Nick Harman

Nick Harman writes restaurant reviews and food/travel pieces for foodepedia. Suspicious of fads, unwilling to worship in gastronomic temples and heartily sick of sous vide he remains hungry for any food that has his stomach firmly in its sights.

The Sweet Smell of FA
Monday June 21st, 2010
The terrible thing is that dishes served today all too often have no aroma. The times I’ve painfully bent down until my nose was buried in the plate to try and detect some olfactory clue are legion. Yes I am the man over at the corner table, apparently about to snort his meal like a gastro Keith Richards.
Le Coup Franc, Montbron, France
Wednesday June 16th, 2010
This is not Peter Mayle’s Provence and this is not the ‘wonderful little place’ that Giles and Samantha found as they toured the Dordogne last year, while Giles fielded emails from the office on his Blackberry and Samantha collected fabric samples for her shop. This is the France the French see – plain, simple, cheap and quite cheerful.
On track with Tracklements
Thursday June 10th, 2010
The great thing at these sort of cooking class turnouts is to make sure you mark your efforts clearly before they go in the oven. That way you avoid having to eat yours when they come out and can instead feast on far better efforts made by your fellow cooks.
Striking oil in Andalucia
Thursday June 3rd, 2010
These are no ordinary olive oils destined for the bulk purchase market, because as their creator Rosa explains, the total production of olive oil from her estate is but a tiny drop in the olive oil ocean worldwide. Instead these are fine gourmet oils, to be used as an ingredient in cooking not simply as a means to an end.
Unsung Italy - cookery classes with a difference in Abruzzo
Tuesday June 1st, 2010
A cookery course and foodie safari, all run from a restored palazzo high on a hill in Abruzzo, Italy? Nick Harman takes a three day sampler to see what this almost unknown region of Italy can bring to the table
Chill out with a Cuisinart Duo Ice Cream Maker
Tuesday June 1st, 2010
For every season churn, churn churn. Yes, I am humming an old Byrd’s song as I load up the Cusinart Duo ice cream maker. It seems appropriate, after all the world’s most celebrated ice cream gurus, Ben And Jerry, are themselves old hippies who no doubt grooved to The Byrds themselves in their day.
Hit The Deck for a Picnic and a Play
Saturday May 29th, 2010
The Deck at the National Theatre offers a picnic and a play deal, a great idea for the summer and a solution to the 'where shall we eat first?' dilemma faced by culture vultures everywhere. Enjoy the panoromic views of the Thames, bask in the fitful sunshine and hang onto your hat when the wind blows. It couldn't be a more British treat.
Colette's at The Grove, Hertfordshire
Friday May 28th, 2010
Of course Foodepedia likes a nice room but the main attraction here is the food. The Grove is lucky enough to have its original walled vegetable garden still in full use and from this chef Russell Bateman pulls as much as he can to cook in the hotel’s 3 AA Rosette fine dining restaurant Colette’s.
Oscar Wilde menu at The Cadogan
Wednesday May 26th, 2010
The Cadogan is a bit confusing to get into. There’s the main lobby of course, but around the corner is the Langtry’s restaurant door. There’s also the Tradesman’s Entrance, but using that got Oscar Wilde arrested at The Cadogan some 115 years ago.
Bar Boulud, London
Monday May 24th, 2010

Already critics have been raving about Bar Boulud, although that’s probably all part of the backlash against the kind of food that Blumenthal has so far championed. Now people, who a year ago would have sneered at you loftily for liking a burger, are actually saying they prefer nothing better than meat in a bun.
The best bistro in town - we talk to Chris Galvin at Bistrot de Luxe
Saturday May 22nd, 2010
It seems the bistro is back, although it never really went away but just got overshadowed by the mania for food with no soul. Galvin Bistrot de Luxe can feel proud that since 2005 it's never wavered from the true path and still remains the foundation of Chris Galvin's philosophy of eating. We meet the man with France in his Essex blood.
JW Steakhouse, Park Lane, London
Wednesday May 19th, 2010
The steaks, we’re told, are cooked at 650C on a purpose installed broiler. I am never sure what a broiler is, it isn’t a boiler obviously, it must be some kind of super grill. The insanely high temperature is supposed to sear the outside in seconds, like holding the steak under the Space Shuttle during take off, while the inside stays good and tender.
The Milroy
Wednesday May 19th, 2010

This is a chance for us all to see a famous interior and eat in a dining room boasting Murano glass chandeliers, a decorative Georgian ceiling and an internal marble colonnade which leads onto terraces, with views over Hyde Park.
Galvin Bistrot de Luxe, Baker Street
Tuesday May 11th, 2010
The Galvins have an empire now and you can eat rather more ‘refayned’ versions of their dishes at La Chapelle, and I am sure they are worth the money. But for classic cooking in an environment that makes you want to linger for hours, you can’t beat their original and best restaurant - Bistrot de Luxe.
Dolada,London
Thursday May 6th, 2010
There’s no doubt Dolada offers a real Italian experience quite unlike any others and for my money far better than Heinz Beck at Apsleys. The cotoletta could be cut from the menu and the lamb tagliatelle re purposed, but I’d go back just for a bucket of that Frico. It was friccing fantastic.
Le Garrick, Covent Garden, London
Monday April 26th, 2010
No one’s looking for Michelin Stars at Le Garrick; it exists to serve well-priced., well-cooked food in a cosy, clubby, environment. And it is very well-priced particularly at lunchtime with set menus. They’ve launched the Lunch Club which gives a 10% discount off a lunch bill to all members. Membership is free, so what’s not to like about that?
Great British Food
Friday April 23rd, 2010
All of GB’s best and unique ingredients are used here, venison, ham hocks, beetroots, John Dory, rare pork breeds, Somerset cider Cromer crabs – the list goes on and on reading as a roll call of all the things we can be proud to call British. Preferably raising a pint of warm beer into the air as we do so while litter flaps around our ankles in a bracing seaside breeze.
Chocolate heaven found in Flanders
Thursday April 22nd, 2010
Oh boy, in a country famed for Beer, TinTin, Magritte, Mussels and Chocolate, we found the finest creator of the latter in fusion chocolatier David Maenhout in Flanders. The creations he turns out here are so utterly fantastic it's almost a crime to eat them. Well, almost because you could claim 'crime of passion'. David lets us into his workshop and talks about how he makes his mini-masterpieces, in between sharing out the goodies.
The Old Brewery, Greenwich
Friday April 16th, 2010
I liked the Old Brewery, what they are doing and how they are doing it. The beers are made with care and attention, the beer garden looks promising for the summer, and the food has a cheerful solidity and lack of pretension that fits the restaurant like a well-worn doublet and hose. Henry would have liked it to, but would he have objected to any heads on his beer?
The Flanders coast. A foody break with all the trimmings
Thursday April 15th, 2010
The Flanders coast has so many Michelin Star restaurants, all vying for the local euro. I was over to visit one in particular, Bartholomeus in Knokke, but on the journey up there from Ostend I was able to take in a lot more of what the Flanders coast has to offer and get a taste of what makes it such a great and unusual foodie weekend break destination.