There’s a lot of talk about January detox but admit it, how many of you have already fallen off the bandwagon? And even if you’re still going strong, isn’t the best part of the detox the day when you get to retox? And there’s nothing so tempting as the guilty pleasure of chocolates so that’s why Qin Xie has brought you the ultimate guide to chocolate in the next few months.

The day would one day come, I knew, when I’d be confronted with pig carcass. And that day came to pass in rural Oxfordshire this winter, and I was armed with a handsaw. I’m not vegetarian so when Peaches, the 13-strong chain of gastropubs, invited me to a butchery session at their headquarters near Bicester I reckoned it was only honest to go.

Just because they are the highest restaurant in London, and now officially one of the best with their first Michelin Star, doesn’t mean Galvin at Windows looks down on the diner on a budget. Look at the ‘Galvin Giveaway!’restaurant manager Fred Sirieix explains to Nick Harman

Enough with 2010 already, what’s in store for 2011? We predict that the craze for burgers will finally die down and the next logical contender will step up – yes the Doner kebab. The ‘elephant’s leg’ in your local takeaway will be elevated to iconic status by the bloggerati and Twitter will be buzzing with people swapping tips on the best places get your fix.

Douglas Blyde was recently whisked to a Loire so frozen that Charolais cattle couldn’t break ice to quench their thirst. Back in an equally frozen Blighty, his task, from Monnières to Mosnes is to summarise summery wines sipped in foot numbing cellars…

‘Steak, what’s it all about eh? For me eating steak is like watching Miranda on the BBC – a large lump of meat that soon gets boring.’ Nick Harman recalls his favourite eating experiences of 2010. Not the ten best but the best fun. After all, eating out is supposed to be fun isn’t it?

Ready for your January Health drive? New Year, New You? Agua Spa at Sanderson is launching a new spa cuisine package this January where you can get a health-focused meal to complement whichever spa package you go for. Anita Pati went to try it out and found herself feeling a lot better, if still a litle hungry after

Alan King talks with Tony Laithwaite how his interest in wine began, the Laithwaites business and its development from modest beginnings to his becoming, other than supermarkets, the biggest sole wine merchant in the world.

Leiths School of Food and Wine, famed for training professional and amateur chefs alike, has recently launched a new series of evening tasting classes. Qin Xie went to its West London kitchen classroom to try some food and wine matches.

It’s the sixth annual all comers Tapas contest in Valladolid and Nick Harman has got a ringside seat. But as well as watching the three days of cook offs, he finds time to explore more of what this Spanish epicentre of small plate dining has to offer the food loving visitor.