Barbeque Wine List

Frustrated by just looking at his barbeque and not actually using it, Alan Kingsbury reviews some of the wines that will be accompanying all the summer fun when it finally arrives.

North London digs Unearthed

The Unearthed range is perfect for gatherings, all you mostly need to do is unwrap and serve. BIg green Kalamata olives flavoured with orange, an excellent pork rillete pate, mixed olives, slicedmeats were all served up in profusion before Tim’s big dish, Finocchi on a salami wrapped around a loin of lamb served with Bombay potatoes and a very zingy fennel and orange salad.

Great food? Czech. Prague dishes up surprises

The romantic city of Prague is almost the perfect short break destination, but its uninspiring food scene has always let it down, until now. Sophie Morris investigates the city’s much improved eating, including an unmissable traditional restaurant with a new Michelin star.

Eating ‘nicely’ with Mrs. Crimble’s biscuits

Nice isn’t just a tasty biscuit, according to small bakery brand Mrs. Crimble’s. It’s also, surprisingly, a characteristic attributed to the Great British public. A tenner on the lottery might come in handy when your round comes around, but a whopping 90% surveyed reckoned they’d rather experience an act of kindness from their fellow man- sharing the last Rolo, perhaps? Culinary karma- the perfect digestive.

Summer ales with sparkle

John Oates tries an array of brand-new summer ales which are the product of collaboration between Nicholson’s – the nationwide chain of which the Walrus and Carpenter is a member – and eight UK breweries. The resulting ales, all light and fresh for summer drinking, are available only in Nicholson’s. They proved to be well worth seeking out.

Star chefs in da house.Spaghetti House holds a great relaunch party

Look there’s Francesco Mazzei, Giancarlo Caldesi and even, rather surreally,Ken Hom, what are they doing in a Spaghetti House of all places? The answer is that this is a party for ‘the’ Spaghetti House, the original in Goodge Street and founded 55 years ago by Simone Lavarini and Lorenzo Fraquelli, immigrants from Italy who missed their food and were shocked by spaghetti in tins and on toast.

A Denhay Bacon Butty and a cup of Victory tea

One of life’s great pleasures, at least for a Brit, has to be a big old bacon sandwich and a big old mug of tea. The bread has to be thick cheap white, no ciabattas or focaccias thank you, and the tea has to be proper tea, not some designer nonsense or some soppy tisane. Luvverly.

An entente cordiale over afternoon tea at Sketch

A trip to Sketch, Pierre Gagnaire’s gastro-emporium, is worth it just to see the bathrooms alone. But a redecorated room and a new menu means that afternoon tea aficionados should head to Conduit Street to get lost in the Glade and enjoy a classic British afternoon tea with a bit of cross-channel flair