Keema Muttar

Keema Muttar is one of my favourite dishes and features on takeaway menus up and down the country. ‘Keema’ means minced meat (always lamb) and ‘muttar’ are peas and together, with an earthy blend of spices, they are transformed from two humble ingredients into something rather more special.

Lunch with Massimo Bottura

While in the capital for Identità London recently, two Michelin starred Chef Massimo Bottura entertained food writers and bloggers to L’atelier des Chefs in Wigmore Street to present five dishes, all with the common ingredient of the event sponsors, the Italian lager Birra Moretti. The recipes were created to reflect the lead theme: The Luxury of Simplicity.

Cedar Falls- Spa hotel in a Somerset style

Cedar Falls is one of the most refreshing places I have been to in a long while – figuratively speaking as much as anything else. A beautiful Georgian Manor House in the pretty village of Bishop’s Lydeard in Somerset, it’s a spa-and-stay kind of affair (although day guests are welcome too) with a very exciting and ambitious young chef to boot

Le Cafe Anglais

Just moments from the Queensway drunks and suited career climbers (drunker still), Le Café Anglais occupies its own private entrance on Porchester Gardens. Lift ahoy up to the first floor (making it all feel a bit private members club) and you’re in.

The Frog launches in Clapham Old Town

It was only when we approached The Frog for the re-launch event that we realised that we must have passed it a number of times before, but never noticed it. Well, it’s much more noticeable now: the exterior is light and inviting, with a fresh feel to it.

Tompkins, Canary Wharf, launches in grand style

Tompkins launched recently to a host of invited guests, yours truly amongst them. We arrived at this vast establishment early on in the evening, and it was as well that we did as it gave us the opportunity to take a good look at the place before it was crowded with several hundred people.

The Lonsdale, Notting Hill, launches

We arrived at the launch party for The Lonsdale rather later than we had intended, it was after 9.30 and all was in full swing, with young and not so young, west Londoners spilling out onto Lonsdale Road with colourful cocktails and beers in hand, taking advantage of the warm evening and of course the freedom to smoke out there.