New Nobu Hotel in Shoreditch says there’s nothing fishy about Brexit, is hungry for global tourists October 11, 2016 The team behind the upcoming Nobu Hotel in Shoreditch hope to capitalise on Britain’s tumbling pound by luring wealthy foreign visitors. The five-storey, 150-room hotel on Willow Street in Hackney – originally slated to launch in 2014 but delayed by “construction issues” – will finally open its doors in spring 2017, just in time for [...]
Bao Fitzrovia review: London’s most fashionable Taiwanese buns move into their biggest premises yet October 11, 2016 Working Lunch – BAO Fitzrovia 31 Windmill Street, W1T WHAT? A Taiwanese restaurant that’s as famous for its queues as it is for its cloud-like buns crammed with meat and fish. After freezing their ‘nads off waiting outside, diners are invited to cosy up on bar stools, tick off their choices on a paper menu, [...]
Michelin Guide 2017: The 15 new Bib Gourmand restaurants in London October 7, 2016 The UK’s Michelin Guide 2017 has been unveiled, and there’s new addition to the accolades handed out to restaurants with exceptional cuisine. Bib Gourmands are given to less formal restaurants offering exceptional good food at moderate prices. Restaurants which achieve this special honour are not required to offer the same level of service as those [...]
M Restaurants hits its £1.35m crowdfunding target in 60 hours October 5, 2016 City favourite M Restaurants has raised £1.4m on crowdfunding platform Seedrs, beating its £1.35m target within 60 hours of launching its campaign. The award-winning group, which currently has restaurants M Threadneedle and M Victoria, hit its target last night and is now overfunding to £1.5m, raising the money to aid expansion. It plans to build M Social, a [...]
The 7 best places to drink champagne in London October 5, 2016 1. Osteria Barbican Centre, Canada A neon sign illuminating the herringbone parquet flooring of the Osteria bar boldly reads “Amore Bibo” or Latin for “Drink with love”, a knowing nod to the adjoining restaurant’s bold Italian cuisine. This week, it’s inviting guests for a themed tasting menu inspired the champagne house behind the [...]
Working Lunch: Cabotte review – a restaurant made by wine lovers for wine lovers in the heart of the City October 4, 2016 Cabotte 42 Gresham Street, EC2 WHAT? Winos of the world unite – a new restaurant has opened in the city curated by wine lovers for wine lovers. Two master sommeliers, Xavier Rousset and Gearoid Devaney, opened Cabotte a couple of weeks ago to marry the cuisine and vineyards of Burgundy. All senior staff are former [...]
Malbec in Bordeaux and in Burgundy bottles to boot: The new label extraordinaire going against the grain October 4, 2016 France has always been a nation of revolutionaries, whether they are political ones like Robespierre and Danton, scientists such as Marie Curie, or philosophers like Descartes or Jean Paul Sartre. So I suppose I should not be surprised to find a genuine wine revolutionary living next door to my new home in Gascony, who is [...]
These are quite possibly the eight best bottles of cognac in the world October 3, 2016 All cognac is brandy, but not all brandy is cognac. The real stuff is distilled in a small and highly protected wine-growing region around the town of Cognac in the south west of France and, like many wines and cheeses, it must meet the strict requirements of the ‘appellation d’origine controlee’ before it can be [...]
Our resident chef Mark Hix on why these orange giants should be eaten all year round September 27, 2016 Pumpkins and squashes aren’t just for Halloween. We should eat them like we do other more mainstream root vegetables, because they are equally delicious. The pumpkin and squash family, collectively known as cucurbits, are actually a fruit. They have hundreds of relatives; nearly a thousand to be precise, including melons and cucumbers. Years ago you would [...]
Dinner at The Twits at The Vaults is impressively immersive, but the food is as bad as it looks September 22, 2016 Dinner at The Twits invites you into the dining room of Roald Dahl’s most hideous creations, with the chef’s special being lashings of nostalgia. The Vaults at Waterloo has a revolving door of left-field productions, but this is the best use of the space I’ve seen, with real attention to detail in the creation of [...]
