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.

Chop’d salads -luxury lunchtime ahoy

This is is very much a luxury lunch and we should know because we ate one. There was plenty of all the expensive things, well balanced with tenderly cooked salad potatoes, a crisp and spicy salad and a couple of lime wedges to squeeze over the top. Try getting all that in a High Street chain, the one whose name we know as ‘Cold n Wet’ in rhyming slang.

A Salute to Cooking – The Royal Hospital Chelsea

The Royal Hospital Chelsea, home to the famous, scarlet-coated Chelsea Pensioners, is to publish A Salute to Cooking, a brand new recipe book which has a front cover designed by satirical cartoonist, Gerald Scarfe CBE, a foreword by HRH The Prince of Wales and more than 100 favourite recipes contributed by a fantastic parade of celebrities from all walks of life.

Michel Roux’s ‘Sauces: Sweet and Savoury, Classic and New’

Michel Roux’s re-published ‘Sauces’ – the latest in a line of publications including ‘Eggs’ and ‘Pastry’, which was short-listed for the André Simon award last year – highlights the importance of merely one aspect of cookery, which is frequently added as an afterthought or an as-well-as, more out of habit (gravy with a roast dinner) or necessity (custard for a dry sponge) than respected as the important component it can be in its own right.

Senseo – the stylish coffee maker for the home

The Senseo looks stylish, works efficiently and has lights that tell you when to run the cleaning cycle, descale and wash out plus other helpful automated features. So easy is it to use, and so fast, that I keep making myself cups of coffee every ten minutes and then jabbering wildly at people whilst rushing around the office finding unnecessary things to do. I think it’s the caffeine overload causing it, but you never know.