clever. Watching the sun set while enjoying views across our stunning city, a sense of freedom from being six floors up in the open air, dramatic decor, a quirky menu, an inventive bar – and, in Joanna Biddolph's view, worth every expensive penny.

Cock Tavern in Fulham

Drawing on Dolly Parton’s self-parodying comment, “it takes a lot of money to look this cheap”, it takes a lot of calculated planning to create a space and an atmosphere without them seeming in the least bit contrived. Very cleverly, but without seeming so, the Cock Tavern has reinvented the pub and Joanna Biddolph's enthusiasm for eating while she drinks has been revived.  

A taste of the exotic - fine Indian cuisine from Atithi

Nobody died – Too Many Critics cook-off declared a triumph

It all started with a sparkling champagne reception, the noise of excited chatter escalating in volume as the scope of the evening hit home. It was the 2012 Action Against Hunger's Too Many Critics event - and our critic Joanna Biddolph is still waiting for the exclusve blend of coffee that the critics-turned-chefs never delivered to her table ...