What the Dickens! The Return of the Courvoisier Dickens Punch Tour

Building on the success of the tour in 2010, The Courvoisier Dickens Punch Tour this year returns on a larger scale with even more to satisfy your Christmas spirits; Running for two weeks from 23 November, guests will be taken on an interactive hour long walking tour of Dickensian London. Foodepedia was lucky enough to get a sneak preview recently, which is how I found myself outside Bow Street Magistrates Court, pulling my coat tighter against the cold.

The Hot Toddy. The Perfect Winter Warmer

The first cocktail book ever written contains hot punch, hot buttered rums, blazers and toddies by the dozen. You couldn’t nip out for a bag of ice or make it easily at home, so cooling drinks was an expensive practice. Setting fire to liquid soon became a phenomenon, and as taverns reopened as upmarket hotel bars, bar men honed their skills, and so, out of the heated punch the much loved toddy was born.

Claude Bosi creates a Christmas Menu with Maille

We came to the part that got me intrigued, red wine vinegar soufflé and mustard ice cream. Ok, so there’s some pineapple in there too, but that does detract from the fact that we were about watch Bosi take something traditionally piquant and essentially savoury and transform it into a sweet delight

Roux at The Landau, London

With a selection of fine cheeses, or if you prefer a wonderfully wobbly Amaretto Panacotta with pear ice cream and salted almonds, the Landau rounds off set lunch with light love. It’s a pleasure to eat such unshowy, unpretentious but finely judged cooking. And of course, once you’ve eaten the prix fixe, you’ll be back to try the impossibly good looking a la carte in the evening. Lunch is just for starters, after all

Cinnamon Club Restaurant Review

Its ten years since The Cinnamon Club redefined Indian cuisine for an English audience and although classical in execution the cooking remains innovative. The Anglo-Indian cuisine encompasses not only the hybrid cuisine evolved by Bengali immigrants with its vidaloos and tikka masalas, but also the traditionally refined food of India’s raj and royalty that celebrates subtly and quality ingredients.