Too Many Critics 2012

Over-ebullient, self-obsessed, braggy, ill-informed, pompous, irritating … these are the mildest of the uncomplimentary epithets we chuck at food critics. And many readers would like to see them well and truly stuffed. This April, Action Against Hunger is giving you the opportunity to see the critics being humiliated by top chefs, in the professional kitchen at Hawksmoor Guildhall. Revenge will definitely be on the menu.

Georgian Wine Reborn

Georgia is the oldest wine-growing country on the planet, it is also producing some of the most exciting examples of natural wine anywhere in the world. I traveled to Kakheti in the heart of Georgian wine country to find out what was behind this recent viticultural resurgence.

Chopped UK

Harry Farmer has his culinary ineptitude exposed by the judges of Chopped UK.

Asda_Wagyu_beef_will_soon_be_in_five_stores

Wagyu, the world’s most expensive beef, will be hitting butchers’ slabs in five Asda stores later this year, making Asda the first UK supermarket to sell Wagyu. And it will be available at a price we can afford. How is it possible? And why Asda? Joanna Biddolph explains …

Fine Deposits at Wine Bank

Dynamic Rheingau restaurateur turned hotelier, turned riesling producer, Balthasar Ress is not shy of courting publicity. In June, ostensibly believing it would optimise the maturation of their top cuvée, they buried 18 magnums and one Balthazar of ‘RESSpekt’ 18m below the surface of a flooded quarry. Barring visits from thirsty, thieving divers, there it will rest until 2013.

Eating up north at Bar 166 & Bistro and Voda

I found myself returning to my motherland of Yorkshire to eat at two eateries owned by Matthew Jones, a local lad who makes encouraging noises about fresh food and local produce in all the marketing material. Voda, promoted as a bar & grill, is a stone’s throw from Huddersfield railway station, while Bar 166 is a bistro in Horsforth, a town north west of Leeds.

ecoffee – it doesn’t cost the earth

With ecoffee you get a choice and the chance to feel morally comfortable too. The ‘e’ in ecoffee doesn’t mean it’s delivered via the interweb but stands for environmentally conscious. The coffee is grown on bio-diverse farms under the rain forest canopy and the coffee plants grow amongst trees and other foliage so that they are a natural part of the eco-system.

72 Hours of Prosecco

In a one man effort to drain the international supply of Prosecco, we send dedicated dipsomaniac, Douglas Blyde to Venice with premium producer, Bisol…