Tom Aiken turns up at Somerset House

The well-known River Terrace Café at Somerset House has been completely re-designed to become Tom’s Terrace when it opens on 29 April. Underneath a futuristic canopy diners will enjoy protection from the London summer whilst enjoying stunning views of the river Thames.

Great British Food

All of GB’s best and unique ingredients are used here, venison, ham hocks, beetroots, John Dory, rare pork breeds, Somerset cider Cromer crabs – the list goes on and on reading as a roll call of all the things we can be proud to call British. Preferably raising a pint of warm beer into the air as we do so while litter flaps around our ankles in a bracing seaside breeze.

L’Anima, London

The Italian chef and man of the moment, Francesco Mazzei is cooking up a Calabrian storm at L’Anima, his city restaurant. But as Isobel Cripps finds out, sometimes all the PR hype and pre-conceived romanticisms can leave you feeling disenchanted.

Chocolate heaven found in Flanders

Oh boy, in a country famed for Beer, TinTin, Magritte, Mussels and Chocolate, we found the finest creator of the latter in fusion chocolatier David Maenhout in Flanders. The creations he turns out here are so utterly fantastic it’s almost a crime to eat them. Well, almost because you could claim ‘crime of passion’. David lets us into his workshop and talks about how he makes his mini-masterpieces, in between sharing out the goodies.

Inamo,London

‘Maybe we’re not the demographic they’re aiming at,” says C, kindly. I am grasping and confused, sensory faculties aghast, mind rollicking. OK, it’s not quite that bad but I feel a bit luddite here at Inamo, the hi-tec Soho restaurant where the menus are interactive, and you can webcam into the kitchen from your table top.

Medcalf, Exmouth Market, London

Medcalf’s home is in the middle of the trendy Exmouth Market. I’ve already become a fan of the strip, which possesses a great selection of bars and restaurants that let their produce do the talking. That’s the essence of the market, no frills or pretentiousness here, and Medcalf is a brilliant example.