The Streets Are Paved With…

… Gastro lairs. I’m off to London next weekend. I haven’t been for an absolute age, so I’m going to make a flying visit to see a couple of friends before heading back to the South-West where I’m in the middle of a search to buy a pub with rooms. More of that particular epic later.
So a very dear friend of mine has offered to take me out for lunch. Or dinner. Whatever I choose. How exciting! The (very) shortlist is down to two eateries, both of which I’ve read a lot about – and written about, too. The first is Camino. Now over a year old, this “love affair with Spanish food” has been wowing the critics with its detailed homage to Spanish cooking and drinking. Seasonal dishes, showcasing why Spanish cuisine is so hot right now, it’s a buzzy, effortlessly cool joint that happens to serve terrific food. I’ve heard great, great things about it and I’m desperate to try it.
Second choice is Roast. Now probably old hat to any Londoners that are reading this, I shamefully have yet to try Iqbal Wahhab’s celebration of Great British food. Eating the finest examples of regional food from all over the UK, suitably from under the eaves of one of its finest foodie havens, Borough Market, the menu reads like a love story: pressed rabbit; smoked Loch Etive trout; potted Irish salt beef; pickled Cornish herrings; pan fried lamb’s kidneys; steak and onion pudding; slow roast belly of pork with mashed potato and Bramley apple sauce. I can’t type anymore as my mouth is watering. Oh OK, here are a few of the puddings they serve: rhubarb crumble with ice cream or custard (both!); steamed ginger pudding with custard; Bakewell tart; English custard tart with Yorkshire rhubarb.
The jury is still out…

Camino, The Regent’s Quarter, King’s Cross, N1 9AF
Tel: 020 7841 7331

Roast, The Floral Hall, Stoney Street, SE1 1TL
Tel: 020 7940 1300

Heat Obsession

I love spicy food. Indian, Bangladeshi, Mexican, seeringly-hot Thai curries, the unexpected kick of a peri-peri spiced Portuguese dish and the cheeky Spanish padrón peppers that you roast on the barbecue with a splash of olive oil and sea salt: one in ten of them is capable of blowing your head off while the innocent nine are a delicious addition to a mezze platter. My new favourite condiment, annoyingly recommended by Delia Smith in her new, low-rent “Cheat” programme and book (which undoes all the good work that the likes of Jamie Oliver, Nigel Slater and Nigella Lawson have done for great, home-cooked, inspiring food; the fact that she recommends lumps of frozen mash potato is just unforgivable), is Tracklement’s Chilli Jam. A jar of warmly-spiced, sticky sweetness, I’ve started adding it to the most unlikely of dishes: leek and parmesan double-baked soufflé with a generous side order of Chilli Jam, anyone? Thought not. I’ve marinated tender free-range chicken breasts in it, and then served them with cous cous jewelled with pomegranate, pistachios and chopped up dried apricot; added it to the reduced down red onion gravy that I serve with locally-sourced Gloucester Old Spot sausages to give it a warm kick; and I’ve served it with a platter of cheeses and homemade pâté.
Made in Wiltshire since 1970, the Tracklements condiment range includes excellent mustards, an essential jar of onion marmalade, salad dressings and a fig relish that is beautiful served with cheese. Available in all good food stores, including the foodhalls at Daylesford, Selfridges, Villandry, Neal’s Yard Dairy and Harrods.

Cheese Is The New Black

If you want to be in the know at dinner parties this Christmas, I suggest you brush up on your cheese knowledge. New cheesemakers are popping up all over the place, and here in Gloucestershire we’re home to one of the most famous of them all: former bass player for Blur turned independent cheesemaker and gent of the land, Alex James. Working with a renowned cheese-making expert, James launched Little Wallop this year from his farm near Chipping Norton. He only makes 200 of the cheeses a week, and this is typical of these small-batch, independent cheese-makers.
Meanwhile, the owners of Neil’s Yard Dairy are controversially resurrecting Stichelton – a raw milk Stilton named after the town from which Stilton originated (and which is now made only in the counties of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Leicestershire). Controversial because Stilton’s big cheeses (so to speak), who control the brand much like the Champagne makers in France, stopped making raw milk versions of the blue-veined stuff years ago (when we all meant to have stopped doing anything with raw eggs, or eating anything that hadn’t been blasted by heat to make it ‘safe’) and won’t let any cheese-makers use the word ‘Stilton’ when associated with an unpasteurised cheese.
If you’re a fan of cheese and are hoping to purchase some hard-to-find varieties, then two must-visit cheese emporiums are the Fine Cheese Company in Bath and the Jermyn Street outlet of Paxton and Whitfield, where you’ll find a nose-twitching, mouthwatering display of cheeses from all over the world served by passionate experts. Definitely the places to start swotting up on your cheese facts and figures. And if you want to make a seriously good impression at a dinner party: take a wedge of Stichelton and a round of Little Wallop with you and a bottle of Port to wash it all down with.

Workin’ 9 to 5

I’ve gone and got myself a job. And it feels ever so weird. Not because I’m a shirker, and not because I’m afraid of hard work, but having owned my own business for the last eight or so years, or worked in a freelance capacity, it seems very strange to be told when to arrive and when to leave a place of work. To report to a higher being gives me a sense of religious wonderment. What if I’ve got more important things to do? Like write on my blog? Or test out a new gastropub? A bonus about my current job is that I’m responsible for buying in locally-sourced produce in the Cotswolds area. So, over the next few weeks I have to visit companies like Tracklements in Malmesbury and The Fine Cheese Company in Bath, work with suppliers like Simon Weaver (who make excellent Cotswold cheeses) and Jess’s Ladies (who have an excellent line in delicious, unpasteurised milk and cream), and put on events celebrating all of this delicious stuff. I’m literally gathering together all of my favourite foodie things, places and people in the name of work – not unlike what I do when I’m working on a magazine in an editorial capacity. It’s all for a greater good, as my current mantra goes. Myself and a team of rather talented folk are working towards launching a new luxury lifestyle title called Resource in Gloucestershire in the new year. So, to keep me out of mischief and to facilitate me meeting with lots of lovely, important, brilliant people in the area, I’ve gone and got me this job. (So if you were wondering why on earth I’d not updated Luxurylifeandstyle for a few days, now you know).

Roll With It

I’ve become something of an avid baker lately. From flatbreads and wholesome granary loaves, to arguably some of the tastiest pizzas this side of Naples, there’s something wonderfully therapeutic and relaxing about working with dough. My next kitchen purchase will have to be this beautiful rolling pin, emblazoned with the legend “Made In England”, which presses gently into your pastry or dough as you roll, creating a perfect, patriotic finish to a traditional steak and ale pie or a steaming hot apple pie. Available from the wonderful, eclectic collection of objéts handpicked by the creative and clever people at Whippet Grey, their team source products from all around the world. Order their beautiful catalogue online from:

www.whippetgrey.co.uk

Inspired By Nature

Santiago Calatrava is one of my favourite architects. His forms combine a unique mix of organic shapes and forms with unashamed modernism to create shining, soaring examples of how exhilerating modern architecture can be. His latest venture is, in my opinion, his most exciting yet, in one of the world’s architecturally most important cities. The Chicago Spire is a collection of 1200 residences on the shores of Lake Michigan, offering sweeping vistas of water as far as the eye can see on one side and a classic American cityscape on the other. The twisting tower will soar over Chicago’s already impressive skyline and will become the tallest building in the United States and the tallest residential building in the world. Set in a one-acre plaza, The Chicago Spire will boast a four-storey transparent lobby with residents benefitting from their own concierge service, a spa, a pool overlooking the Lake and a gym. Oh, and Chicago’s hottest address.

www.thechicagospire.com 

Where’s The Beef?

I’m on a business trip near Glasgow at the moment. The company footing the bill for my travels has spared no expense and have kindly put me up in a Premier Inn near to where I’m working. Which is great, I guess, as it’s so close to my place of work for the week and it means a few extra minutes in bed on these cold, Scottish winter mornings. It’s clean, the bed is really comfy (more comfy than in some five-star hotels I’ve stayed in, I have to say), there’s a bath in the bathroom (a rare sight, these days and much-needed after a day on my feet) and the staff are really sweet. OK, so there’s no phone in the room (eh?!) and the free toiletries are screwed to the wall, but we all have to slum it occasionally. Don’t we? The pièce de resistance is my £20 nightly voucher for dinner at the Beefeater next door (alcohol NOT included). I have never, ever eaten in a Beefeater before. Not even in the 1970s when I was a kid. After 10 hours on my feet, and having not done my research on the surrounding area (as Internet access costs £9 for 24 hours – disgraceful), I decided to abuse my voucher. (Let me re-iterate that I was really, really tired). Like most mainstream food brands, the Beefeater’s been given a no doubt expensive makeover. It still looks like a 1970s bungalow on the inside, but the menu has been jazzed up – in terms of design and branding – for the 21st century. It’s a scary-looking, grill-style menu that boasts 40-odd starters and main courses – not even Gordon Ramsay could churn out a menu this long and to this many covers. Scarier still is the speed of the arrival of each dish: literally two minutes after placing my order and – ping – my main course arrived. I wasn’t expecting miracles, flavour or fresh produce, but, I’ll give it this: it was just about edible, and the staff were adorable. And the place was packed! I’ve got a couple more nights to go here in Scotland and have promised myself something a little more upmarket tomorrow night, but I might just give the 70s standard of surf-and-turf a go on Thursday! When in Rome, and all that.

A Turkey Of A Christmas

I am so bored of the same old, tired bunch of Scrooges (better known as journalists, media pundits and TV chefs) who are dusted off each and every year to ‘bah humbug’ the impending Christmas season, and all of its trappings. I’m sick of their pooh-poohing of the festive season; their maligning of the roast turkey; their boredom of boardgames; their childish tantrums about having to spend one day (count them: one) with elderly relatives; their whining about the quality of Christmas television; and their ‘good old days’ rhetoric about a yuletide pre-commercialism. Get. Over. It. At least they’ve got 364 days to prepare themselves for the next one. The main area of my ennui with these killjoys are their predictable stories about ‘one-hundred-and-one alternatives to turkey’. Christmas Day is the only day of the year that I eat the fowl, and I very much look forward to my annual fill. Spare me the goose or duck or side of beef (I’ll have that on New Year’s Day, please) or the pheasants, grouse or quail-in-a-chicken-in-a-turkey-in-a-goose. I want tender, succulent, juicy slithers of roasted turkey served with goose fat-roasted potatoes, a mound of roast parsnips, sprouts with pancetta and chestnuts, homemade stuffing, and lashings of my mum’s unctuous gravy. All washed down with a couple of bottles of wine and an after-dinner glass of Port. If you’re cooking turkey for the first time this Christmas, then there’s an SMS helpline which deduces your bird’s cooking time, so that you don’t have to. Just text ‘turkey’ and the weight of your bird to 64446 and they’ll text you back. Brilliant.

Molecular Gastronomy Chez Toi

If you fancy yourself as a bit of a Ferran Adrià, Heston Blumenthal or Juan Mari Arzak, then you’re going to need some new kit for your kitchen. The dusty culinary gadgets shoved to the back of your cupboards aren’t going to help you make airs, foams or caviars of anything, after all. Infusions4chefs is a website offering specialist ingredients and equipment to budding molecular chefs, including Adrià’s Texturas products. At last, Blumenthal’s In Search Of Perfection series no longer seems like fantasy television.

www.infusions4chefs.co.uk

Do I Buy Or Do I Wait?

 

I’ve never queued outside a store for anything, so not even the arrival today of Apple’s already-iconic iPhone will make me brave the chilly winter weather. (OK, OK, so I was a little bit tempted). Besides, I think I’m going to wait to make the plunge purchase. What with the refunding shenanigans in the US, and the usual blips and hitches on a new piece of kit, I think it makes sense to bide my time. Not that this is easy for me: I got my hands on an iPhone in the Apple Store in San Francisco back in July – where excitement levels were still fever-pitch nearly a month after its US launch – and it really is a thing of sheer beauty. I oohed and aahed for a good 10 minutes until I was dragged away to do ‘proper’ sightseeing.
Another issue is that I have my current account with Orange to think about, and some of the stories I’ve seen on the web suggest that 02′s bills will be considerable for using the iPhone, in terms of calls and texts. Plus, I like Orange and their coverage is great. I shall avoid any Apple Store locations for the next few days, as I’m sure the iPhone’s lure and screams of excitement from those who have just bought it will be all too much for me to bear, and I’ll end up crumbling.

www.apple.com/iphone