Acclaimed burrito chain Poncho 8 is expanding beyond the City – starting with a new store in Paddington, opening Wednesday 15th January. Voted the best burrito in London by the Evening Standard, the sixth Poncho 8 store will feature a UK first – grab’n’ go Mexican food for speedy feeding of local office punters.

Like the idea of street food but wish it would appeal to a demographic beyond the young and trendy? Then Street Food Sundays at Caffe Caldesi in Marylebone might just be the ticket.

Grab your glitz and head for The Ritz this Christmas – there’s a lot occurin’.

For the majority of Brits, Christmas just wouldn’t be Christmas without a bumper bundle of buttered Brazils, Turkish delight, marzipan and other sweet treats. These gift ideas are sweet enough to give you toothache.

Not everyone goes crackers for sugary Christmas goodies – indeed, some would rather their crackers came accompanied by a nice chunk of cheese. This part of our gourmet gift guide is devoted to those devoid of a sweet tooth.

It’s highly likely even the greediest gourmet will have had their fill of festive edibles by the time gift-opening rolls around. So how about presenting them with a bit of kit that’ll help them cook up something special once they get their appetite back?

Bobby Chinn will open his new London restaurant – The House of Ho – on Monday, 6 January 2014 on London’s gayest street, Old Compton Street, in Soho for dinner only and with a preview menu offering a 50% discount on the food, but full price for drinks.

At Christmas, London’s diners and hostelries pull out all the stops and guarantee revelry to rival anything the capital’s seen before. Here’s a selection to start the merriment. But carouse with caution: over-indulge. and you’ll not only have the sort of season you’ve never seen before, but will end up seeing it double. 

Christmas is a time of sublime excess bordering on the ridiculous. No matter how many mince pies you munch, or if you go back for seconds, thirds and fourths of festive fare til you bust your belt, you still end up binning more than you bargained for.

Balthazar has done well in its short existence, despite a bit of sniffiness from some critical quarters. You can’t argue with bums on seats though; ask any restaurant owner –  great reviews or a full restaurant? There’s no prizes for guessing the answer.