Sam Smith from the diminutive Pressure Drop Brewery knows his beer – and he reckons real ale is the quickest route to romance this Valentine’s Day. 

I first encountered Ravinder Bhogal’s food on a trip to a Basmati symposium in India, and, despite feeling a shade’Delhi’-cate, I liked it, and not a little. So I was rather enthused to come across Ravinder’s ‘supperclub series at the South Place Hotel.

‘Kung hei fat choi’ might sound like it describes how you feel after a few too many spring rolls as you watch dragons dance their way through Chinatown, but it’s also the way to bid your celebrating compatriots’Happy New Year’ on 10th February.

Dhruv Baker is embarking on a tasty tour with Malaysia Kitchen, bringing the country’s cuisine to the masses with a series of February demos at Wing Yip oriental superstores across London. 

Wabi’s modern Japanese food looks good and gor, blimey, it tastes good too. For all his weird-and-wonderful culinary wizardry, chef Scott Hallsworth maintains a deceptively calm composure. But there’s a lot going in the head of that genial bloke with the easy grin…

Watching big name egos wrangling for supremacy over talented underdogs will be even funnier on this year’s The Great British Menu, which culminates in a Comic Relief charity banquet. For this series, Michelin-starred Adam Simmonds sharpened his knives for the first time.

We won’t bore you with the news that baking’s big business. We will, however, regale you with the tale that Fortnum & Mason are launching a temporary bakery and stoking shopper’s fires with goodies from a regularly changing roster of top chefs.

Alan Kingsbury makes friends with a bottle of Vouvray, the underappreciated ‘demi-sec’ classic of the Loire.

Ahhh, meat. Like wot London went batshit crazy for in 2012 in the myriad monoglottals opening throughout the capital faster than you could say’with a moo moo here’. And with his Selkirk Grace, old Rabbie Burns inadvertently provided the perfect mantra for the meat-lovin’ masses.