Cheaper Eats: Alyn Williams at The Westbury
Located just off Bond Street in Mayfair is the Westbury Hotel, from the outside it looks very little to any other 5star London hotel, but it houses a special restaurant; Alyn Williams at the Westbury. Mr Williams has come through the ranks the hard way, no TV fame & quick route to the top for … Read more
New product launch: Cacao Barry & Purity from Nature.
Tuesday night saw the launch of Cacao Barry’s new line of chocolates, at the swanky Bulgari hotel in central London. Luckily for you, the reader, I was invited along by Jellybean Creative solutions to see the launch. The event was held in the intimate surroundings of the Bulgari’s cinema, where after a couple of short … Read more
Out & about ~ Luke’s, Broadway. Created by Luke Thomas
Much has been made of the young chef Luke Thomas, ever since that programme on BBC Three, you know the one, “Britains youngest head chef“. Everywhere I go, I chat to seasoned chefs and the name of Luke Thomas always crops up; I would say the overwhelming opinion is that he needs to serve his … Read more
First look: The Yew Tree Inn, nr Newbury, Berkshire
People often talk about the six degrees of separation, but in hospitality it always seems a lot less, and mine to the Yew Tree is even less still. Firstly, as a commis I trained under one of the youngest chefs to be awarded two Michelin stars (at the Box tree, Ilkley) & who worked with … Read more
Out & About ~ The Royal Clarence, Abode Exeter, Devon
The Royal Clarence in Exeter was Micheal Caines’ first excursion into the mid hotel market; now of course there is the whole Abode brand reaching from Glasgow to Canterbury & Exeter, with Chelsea and Manchester in between. It’s been a tough lesson for the two Michelin starred chef, as this area of hotels is a … Read more
Great lunch deals in January
As you may have gathered by now, I spend an inordinate amount of time on twitter. And as I sat there watching my twitter feed constantly refreshing, I was thinking ‘what ever happened to the FT & Times lunch offers in January?’. Having said that, one of the recurring themes in the past week is … Read more
Out & About ~ Little Barwick, nr Yeovil, Somerset.
This is a post that I’ve nearly finished for some time, but life being what it is, it has been but on the back burner on more than one occasion. I’ve visited Little Barwick House twice, in 8years and to be honest it could well have been twice in 8months. Tim & Emma Ford spent … Read more
A Night of Slow Food in Devon
A couple of months ago I was invited to the press launch of the Wales & South West arm of Slow Food UK. It was a good way to chew the fat with like minded people, discussing the current state of affairs in modern kitchens, food and staffing. Geographically Wales & South West England is … Read more
The John Campbell pop up experience, South Lodge.
In a fast paced world constantly re-inventing itself, it’s hard to get excited by a temporary restaurant. There are exceptions of course, multitudes of food bloggers got into a lather last year when the highly acclaimed L’Enclume opened its two year pop up in London, many claimed that it was jumping on the band wagon … Read more