Valentina Harris – interview
One would think that Valentina Harris is the quintessential English lady, well-spoken with Home Counties proper accent; but there is something else. Turn the sound...
Wahaca for Breakfast – Charlotte Street – restaurant review
Wahaca is something of a London institution. It’s popular for one very good reason: it’s good. Its restaurants all have individual style but there is...
Tasting India by Christine Manfield – review
I enjoy almost every book that crosses my desk (now a uni-leg computer stand from a Swedish lifestyle emporium). Some are simple but informative volumes,...
Celebrity Bake Book – Mary Berry – cookbook review
It’s a feel-good cookbook in every regard. It’s in support of The Ben Kinsella Trust, which was set up to raise awareness of knife crime...
Pure Vanilla by Shauna Sever – review
It once was a flavour or, more honestly, a non-flavour that harked back to my now-distant youth. Vanilla was the ice cream you chose when...
The Art of Pasta by Lucio Galletto and David Dale – review
Grub Street is a favourite cookbook publisher. They have kept the spirits of both Jane Grigson and Elisabeth David alive with new editions of their...
Regional Cooking of India by Mridula Baljekar – review
There are myriad Indian cookbooks available to the European reader. Most of them are good, some of them are magnificent but all of them have...
Agatha Christie in Torbay – travel review
This is a lovely part of Britain. Its climate is famed, as are its palms. It displays many of the characteristics of the “other” Riviera,...
Chef Matthew Tomkinson, The Terrace, Montagu Arms, Beaulieu – interview
He is a Michelin-starred chef and a Roux Scholarship winner but Chef Matthew Tomkinson seems untouched by his celebrity. He is a nice bloke who...