On the 19th of October 2005, Canteen was opened to the public at Old Spitalfields Market where it was welcomed with open arms. Fast forward to today, Canteen remains a firm favourite of critics and customers alike and continues to serve traditional dishes like devilled kidneys, potted duck, fish and chips and treacle tart. And it seems that everyone who is anyone on the food scene has eaten there, liked it and written about it; everyone from A A Gill to Fay Maschler.
‘Hand-picked’ by Harvey Nichols
The idea of Handpicked is that head chef Jeremy Bloor from Harvey Nick’s OXO restaurant takes the press to visit one of his suppliers, in this case, his cheese one. Towny girl Anita Pati tags along avoiding cowpats and gets to eat a locally sourced al fresco lunch in a field with a load of random strangers.
A hop and a skip to malt at Sambrook’s
Reinvention has certainly suited Sambrook’s. Since its first cask was tapped in November 2008, over one million pints have been served to thirsty punters across London. Junction, one of its two permanent ales has even won Beer of the Festival at this year’s Battersea Beer Festival. So on a sunny Saturday afternoon, Qin Xie headed down to Sambrook’s to see what the fuss is all about.
Monarch in waiting.The Prince Of Wales in Putney
On the Upper Richmond Road in Putney, lobsters meet their maker and chef Dom Robinson makes them into dishes that defy standard gastropub cliches. Nick Harman squeezes into the royal kitchen to hear a bit more about the Prince’s philosophy.
Veggie cool, London style
Veggie has suddenly become uber cool – almost over-night it seems. In July The Observer Food Monthly dedicated an entire edition to the cause; end of August sees NY’s highly regarded Otarian comes to LDN (fast-food, veggie style); and pretty much every other week every other celeb (as long as they’re of the young, female and lithe variety – oh and Russell Brand) is name-dropping Meat-Free Monday as the new ‘in’ cause. It’s hippy-chic all over again – but this time we’re talking food, not fashion.
In a state of Yuforia – frozen yoghurt is hot in Soho
Frozen yoghurt. Is this the guilt-free fix you’ve been looking for? Nick Harman holsters his prejudices and heads to Yuforia to meet Yuforia founder and frozen yoghurt evangelist Leo Bedford
‘Cooks by Gordon Ramsay’ Searing Grill
The new ‘Cooks by Gordon Ramsay’ range is a selection of cooking appliances which aim to make cooking for friends and family easier. We tested the Searing Grill to see if it’s any good!
The Great British Beer Festival at Earls Court
The ghost of Oliver Reed hangs over the The Great British Beer Festival at Earls Court. Far from being a middling actor who surrendered his career, and ultimately his life, to alcohol, here he’s a demi god, although of course he never did things by halves. It was always pints. Boom boom!
Terminal 5 food. Plane and simple?
Plane Food as a restaurant name is obviously tempting fate. You can imagine the worried discussions around the table when the idea was first mooted – what if the food’s boring? What if it fails to ‘take off’? What if it crashes? No doubt Gordon overruled them all, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet, chopping one hand into another and saying ‘yeah?’ at the end of every sentence. It’s just part of T5’s first-class food offering for travellers.
Above and Beyond – Singapore Airlines in flight meals beat many a London Restaurant hands down
Singapore Airlines is so proud of its in-flight food that they’ve published an all-star cookbook to celebrate. Nick Harman flies Business Class to Singapore and back in just 48 hours to taste the food and to find out how it’s all done. Jet lag what let jag?
