Antonio Carluccio’s Simple Cooking

Good old Antonio. It was this Italian bear who awakened a love of mushroom hunting in me, one that has resulted in some gorgeous meals and, thanks to his clear instructions, no deaths yet.. I did see some coloured lights once but that was when me and my mate Pete deliberately ate some ‘shrooms that were definitely not culinary.

Beer and a five star Thai feast

Although beer is the world’s oldest and most widely consumed alcoholic beverage, its complexity and compatibility with certain cuisines is often overlooked. Fine-dining Thai restaurant, Mango Tree in Belgravia, is revealing how Thailand’s best selling Chang beer enhances the delicate flavours of its dishes with a Street Food Beer Festival pairing menu, available from 5th until 25th October 2009

Why can’t the English teach their children how to eat?

There are more cookery programmes and celebrity chefs knocking around these days than there are dinner ladies. It’s enough to make you think that this country is in the middle of a foodie frenzy, an orgy culinary patriotism. Except it doesn’t feel that way, not even in the beating heart of the London restaurant scene.

Matching Fine Beer and Higgidy Pies

All the beers were good, except for the Sol which as far as I am concerned still reeks horribly of the 1980s and prats like me standing around wearing white socks and drinking from the bottle. Thank God there were no camera phones then and thus no pictorial evidence to haunt me.

The Loft

Sitting between Clapham Common and Clapham North Underground Stations, The Loft is a substantial Bar and Restaurant, which, as you might imagine, is on the upper floor of a building containing other businesses and produces some seriously good food up there.