Nick Harman

Simply Red - Taking the Gastrobotanical Tomato Tour in Alicante, Spain

Big Burger at Bistro du Vin

Now people say I am a burger denier but it’s really not true, I just don’t make a fetish of them that’s all. Nothing wrong with a decent burger for lunch and it fills a hole just as it’s designed to. Bistro du Vin’s burger could fill several holes; by my handy pocket theodolite it seems to stand six inches tall

Assaggetti

It's as well that Haymarket is lined with restaurants on both sides. And what a lot of restaurants there are. Well-known chains, all catering to the Croydon crowd come up West for the night. I can slander Croydon like this because I was born and lived there until I was 16, so I know of what I slag.

Handling abundance in Chiswick

Sam Harrison is walking around a sun blasted garden in ‘leafy’ Chiswick looking like Macbeth after a particularly heavy night with the in-laws. His hands are running blood red; juice drips down his arms and gorily spatters onto the grass. He is a very happy man.

Joe's Restaurant

Joe’s sounds like a cheap cafe but with its glam interior, complete with glossy style mags to read if a table isn’t free, it’s anything but. Outside I see a Lamborghini, which has probably never ever left Zone 2, attempting to parallel park. It takes him ten attempts while taxis hoot at him derisively.

The Gascon Foie Burger - let them eat brioche

When it comes to the Foie Burger, obviously the ToL judges saw something different to me so you may well want to gamble £9.00  for yourselves. I wouldn’t recommend it though. I know Comptoir Gascon can do, and normally does do, far, far better food than this.

The Bonnie and Wild

The Bonnie and Wild is a simple idea done well – take quality and don’t muck about with it and do it all in an informal setting. This was opening night and any slight mistakes will hopefully be fixed in time for the next Saturday. Don’t forget to bring your own bottle and reservations are a must.

Give peas a chance

A pea picked from your own plot though is another matter. As long as you don’t leave them in the fridge for days then you have the only pea that’s better than a frozen one. The pods burst open with a crisp crack and a little spray of moisture hits your hands. Quickly rattle the peas out into a bowl, toss the pod into your bucket for the compost heap or for stock and sing along to your favourite tune on the radio

Tasting the Russian Standard in Vodka

You will find Russians who poopoo Russian Standard, who say its market dominance is down to many things not all of them the vodka itself. No doubt the detractors have their valid reasons, but for us in the UK this is a premium vodka that absolutly (sic) stands head and shoulders over its nearest rivals.

Cox Cookies & Cake Cookbook

With a foreword by Sir Elton John and David Furnish, this book was never going to be anything but high camp but the cakes also speak for themselves. Wondrous cupcakes such as Mexican Chocolate Cupcakes with a chilli-flavoured frosting. Summer Flower Cupcakes and Orange and White Chocolate Chip Cookies are just some of the 75 recipes, on glossy black backgrounds, created by Eric Lanlard and designer Patrick Cox.

Lutyens

I’d like to see what chef David Burke can do a la carte; the constrictions of keeping to the £40 line are perhaps too much to handle given the overheads of a place like this. That said the Lutyens meal deal is a fair one, nothing stunning but perfectly ok and you get to eat in a classier place than you deserve for the money.

Cordorniu, Catalan Cooking and Codballs

Bea’s of Bloomsbury is on the main drag, rocked by the passing buses on route to Hoxton and points East. Inside it's two-thirds kitchen and one third cake shop. Tonight the shutters are down and the kitchen is the focus for Rachel McCormack's Catalan cuisine cook up with sponsors Cordorniu Cava.

Flat Planet

There’s a lot of ‘small plate’ nonsense going around London right now, but Flatplanet is genuine and well intentioned and not simply a leap aboard an already clapped-out bandwagon. It’s not a first-date restaurant, nor somewhere to take your parents for their wedding anniversary, but it’s perfect for lunch, pre-flicks or a just a fast fill up on fresh food with world flavours.

Beer and Bratwurst in Nuremburg

By Air Berlin it’s about a 100 minute journey today from Gatwick to the German city of Nuremburg. Back in 1944 it took the Allied air force a little bit longer but when they left, an hour later, 90% of the city was smoking rubble. Today the smoke is all from bratwursts grilling in this fascinating city where beer is beloved.

Fish and Grill Putney

Malcolm John’s empire continues to expand apace. This experienced chef/owner doesn’t do this by blowing up bloggers’ noses, but by picking undervalued locations outside Central London and delivering good French Bistro style food at a good price.

Saraban - A chef's journey through Persia - Greg and Lucy Malouf

Already respected authors of Middle Eastern cookbooks, the Maloufs saw Persian food as the final key to the cuisine of the area. Food unlocks cultures, brings people together like a common language and often begins and then bedrocks friendships. For them it was to be an eye-opening trip both in taste and experience.

Feversham Arms and Verbena Spa

A sense of calm, competent charm is exuded by the Feversham Arms. The village of Helmsley on the edge of the North Yorkshire moors is picture book perfect. The front is an old inn dating from at least 1855, expanded into the terraced cottages alongside. At the rear are modern rooms and the Verbena spa complex and an outside swimming pool kept at a comfy 31 degrees

One Greedy Italian - we lunch large with Carluccio

It’s hard to stop grazing on the anti pasti, which is what makes Italian food so great; the sense of sharing, of conviviality, of food as life. It’s all so different from the Church of Food we seem to have constructed for ourselves here in London. Heads down, talk only in whispers and raise reverential gazes to Chef in His Kitchen.

Going Underground, The Clove Club supper club

I'm no trendy, in fact I make Arthur Smith look cheerful and happening, but invited by Bisol Prosecco the sponsors of Supper Club at The Clove Club, to get round to Dalston to get a taste I quickly grow a baby beard, stick a sock on my head and go.

The grass is always greener. The asparagus menu at Refettorio

You catch glimpses of the man - Giorgio Locatelli, his trademark hair almost back to its original piratical length, emerges from his kitchen at Refettorio every now and then to see how the ‘grass’ is going down with guests.

I’m liking it a lot, the seasonal treat that is English asparagus, or ‘grass’ to greengrocers, is fresh, crisp and delicious. At this time of year it demands to be eaten every day because when it’s gone, it’s gone and we’ll soon be back to inferior foreign stuff.