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.’
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:
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…
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.
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.
The 100 Foods You Should Be Eating – Glen Matten
Chirpily written packed full of useful information, clearly explained, and with 100 tempting recipes, this unassuming book can hold its own with the glossy fantasies we’re more used to seeing. It has practicality at its heart and it wants to help you look after yours. What’s not to like about that?
Rare Beef with Asian Crunchy Salad
With the spirit of a New Year detox in mind, here is my next offering to you proving to you that making healthy yet delicious meals, needn’t be a laborious task. I love this dish, the salad is zest, crunchy and bursting with flavour.
Kale – An Essential Green
Experts have long since known that a healthy diet should include five daily servings of fruit and vegetables, as studies show that enjoying ‘five-a-day’ can offer protection against a wide variety of cancers. But a new study indicates that some vegetables like kale, spinach, Brussels sprouts and cabbage may have greater cancer prevention properties than others.
Kitchen Italia, Seven Dials, London
With an express pre and post theatre menu for £9.95 including some wine, all bases are covered here. It’s not the spot for a romantic dinner a deux, but for honest, flavour packed, well-priced Italian food I can’t think of anywhere that competes in London right now. Rush in and waddle out.
Burns Night Himalayan Fling at Babur – 25 January
Back by popular demand, Babur’s Burns Night Himalayan Fling is an event you won’t want to miss. In aid of the Gurkha Welfare Trust, the evening begins with a Gurkha piper heralding the entrance of the Nepalese bhuton, a haggis like dish.