MasterChef at Home 2010

Personally I miss Lloyd Grossman, who was running the MasterChef kitchen when the majority of Twatters were in nappies. The twisted vowels, the rather odd people who applied to be on and the palpable non-tension of the studio setting were all rather charming.

Pão de azeite/Olive oil bread

In this region of Portugal people bake a type of bread which I adore. Fluffy, light, like a cream cloud. Usually it is served during Easter, baked in fierce wood ovens, but nowadays can be found all year round in the village bakery. It’s taste is so evocative of this place in the country, the olive harvests and reminds me of my Grandad who loved it and would crumble some slices when stale, in more olive oil and garlic.

Cafe Luc, Marylebone, London

Café Luc is open all day and serves very good food from breakfast to dinner. The menu is strongly French with Mediterranean hints. This is the sort of place you might take your mother after a morning of shopping in Marylebone if you wanted something a bit more special in a brasserie style environment.

The Savoy Grill, London

Andy Cook is putting the grill back into The Savoy Grill, with best of British cooking that is not a homage or a pastiche but just proper dishes done with style and flair and a sense of British achievement and proud British produce. Nick Harman joins Andy in the kitchen to salute the flag.

ORA, stylish Thai restaurant, in Little Portland Street, near Oxford Circus

You can see ORA’s shocking pink neon sign from a good distance away, so vibrant is it that it seems to throb. This new Thai restaurant tucked away in Little Portland Street is otherwise quite unassuming from the outside, but as you enter it’s a different story. It’s smart and comfortable, a great space to take your time and enjoy a meal, but don’t just take my word for it, check it out for yourself.