Good old Greggs the Bakers. I know they aren’t on the radar of foodies, most fine diners probably don’t know where or what Greggs are, but the La Chavroche of the under classes is bucking recessionary trends and saw underlying sales in the four weeks to 3 January rise by 5.3%.What’s more they plan expansion into the gaping holes that will be left as other shops go out of business. Greggs already currently has 1409 shops which, when you think about it, is an awful lot of cheese and onion pies.
Leaf Tea Tasting Masterclass/ Leaf Unplugged / Leaf Pudding Club
Leaf Tea Shop and Bar is a ‘punk tea shop’ newly opened in the heart of Liverpool. Set on the ground floor of the freshly refurbished uber-cool Liverpool warehouse space- Elevator, Leaf Tea Shop and Bar is like no other venue around, nestled amongst some of the nation’s most imaginative artists working spaces including The Zutons, The Rascals, Hot Club de Paris and many more.
Celebrate Chinese New Year With Alan Coxon’s Oriental Banquet
‘Kung Hei Fat Choy’ or ‘Happy Chinese New Year’! The Year of the Ox is celebrated on 26th January and with Chinese households cleaning, repainting and handing out Lai See (lucky money); Alan Coxon has developed a menu for those who want to join in with the festivities. Food is an integral part of the celebrations and Alan has scoured the Orient to come up with a delicious menu for all to enjoy.
Camo Bags- the credit crunch cover up
Times are tough and people are feeling the pinch, but not everyone is shopping downmarket, in fact many people can still afford to go to Waitrose. But how to look responsible and still eat well? Enter the Camo Bag concept. ‘Of course we can still afford to buy the best,” says Helen whose husband is a well-paid columnist on a liberal newspaper. ‘But in our circle it’s just not cool now to admit it. When Tatiana gets the Waitrose bags out of the back of the Range Rover I can almost feel the neighbours disapproval.” So Helen had as she puts it, ‘a brilliant idea!”
Chinese New Year at Ping Pong
Ping Pong, the 21st century teahouse and dim sum emporium, is grabbing Chinese New Year by the horns. Teaming up with Sun Lik beer to celebrate the year of the Ox from the 26th January, a sensational selection of new food and drink offerings, alongside free cocktails, are sure to cause a stampede in the capital.
FishWorks Shares Suspended
One of the success stories of Luke Johnson, the man behind for my money the only decent pizza chain, Pizza Express, FishWorks now looks to be in trouble. It’s making a loss and unlike the average angler, is not exaggerating when it says the problems could be bigger than predicted
Marmite at the Dorchester
Two British institutions; Marmite and The Dorchester, are set to form the quintessentially British partnership of 2009, as they team up in January to serve the first ever Marmite afternoon tea. For a limited time only, The Dorchester’s award-winning afternoon tea will begin with a selection of finger sandwiches that includes delicately sliced cucumber sandwiches with the addition of the nation’s most beloved (and hated!) Marmite.
date and walnut cake
We all do it, there is some madness which happens to us just before Christmas and we become domestic goddesses, with the need to fill the house with everything and anything that anyone could possible crave over the holiday. Come January, we find ourselves with bowls of nuts waiting to be shelled and those ubiquitous boxes of dates, bought because Granny always likes them
Rude Health at Valentine’s
There’s plenty of oomph in oatmeal. If you want to enjoy an orgasmic breakfast-in-bed this Valentine’s Day, Rude Health suggests serving up a healthy portion of their organic porridge or muesli. A bowl of ‘Morning Glory’ porridge, with creamy British organic oats, widely reputed to enhance libido by re-balancing oestrogen and testosterone levels, will help to keep your stamina up all morning thanks to their low GI score and iron content.
A Veal First For Eagle Bar Diner
Eagle Bar Diner is set to be the first gourmet style burger restaurant in London to serve an organic veal burger on their menu. The ‘British Organic Veal Burger’ will offer consumers the opportunity to sample the gourmet meat at both an affordable and ethical price. Produced from the award winning Helen Browning Organics farm in Wiltshire, the burger is 100% British Rosé Veal, and will be available from January 12th 2009.