This Christmas, Natalie Allen’s Sweet Things Cakery in Primrose Hill’s quirky range of festive cakes include a Giant Chocolate Christmas Pudding Cupcake – shaped and decorated like a traditional Christmas pudding, it is in fact a chocolate cupcake made with the finest Belgian chocolate filling and butter icing
Zia Teresa hits 50
Restaurants often lay claim to being the oldest something or other. Bizarre – as I increasingly slip into that category I’m not going to shout about it. This fortnight, I’ve been to London’s oldest Hungarian, the earliest French, and now, Zia Teresa, the first to plant its boot shape into the city’s culinary foundations.
National Curry Week 2009, starts on 22nd November
National Curry Week 2009 is set to start. Running from 22nd to 28th November, throughout Britain, it has the dual aims of promoting the cuisine and culture and raising money for the less advantaged around the world.
The Ebury
Part of the First Restaurant Group chain, The Ebury has an imposing presence, occupying a prime location at the fork of Pimlico Road and Ranelagh Grove, very near to Ebury Bridge. Recently awarded two AA rosettes, for the fourth year running, this is a good destination to head for.
Shabu Shabu, a swish way to eat at Wholefoods market
We were invited to the press evening for the launch of this Japanese food outlet at Whole Foods Market in Kensington, on the first floor of the old Barkers building. Whether alone, which in this environment would feel perfectly natural, or in a group, it is a novel and interesting way to eat.
GBK Clink Street
For those of you who are familiar with GBK, Clink Street is the chain’s 50th outlet and rather different from the norm for a few reasons, the most striking of which is that it offers full restaurant service, rather than ordering and paying at a counter, which is how it works everywhere else.
Sardo
One thing I will say to the detriment of this undoubtedly enchanting restaurant is that if they ever want anyone to order pudding they might want to consider cutting the main courses in half. A couple of bottles of the excellent Cannonau Riserva were the only other things we managed past our lips that night.
Market Trader – Denise Tang is chic in Camden
Denise Tang,the creative powerhouse behind Market, Camden’s restaurant du jour, has single handedly transformed the way that diners think about the borough. Before Tang and her cohorts opened up in 2007 Camden’s culinary scene was divided between its vast array of inexpensive fodder and the theatrical extravagance of Gilgamesh. Thomas Henry trades words with her.
Cook Express. Over 700 quick recipes
The one thing you can always guarantee with books from Dorling Kindersley is that they won’t get lost on your shelf. Gosh they are big. These monster books don’t go in for arty photography or long essays on sustainability. They are business-like tomes, designed to do what it says on the tin and Cook Express is no different with over 700 quick recipes to drum up after work and to entertain.
The Italian Cookery Course –Katie Caldesi
This is weighty book, not just in the way it makes my IKEA ‘invisible support’ shelf adopt a distinct downward incline, but also in the weight of knowledge inside it. Katie spent three years travelling all over Italy to talk to chefs, old ladies, producers and experts in food fields to put it all together.