Slow food? Forget that. At the Porsche Restaurant in the Porsche Experience Centre at Silverstone they’re running a series of dinners named ‘Fuel your Passion’. Here diners can dine amongst the cars, as well as eat food cooked by a different Michelin super-starred chef each time. William Morris takes off his bicycle clips and attempts to look wealthy.
The Duchess of Kent, Islington
There’s a bit of a dearth of good pubs around Highbury & Islington train station in London. You can take your pick from a jiggy but rammed theatre pub, a brawly boozer full of reddened baldheads or a freezing warehouse bar. Tempted? But if you poke behind the side streets, there’s a decent gastropub and a bit of a secret.
Bincho Yakitori, Old Compton Street
Bincho Yakitori on Old Compton Street is a modern Japanese restaurant specialising in Yakitori, surprisingly enough. The concept at Bincho Yakitori is simple; put it on a stick, grill it, sauce it.
Adam Byatt – How to eat in
Overall, ‘how to eat in’ has been very inspiring. It serves as more of a guide to cooking restaurant quality food at home than a day-to-day cook book. But if you love to cook and you love good food, this book would be perfect.
Christopher’s American Bar and Grill
It was, I think, the eminent sage and philosopher Russ Abbott who first put forward the suggestion that we all love a party with a happy atmosphere. As so often in his glittering philosophical career, he hit the nail bang on the head.
Miguel de Almeida’s Pastéis de Feijão (traditional red bean cakes)
This 19th century cake is traditionally from the ‘Estremadura” region of Portugal, from the city of Torres Vedras. The original recipe is a secret kept within the family that created this cake. Nevertheless, I present you with my own variation which includes red bean instead of white bean puree.
Absolute Taste Masterclass
Last week I was invited to try my hand at making a few ‘F1 quality” nibbles at Absolute Taste at Harvey Nichols. The F1 quality is not to blow my own horn of course but rather because Absolute Taste started out as a hospitality company catering to the VIP guests of Vodafone McLaren Mercedes around the world.
New London restaurant Brasa opens this month
New London restaurant Brasa is due to open this month in West London. Brasa is being billed as a ‘luxury grill restaurant’ which will serve up meats cooked on a traditional grill.
Patak’s Curry Club
The Patak Empire strikes back from the dusty shelves of Asian grocers nationwide. Those purveyors of pickles have teamed up with Masterchef winner Dhruv Baker and wine expert Suzy Atkins to launch a curry club from their website.
Royal China, Baker Street, London W1
Just a short walk up Baker Street from Portman Square, Royal China is little more than a stone’s throw from Selfridges in Oxford Street. We enjoyed our meal there immensely. I would urge any lover of Chinese food to go there.