May 2012
1 post
2 tags
Whitechapel Gallery Dining Room by Angela Hartnett
After ‘Six Female Chefs, Three London Dinners’ super chef Angela Hartnett kindly invited me to dine at The Whitechapel Dining Room. What a treat.
Whitechapel is a simple dining room, with small tables all set out without fuss or ceremony , the simplicity creating an intimate, homely ambiance.
The staff are relaxed and friendly, happy to have a laugh and a joke while been effortlessly...
April 2012
2 posts
Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby staring James Kermack
Few actors have the guts or indeed the talent to perform in a one man show and of those who do, it is very rare that the audience is enthralled the entire way through. So captivated in Kermacks performance were the audience members at The Carriage works in Leeds they had to be prompted.
With a cheeky smile, a controlled lean forward and his Walthamstow twang “you can clap now”...
3 tags
L'anima, Italian for Soul.
So it’s nearly Taste Of London time again and what better than to head to one of it’s favorite restaurants, L’anima.
I’ve known Francesco the Owner for several years now and he is certainly a vibrant, full of life character, he had headed back to the homeland for his Easter holidays and left Chappers and I in the very capable hands of his staff, what a treat.
I would say...
March 2012
3 posts
Chinese Buffet! Laureate 64 Shaftesbury Avenue
I think if you are going to write a food blog it is important to be varied and honest in your discovery of different dining experiences.
So here goes. Chinese Buffet.
I am, it’s no lie, not a fan of buffets. I dislike serving myself and the thought that the food could potentially have had an all night party in the steel tins makes me slightly green around the gills!
Saying that when your...
1 tag
Moritz Barcelona
Moritz is a cool, edgy Spanish Beer bar with an open brewery downstairs, brewing some great simple, light but tasty beers, coming from a lady that doesn’t particularity dig beer is saying something.
The staff including the chefs seen at work from the open kitchen all look a little like they are auditioning for Mario Cart the restaurant game, the chef had the most awesome mustache and...
1 tag
4Gats Barcelona
4Gats or Four Cats was recommended to me by our landlord as soon as we checked into the apartment in Barcelona last week. What a star.
It’s super central, literally just a minutes walk off the main high street La Rambla on a beautiful old cobbled street instantly taking you back to the 1800’s.
Walking through the bar you can hear the buzz from the packed restaurant. A man sits...
January 2012
3 posts
1 tag
Industry Zen, Auckalnd, New Zealand
The day before I flew back to chilly London to reenter the real world, I was taken for lunch by a wonderful old friend.
After a heavy Christmas and New Year then rolling, literally into January when asked what I would like for lunch I cried “Sushi”.
Jen was excited, and we almost ran to Industry Zen, centrally situated a stones throw away from the ferry terminal.
The heavy wooden...
2 tags
Hotel DeBrett, Auckland
Upstairs in Hotel DeBrett at the house bar you will find Ming, friendly cocktail waiter and all round super star.
Morgan Burrett, Travel show presenter extraordinaire had filmed there the day before and as my dear friend pointed out it would be rude not to pay him a visit. So we did.
The bar, as has the rest of the hotel kept a lot of it’s original features which to be honest is a rarity...
Scotts of Mayfair
Scott’s of Mayfair has been on my food radar for sometime now. I am a huge fish lover and this is one of the finest seafood restaurants in town!
The Oyster bar looks fab, it has a real decadent feel, pillars with 1920’s style tiles surround it and in the middle there is a huge center piece with cascading ice topped with an array of seafood.
The menu is like food porn, crude I know...
December 2011
3 posts
2 tags
Playboy Bunny Christmas Party
So this is how the conversation went…..
Fiona; Hey lovely, fancy coming to the Playboy Club Christmas party?
Jo; Hell yes.
Fiona; Great
Jo; Oh wait on, what’s the dress code? I wouldn’t want to turn up looking like Bridget Jones in her dodgy inappropriate bunny outfit!!!
And so it began!
So my imagination created this soft focus world of beautiful ladies with fury behinds...
1 tag
Boozy lunch at The Thomas Cubitt
Out for a boozy lunch at The Thomas Cubitt in Belgravia, started with a rather nice Sauvignon Blanc , chilled perfectly and served by an attentive waitress.
The bar has an open farmhouse kitchen feel to it, with big old wooden tables and some communal dining. They hadn’t gone all out with Christmas decorations but when your brought up but a mother who believes you can never have enough...
3 tags
Dinner at Mishkins
Mishkins opened on the 25th November 2011, on Catherine Street bang opposite the Novello Theatre in Covent Garden.
If I’m honest I hadn’t heard of the Polpo restaurants, of which there are now five, owned by Russell Norman and Richard Beatty, however last week Mishkins came onto my radar several times, the buzz around their new place is spreading like wild fire!
As I entered the already...
November 2011
5 posts
1 tag
Snails and Rice Pudding!
After having the pleasure of visiting the newly opened Soif on Battersea Rise when the opportunity came to try out one of Oli Barker and Ed Wilsons other restaurants, Terroirs, I nearly fell over myself to get there!
Arriving into the busy but relaxed upstairs wine bar I instantly warmed to the simple but honest décor. Greeted by friends who had pre ordered a glass of bubbles, natural of...
5 tags
When 'TheTravel Bug' came to town!
What a girl needs on a night out or just in general to be honest is a nice surprise.
When I walked into The Pink Chihuahua the other day that is exactly what I got, in the form of two Kiwi guys, fresh in off the boat!
Morgan Burrett, high energy, will try anything Presenter of The Travel Bug and Andy Grant cameraman extraordinaire spun on their bar stools to meet an excitable Joe Wadsack and...
“There is no love sincerer than the love of food.”
– George Bernard Shaw
5 tags
A sneaky peak at Soif
I love it when a text arrives asking if I would like to attend a restaurant opening, wait there give me a second, ohh how about YES.
When I arrived my friends Theirry and Selma were running fashionably late and I, as always unfashionably early. After years of my parents making us late for every event in Yorkshire I refuse to be late if I can help it!
Soif meaning Thirsty and seldom...
7 tags
On the town with Joe Wadsack
My day with Joe Wadsack started as it would finish with excitement, chatter and a glass of sparkles. First point of call after arriving at Masterchef Live was The Loch Ryan Oyster Fishery co, for possibly the juiciest set of Oysters I’ve ever slipped down!
Upstairs in the Wine Show, Joe took a large group through a hot to trot Wine Walk, which was engaging to all ages,...
