Southgate Road, N1 3JS delapanza.co.uk It was with a degree of trepidation that I stepped […]

You might expect an alpine hut selling schnitzel in the Italian Dolomites, but not a two Michelin-star restaurant at the foot of those colossal peaks. Yet a fine dining establishment is exactly what we found at the enchanting family-run Relais & Chateaux Rosa Alpina Hotel & Spa in San Cassiano in the Alta Badia valley…

It’s not often you get to eat dinner in the same spot you once had your tyres changed. As Balham has gentrified, the old shops have gradually disappeared to be replaced by bars and cafes all catering to the monied young overspill from Clapham. There’s even a Waitrose now, a poor replacement in my view for the old open air market now a shadow of its former self.

87-135 Brompton Road, London SW1X 7XL www.harrods.com George has been making coffees at Harrod’s for […]

We’re treated like so many Shahs from the off, which is always nice. A table laden with cocktails greets us- with the appropriately-monikered Maharaja Fizz amongst their number. More often than not, ‘fusion’ and ‘cocktail’ are two words that have no business being in the same room, let alone sharing glass space. Curry leaves? Fruit chutney? You sure?

Acre Lane has changed since my time. The houses around no longer boast the 70s front doors so often fitted in that flared and flawed decade, instead Victorian doors, white plantation shutters and other classic signs of gentrification indicate that the local demographic is not what it was.Boqueria is another indication.

The regional menus at Namaaste Kitchen and Salaam Namaste March on to Goa this month- and Zoe Perrett gets all fired up about the tiny state’s utterly searing sensations.

Long Ashton is the first village in the green belt north of Bristol, three miles from the harbourside. A reasonable walk, were it not for the manic road system in between. But to one side lies glorious Ashton Court, 850 acres of park and woodland belonging to the citizens of Bristol. So a long walk in Ashton Court, followed by another long walk to the Bird in Hand (yes, Long Ashton is long) would be the perfect prelude to a slap-up lunch.

If you can squeeze your way through the throng over to the stairs in the corner, you’ll be whisked away to a quiet, understated and stylish dining room. It doesn’t feel as if you’ve left the fun downstairs, on the contrary, this dining room feels the place to be, a secret for those in the know.

Copita, its name derives from the Spanish for a type of sherry glass, is from the mothership of Barrica in Goodge Street and has berthed further south in Darblay Street, Soho. Its sober frontage doesn’t exactly holler for attention but thankfully neither does it go for the faux craphole look which is now getting very boring.