We had heard good things about Whites, since head chef Stuart Dove, took the helm last year. It is a remarkably good restaurant and we ate perhaps the best food we have had outside central London for some months. We would certainly recommend it to anyone who can travel to Steyning and could see it becoming a destination restaurant.
Sparkling Tales from the Boudoir
Douglas Blyde stays on best behaviour whilst getting refreshed at a Champagne lunch at ‘Pied-à-Terre’, Charlotte Street
Tea – testing, testing
Having blagged a load of free tea samples, we would have preferred samples of champagne obviously, however we’re not The Telegraph here, we put the kettle on and lined up an impressive array of chipped teapots, brown ringed mugs, cups with the hotels’ names still on them and a small bowl the dog once used. Not very scientific, perhaps, but certainly real world.
Chicken Soup
Cooking chicken soup can be an all day affair but by beginning with chicken broth and a rotisserie chicken from the market, I had a full flavored, body-and-soul warming soup ready in less than an hour. Here’s how I did it:
Breakfast at The Dean Street Townhouse, London
Oh Pitcher! Oh Piano! O tempora! O mores! Where now the pissed PAs staggering gamely about on stiletto heels? Where the young swordsmen from the suburbs gathered to hunt in packs? And where the office leaving parties swirling out of focus in a haze of cheap white wine? All gone, all gone. The Pitcher & Piano is now the Dean Street Townhouse in a transformation more fascinating than ‘From Ladette to Lady.’
Papillon launches posh twist on a Burns Night tradition
Chelsea brasserie Papillon has created its own version of a traditional Burns Night classic – the Chelsea Haggis. Head chef Tom Hempstead has decided to offer an alternative to the usual recipe, which normally includes sheep’s heart, liver and lungs boiled in the animal’s stomach. The Chelsea Haggis comprises confit pork belly, foie gras, sweetbreads, morels and black truffles served with the finest Limousin beef fillet. It will be accompanied by ratte potato purée and Madeira glazed turnip
Caponata
As we reported after attending Caponata’s launch in early December its owners have created a cool contemporary venue. Two restaurants in one it offers a wide choice to its customers, with some very interesting dishes on the menus it is unsurprising that it is gaining popularity.
Dairy nice – Glenilen farm dairy at Selfridges
Glenilen Farm, based in the heart of West Cork, Ireland, makes authentic tasting dairy desserts and products ‘tasting just like they used to” and now, a selection of these products are available exclusively in the UK at Selfridges Oxford Street.
Bistro K, London
Football and fine dining – f-words that fit like fist and fur ball. So when, in the newly-opened Bistro K – plush, South Kensington deluxe – Anita Pati sees a giant sports telly slap bang in the wall, it comes as no surprise that the bar’s owner also owns the Olympique Lyonnais football team.
Swine Fever
Douglas Blyde finds the offer of a ringside seat at the tabletop butchery of a Gloucester Old Spot pig at Trinity, Clapham Common, too hard to refuse…