The Dressmaker, Steve McQueen, The Perfect Guy and Momentum: This weekend’s new films reviewed November 20, 2015 The Dressmaker | Cert 15 ★★★☆☆ A quirky comedy-drama that’s lifted out of the ordinary by Kate Winslet as glamorous seamstress Tilly. Her character returns to her home in Australia to care for her mother. But once she arrives, old rumours linking her to a murder in her childhood resurface, and she rekindles a romance with [...]
I Want My Hat Back review: National Theatre’s production of beloved children’s book sends kids wild November 20, 2015 National Theatre | ★★★★★ So there’s this bear, right, and he’s got an amazing hat. All red and pointy and with an elastic strap to keep it nice and secure on his big bear head. Where did the hat come from? It doesn’t matter. What matters is where it goes. Because shortly after the bear falls [...]
The Bermondsey Yard Cafe review: Is this SE1 restaurant keeping up with its trendy neighbours? November 17, 2015 The times they are a changin’ down on Bermondsey Street. One of the finest Italian kitchens in London and a long-time standard bearer of transpontine dining, is set to close before Christmas. Rising rent prices have reportedly forced the closure. The arrival of Fulham Shore-owned Franco Manca further points to an area of London commanding increasingly [...]
Mix it up: Sip cocktails with an older, wiser crowd at The Goring Hotel November 17, 2015 It must be a sign of age but I'm increasingly uneasy hanging around youngsters on a night out. It's probably because I've been there, done that and made the same "mistakes" already. They were awful the first time so I’d would rather not relive them (not even vicariously). Perhaps that’s why I found myself propped [...]
Lessons in wine: Tis the season to get tipsy on our top Christmas picks November 17, 2015 Christmas is coming, the geese are getting fat and it is time to start planning Christmas lunch. While the true meaning of Christmas is peace and goodwill to all, a delicious lunch and good wine comes in a strong second. Sometimes the only way to get through TV re-runs, that protracted and competitive game of [...]
The fine art of Nordic cooking November 13, 2015 Chef Magnus Nilsson has compiled the definitive guide to the subtle art of Nordic cooking. The Nordic Cook Book combines a series of stunning photographs of his epic culinary journey through Scandinavia – from the grandiosity of the frozen fjords to simple strips of mutton hanging to age in a Faroese warehouse – with recipes [...]
The Burgundy Puzzle: a frustrating wine that can astonish or appall, here’s how to get it right November 13, 2015 The other day I was invited to a friend’s birthday party where the wine was given star billing. It was a Santenay 2012 and we were told it was “amazing”. I was bitterly disappointed: it was green and desperately thin, like over-diluted Ribena without the vitamin C. And probably cost a fortune. It put me [...]
South Carolina, the home of barbecue, is redefining itself with the help of pulled pork November 13, 2015 London has a growing fascination with the foods of the American South. In recent years we’ve seen an explosion of Blues kitchens, artisanal fried chicken joints and barbecue boutiques. It’s like restaurateurs made a collective decision some time around 2010 that any new restaurant, anywhere in the city, must offer piles of sweet, tangy pulled [...]
Turkish Delight: a culinary journey through one of the world’s most diverse nations November 13, 2015 When most people think of Turkish food, they imagine kebabs and Turkish delight. In reality the food of this vast nation is among the most vibrant and diverse in the world, drawing influences from the olive-scented villages on the Aegean coast to the dusty towns near its border with Syria. The epic landscape – the [...]
