Please God let this be the year the death knell sounds for those tawdry selection boxes holding a grotesque assemblage of shrink-wrapped specimens nefariously studded with’fruit du jour’ or muddled with metallic herbage. This year we kindly offer you  Paxton & Whitfield’s expert selection, and the opportunity to redeem your own cheeseboard. Seize it with both hands.

The countdown to Christmas has begun and Covent Garden’s Seven Dials and St Martin’s Courtyard are inviting you to enjoy a night of shopping and merriment on November 29th.

I know it’s only November and you might not like having to face it just yet, but the time has come to talk about Christmas and more specifically, Christmas menus. Luckily for you though, dear reader, I am easing you in, as my first assignment of the festive season involves no turkey, no stuffing and no cranberry sauce. In fact, it contains virtually no discernible elements of Christmas at all…

To mark its first birthday, Roti Chai is hosting a series of Monday evening Supper Clubs in its Dining Room with the emphasis firmly on having some fun.

Moti Mahal is high end, but low-key. So low-key in its outward appearance that we miss the entrance- the companion notes,’it’s designed to keep riff-raff like us boho types out’. But then this is a venue that has no need to shout for attention. And when we finally bumble in to the elegant dining room, we’re treated less like riff-raff and more like royalty.

Angela Hartnett launches the first of the Fortnum & Mason Chef’s Dinners series on 21st November with a  seasonal White Truffle Dinner in The Fountain restaurant.  Fortnum & Mason Chef’s Dinners will be regular events in The Fountain restaurant to highlight the very best Chefs in the UK cooking with the very best seasonal produce.

Blogging means that anyone can write about food. But how do you go about it? What are the tricks of the trade? And what do you do when you upset a 2 star chef with your opinions on his cooking and he comes after you on Twitter with a virtual cleaver?

‘This one will get you in a sweet mood’, Hindustani saxophonist Jesse Bannister assures. Good- I need a dose of sugar after a slurp of the companion’s exceptionally tart Nimbu Sour, seasoned liberally with black salt. Yum, yum, and thrice yum. Coupled with the chaat masala-sprinkled plaintain chips, it makes for a very merry welcome to Roti Chai’s weekly Monday supperclub.

The Skyfall martini was developed especially for the world premiere of the film by Eric Lorincz and served up to the stars at the after show party. Obviously you and I did not receive an invite to this, but, like me, you can live out your Bond dreams by heading down to the Savoy in the company of your very own Bond / Bond-girl lookalike for an evening of cocktails and espionage.

Mo Bro chefs share their wisdom and knowledge with’Bring It On Home’- a new cookbook that encourages their fellow Mo Bros & Mo Sistas to celebrate Movember and host a dinner party during the month of Movember.