Dach & Sons is something of an anomaly in Hampstead, which is no doubt its intention. Not known for its participation in any type of zeitgeist since the days of Arts and Crafts, the affluent north London’village’ of Hampstead has supported a selection of very good pubs, outmoded chains and’neighbourhood’ restaurants for decades, with few hints of the fickle food trends jostling for position a few miles away in central London.
Spanish Flavours, José Pizarro
Crucially, in a time when cookbooks are treasures to look at, coo over and stroke, this is an attractive production. The photography, by Emma Lee, tells a story of Pizarro’s travels around Spain, of the people producing the food and the shops and bars satisfying their customers with a fresh cheese or a wide variety of mushrooms, and there are photographs of almost all of the recipes.
Bim’s Kitchen: African-inspired Sauces
When I were a mere scrap of a lass, many family occasions were heralded by the plonking on the table of a large vat of a spicy, beefy elixir, whose flavour was largely dependent on large dollops of peanut butter. This, ostensibly, was an’African’ curry, and we ate it accompanied with white rice, sprinkled liberally with the contents of myriad small wooden bowls- tinned pineapple chunks, sliced banana, raisins, salted nuts, chopped apple…. The authenticity may have been in dispute, but never, ever, the sheer deliciousness.
Floripa London restaurant review
Floripa is more of a revamp than a complete about-turn – there’s the same huge indoor area with a long bar and ample space for dancing and a stage, but Floripa is shouting louder about its food: there is a snug for diners in the far corner as well as tables on the paved area outside.
Russian Standard Gold Vodka
Revealing itself like one of Tsarina Alexandra’s glamorous Fabergé eggs from its rather theatrical (if not to say OTT) presentation case, a bottle of Russian Standard Gold Vodka cannot be described as a’shrinking violet’ in the spirits marketplace.
Best of British chefs IDCF charity dinner 17th September 2012
To mark the end of their Best of British festival, Plateau is hosting a special charity dinner in support of the IDCF, a Tower Hamlets charity which aids disadvantaged communities in the borough. Taking place on September the 17th, the one-off occasion will see Plateau head chef Alan Pickett joined in the kitchen by a trio of some of Britain’s finest culinary experts.
Like a headless chicken, our expert reviewer joins the fried fowl craze
Mmmm chicken, lovely, lovely chicken. You can keep your disgusting foie gras, your morbid pate en croute and your silly pan fried medallions of monkfish, it has to be fried chicken for me every time! Who would have thought that it was so very, very good?
Benares chef’s table
When a clearly straight, urbane waiter compliments you on your heels, you can’t help but love a restaurant. Especially when said heels are transporting you to the Benares chef’s table to gulp a fishbowl-sized gin-and-champagne cocktail and watch a Michelin-starred craftsman do his thing with an ocean of seafood.
Fire up the Grey Matter, an El Camion working lunch
Will a spicy working lunch raise morale and get the ideas flowing? El Camion think so and sent us round a sample of their office takeaway to prove the point. It certainly made everyone happy, if not exactly Speedy Gonzalez fast.
Mango Tree Olympic Feast
Running until the end of August, the Mango Tree’s Head Chef Ood and consultant chef Ian Pengelly (of Gilgamesh fame) have devised a six course Thai feast to celebrate the event that so seduced the nation.