Benares was the first ever true Indian fine dining restaurant I tried, maybe 14 years ago. I remember being knocked out by the elegance of the cooking while a symphony of spices were gradually building to a mighty crescendo on my palate. I’ve had a lot of fine Indian food since then but I’ve always …
Tacos are definitely the fine dining cliche from the last 2 or 3 years. It’s the strangest thing, but I’d swear that three quarters of the tasting menus I’ve eaten lately have included some form of taco. There’s no real point I’m heading for here, I can’t really mock the trend or fall in love …
It’s great when you come away from a meal inspired. In this case I’m both inspired and armed because chef Charlie Tayler has taught me how to make herb flavoured oils! Take equal parts of herb and oil, then whiz them in a blender. Whiz them long enough that the blender heats up, gets really …
I’ve been wanting to get to Cornerstone for a while, but it’s in Hackney. And I’m south of the river. Pretty much always have been. For those who don’t know, there really do seem to be two worlds in London and you either belong to one or t’other. I can tell you all about Clapham, …
My favourite thing at Mana. They made a fudge by reducing down 120 litres of cucumber juice to a mere dollop. It no longer tasted of cucumber exactly, but still had a green note along with a deep sticky-sweet flavour a bit seaweedy. This blob made a superb relish for some insanely well cured sea …