I have lined up the russets, wondrous in their crunch, the foxy Coxs, the carrots – knobbly – and the bananas. All of them perfect, earthly gifts distributed during the feeding of the five thousand. It was a Biblical act, a water-coloured wintry vision in Trafalgar Square – part West Country festival, part Regency splendour as the skies unloaded their first Christmas snow onto a lunchtime mob of far more than 5,000 believers.
Vegetarian recipes from Vanilla Black
We know it’s the season to stuff yourself stupid, but when the guilt kicks in you’ll want feel better about yourself and one great way to do that is to eat vegetarian. To help out we have some tasty, meat-free recipes from Vanilla Black London’s only fine-dining vegetarian restaurant and one recommended in the Michelin Guide.
Queen Cristina Sparkling Chardonnay can rule your Christmas and New Year
Credit crunch eating into your champagne budget? Think the stuff is overpriced anyway? Then why not turn your gaze toward Spain where sparkiing wines may not have the snob appeal of Champagne, but in the glass and on the nose can often hold their own against fancier tipples. Reina Maria Cristina is a Chardonnay blended sparkling wine, full of fine persistent bubbles and fresh, intense aromas.
ROKA Restaurant, Canary Wharf London
No one is going to make the trek out to eat at the Wharf who doesn’t work there obviously, they can go to ROKA in town instead. But if you are in the area then beg a banker to buy you a meal. It’s not cheap ROKA, if you want cheap there’s Wagamama, but it’s stylish, cool, beautifully designed and with food that is catwalk chic and classy.
Fancy being a bit creative?
The Kitchen of Parsons Green are running two seasonal cookery classes on the run up to Christmas, one for adults and one for children, so you might want to get yourself down to one and book your children into the other.
Umu London
If you’re the kind of person who likes their restaurants to be a bit ‘hidden away’ then you’ll like Umu. As I tap, tap, tapped my way down Bruton Place, a discreet little lane just off Berkley Square, I felt that little bit of excited anticipation that comes just before you’re shown into a posh hotel bedroom. I like the idea that a restaurant has to be sought out rather than stumbled upon.
Pistachio, White Chocolate and Orange Shortbread Cookies
This week, I dreamt up the perfect shortbread cookies studded with deliciously creamy chunks of white chocolate, crunchy pistachio nuts and perfumed with the grated zest of fresh oranges… They make for the most heavenly mouthful of crumbly, buttery goodness and a fabulous gift that anyone would be lucky to receive
Bringing home the bacon – pigs in The Peaks
Pig farmer and restaurant in perfect harmony. Outside Sheffield Max Freeman raises rare-breed pigs for The Milestone restaurant in Sheffield to serve to their customers. They’re happy, the pigs are happy and Nick Harman has a smile on his face too as he sees how teaming up like this has made this city restaurant an award-winner
Greens of Whitby haul in the awards
Rob Green, chef/proprietor, and his wife Emma, of Green’s Restaurant & Bistro, in Whitby, North Yorkshire, were recognised as ‘The Taste of Yorkshire’ at the recent White Rose Awards at the Royal Armouries in Leeds.
Balance glasses from Fish Hoek – a wine lover’s ideal glass
Anyone here remember Weebles? These 70’s egg shaped toys had a low centre of gravity so that no matter how hard you tried you couldn’t push them over. You could throw them at your annoying sister and get a satisfying ‘thunk’ as they bounced off her head, but that’s another story. These Balancé glasses do the same trick.