Intoxicating Prose

• Temporary Break in Transmission

  THE past months have played like Pinball. I will be taking a couple of weeks to breathe and recharge, returning revitalised with a dashing spread of articles. See you then and merry Christmas... [...]
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  Posted: December 13, 2009, 1:21pm EST
  

• Re-Generating Tuscany

  ‘I WANTED the ceiling to be vaulted, but my sister, Agnese – the architect – insisted it should be level,’ said Felippo Mazzei of Fonterutoli, whose ancestor recorded the name ‘Chianti’ over 600-years ago. Lined in quartz-specked concrete and propped by a grid of needle-like pillars, the stark, ultra-modern, gravity-fed [...]
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  Posted: December 09, 2009, 9:38pm EST
  

• Oat Cuisine to Haute Cuisine

  [First published: Delicious]‘I LIVE in fear of the day a chav chef deep fries another headline-grabbing monstrosity,’ hissed Graeme Pallister, co-owner of 63 Tay Street in Perth, Scotland’s first city to be crowned a ‘Cittaslow’ by Slow Food. ‘That Mars bar killed us. We’ve got great scenery, history and people, [...]
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  Posted: December 06, 2009, 7:01pm EST
  

• Hebridean 'Love Boat'

  ‘You can do twins in there’ said Chief Purser, Dave Inge. Despite the fact that the ‘Hebridean Princess’ had been termed ‘a love boat’ by speaker, Martin Bell OBE on account of the frequent marriages between passengers and passengers, crew and crew, and possibly passengers and crew, Inge was not [...]
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  Posted: November 30, 2009, 5:38am EST
  

• Hove-ward Bound

  CONSIDERING consumption (and copulation) are life’s cornerstones, the desire to know what others are eating is hardly surprising. But bites for bytes, it does seems that everyone has become a critic these days, vis-à-vis the Big Bang of blogs, review sites and real-time, mealtime, ‘Twitter’ updates...Such instant, accessible and often [...]
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  Posted: November 25, 2009, 5:00am EST
  

• Style, Scanned

  MARINA, author of addictive fashion site, 'Style Scanner' and partner of cork connoisseur, Jonathan ('Wine Splodge') is hosting this decadently dressed mannequin. Dazed and hungover, I snapped it following the 24-hour train journey from St. Pancras to Portugal for the European Wine Bloggers Conference. Read Marina's interpretation HERE.To recall the [...]
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  Posted: November 24, 2009, 6:21am EST
  

• Express Distress

  THE rambling basement sequel to Waterloo’s ‘Bangalore Express’ has a colour scheme resembling a hyped sports shoe, austere seating and A3 placemats that double as menus (supplemented by a la carte flyers).The food compliment comprises a bewilderingly expansive array of dishes, from Indi-tapas to solitary low fat plate, via (drawing [...]
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  Posted: November 22, 2009, 6:41pm EST
  

• Cutting Cheese on Moxon Street

  ‘All top gastronomy writers survive on Milk Thistle – you really must start taking it,’ advised Dacotah Renneau, the venerable PR from leading Prosecco producer, ‘Bisol’. In addition to Mark Hix’s tenderly cured salmon, Richard Haward’s fragrant native oysters and La Fromagerie’s artisan cheeses, Dacotah’s tall flutes offered revitalisation. They [...]
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 3:48am EST
  

• Roasting Guests

  THERE is, as the adage goes, no such thing as a free lunch. Owing to the intensity and expectation of organisers, I found a recent meal at Borough Market’s British restaurant, ‘Roast’ occasionally hard to digest.Invited by England’s largest wine producer, ‘Chapel Down’, who are based in picture postcard, Tenterden, [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 5:32am EST
  

• Lisbon, Part Three

  UNLIKE the majority of summits and symposiums, Bacchus’ ferment was a constant bedfellow at the European Wine Bloggers Conference. Held at the ‘VIP’ Grand Lisboa, an angular, orange pen for drab suits, with pebbly feng shui bits and a bar menu boasting ‘bee fillet’ (the sting was in the price) [...]
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  Posted: November 13, 2009, 12:17pm EST
  

• Off the Rails

  PRESSED against the tinny fuselage of train number two – the Metro – we darted under Paris from the elegant Gare du Nord to jagged-looking, ‘Fritz Lang’ like hell, Gare Montparnasse. Our next transport, announced by a hectic, tick-ticking departures board, would cut to Basque border town, Irun, best known [...]
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  Posted: November 10, 2009, 4:40am EST
  

• Dawn Bubbles

  ANDREW, author of ‘Spitton.biz’ forced me to go to the wine bloggers conference in Lisbon. I’ll be honest – the idea of actually paying to take a seat amidst 150 self-important, klaxon-loud alcoholics held all the appeal of acupuncture through the heart (which I suffered last week). He dressed it [...]
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  Posted: November 09, 2009, 9:47am EST
  

• Spirited Marriages at Simpson’s

  I TWIRLED through Europe’s second ever revolving door into dapper institution, ‘Simpson’s In The Strand’ this afternoon. Established in 1828 on the site of the Fountain Inn - home to literary association, the ‘Kit Kat Club’ - its chequerboard floors, tiles and knight motifs nod to a past when patrons [...]
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  Posted: November 05, 2009, 4:30am EST
  

• Wedding Posset

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  Posted: October 30, 2009, 6:00am EDT
  

• Drinking in Autumn

  For opinion on wine merchant, Berry, Bros. & Rudd's Autumn Tasting, please venture HERE. [...]
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  Posted: October 27, 2009, 7:26am EDT
  

• My Table, Tweeted

  Is it possible to engage readers with a restaurant review of 140 characters or fewer? Here is my attempt for Beauberry House, 1 Gallery Rd., Dulwich. SE21: 'Beauberry House: gen. tidy req'd; odd camel cage odour; St. E '85 =£45; kitchen calibrated (veal fillet & t. tatin on £21/3cs striking)' [...]
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  Posted: October 26, 2009, 7:37am EDT
  

• Cutting Colourful Cloth in a Drab Economy

  Read my latest review of Hotel Missoni: HERE [...]
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  Posted: October 22, 2009, 10:14am EDT
  

• Roy Brett's 'Cool' Bar

  THERE is a breed of restaurant critics best-known for bloating their pages with musings on life, the universe and everything except the food. Whilst I understand the temptation to try to transcend the formula of writing three courses in three acts, noting celebrity diners and nodding at the décor, some [...]
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  Posted: October 20, 2009, 5:50pm EDT
  

• Park Drinkers

  LAST year, I was gifted this handsome-looking 1964 Barolo by the owner of an antiques shop on the Italian riviera. I think his generousity was explained by the fact he had reached the third stage of his T-Shirt, which read, ‘1 Grappa, 2 Grappa, 3 Grappa - Floor’. He advised [...]
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  Posted: October 16, 2009, 5:00am EDT
  

• Ice Man

  ‘Cocorino’ is a story in two halves – gelateria and focacceria, each with their own doors. Brought to you by L’Anima restaurant’s dynamic chef, Francesco Mazzei, who worked in his family’s Calabrian gelateria and pastry shop aged eight, and Linda Yau, sister of his long-term mentor, Alan, the launch of [...]
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  Posted: October 09, 2009, 4:25am EDT
  

• Quartz to Crystal

  Following his first glass masterclass in Britain, I caught-up with Maximilian Riedel, 11th generation figurehead of the world’s most famous luxury glassware firm. It was founded in 1756 in northern Bohemia. How should ‘Riedel’ be pronounced?It rhymes with ‘needle’. How was your first professional visit to London? I have fallen [...]
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  Posted: October 06, 2009, 4:50am EDT
  

• Redefining Meals on Wheels

  I venture to vegetarian restaurant, ‘Carnevale’ off Whitecross Market for the launch of the inaugural ‘British Street Food Awards’… STREET food need not be about ‘E-Coli, Mr. Whippy or sausages from a tin’ according to food columnist and broadcaster, Richard Johnson. Through his newly established British Street Food Awards, the 46 [...]
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  Posted: October 01, 2009, 5:00am EDT
  

• Mankind's Survival is at 'Steak'

  DURING my documentary-making days, I developed one or two brave ideas with silver-topped, green-shoed, acutely political Executive Producer, Christopher Hird. Perhaps most notably, Hird worked on Rupert Murray’s ‘End of The Line’ film. His latest endeavour, ‘PLANEAT’ poses a provocative challenge to blind mastication. Representing the first feature-length documentary from [...]
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  Posted: September 29, 2009, 6:46am EDT
  

• Tables Talk

  FEW of my friends would envy the prize, especially considering the 8am start it warranted. But Lady Luck aside, I had been so motivated by the idea of attending Caterer and Hotelkeeper’s annual Chef Conference at the Jumeirah Tower, Knightsbridge, that I had considered self-financing the £207 outlay. However, by [...]
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  Posted: September 28, 2009, 4:06pm EDT
  

• Bringing Gastronomy to Gaol

  Library Picture‘I’M TRYING to get hold of mulberries. Have you ever had one?’ asked Executive Chef, Alberto Crisci MBE. ‘I tasted my first ten days ago and have got to get them on the menu!’Whilst this would seem a straightforward remark in a ‘normal’ restaurant, it became surreal in a [...]
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  Posted: September 24, 2009, 4:13pm EDT
  

• Blush Wine

  IN today’s Observer, Master of Wine and co-founder of Wine Gang, Tim Atkin (pictured) generously recommended ‘Intoxicating Prose’ as one of seven favoured wine blogs. In addition to this site, he described wineanorak.com, simonwoods.com, spittoon.biz, wine-journal.com, rebeccagibb.com, and wineconversation.com as standing out from ‘dull’ blogs, which are:‘...proliferating like randy rabbits [...]
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  Posted: September 20, 2009, 7:38am EDT
  

• Dominic Chapman: Casting His Own Shadow

  ‘Whilst we’ve caught the odd stranger approaching Michael to slip him a demo CD, or pass on a love letter to Kylie, more people come for our Scotch eggs than the celebrity connection,’ chuckled Dominic Chapman, chef of Sir Michael Parkinson’s ‘Royal Oak’ pub, Paley Street. Just voted ‘Best-Ever Scotch [...]
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  Posted: September 14, 2009, 9:20am EDT
  

• Printing Palates with Fire & Knives

  Renowned food writer, broadcaster and photographer Tim Hayward on the launch of new quarterly, ‘Fire & Knives’ - ‘new writing for food lovers’... A new print title - are you mad, Tim?I’m pretty sure I’m sane. Firstly, everyone this is targetted at is a food lover with a bookshelf. Secondly, [...]
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  Posted: September 09, 2009, 10:04am EDT
  

• Bars to Bibendum

  WHAT an odd day yesterday turned out to be. I had a good lunch at her Majesty’s pleasure in a restaurant behind bars (which ironically turned out not to have one) followed by black tie dinner and dance in Europe’s largest ballroom. For the latter, I was guest of Dan [...]
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  Posted: September 03, 2009, 4:59am EDT
  

• Champagne for my Sham Friends; Real Pain for my Real Friends

  I RECENTLY had breakfast with Walter Speller at Soho culinary playpen, ‘Bob Bob Ricard’. In my opinion, Speller is one of the wine trade’s most passionate story-tellers (see, and subscribe to, his polemical blog, ‘Sucking Grapes’, motto of which is ‘opinions against tunnel vision’).Financed by at least one Russian oligarch, [...]
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  Posted: September 02, 2009, 10:00pm EDT
  

• The Time is Sprite

  CHEF Roy Brett is so excited by his latest venture that he can hardly sleep. Named ‘Ondine’ after the water sprite who marries a mortal in Sir Frederick Ashton’s ballet, the 80 plus cover seafood bar and restaurant opens soon. Neighbour to the first haute couture hotel from ‘Missoni’, it [...]
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  Posted: September 01, 2009, 6:03am EDT
  

• Following Fleet

  TWO foraging carnivores have modestly gentrified Clerkenwell’s ‘Coach & Horses’ into gastropub territory. However rather than tick box diners expectant of Michelin frippery alongside a beer garden / sprog storage pen, it now draws genuinely hungry foodies craving good value, hearty quality. With a cellar strung with home-cured frankfurters of [...]
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  Posted: August 29, 2009, 5:20am EDT
  

• Pictured today: a good lunch at The ...

  Pictured today: a good lunch at The Ledbury followed by miscreant behaviour near Portobello Market. [...]
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  Posted: August 28, 2009, 5:49pm EDT
  

• Taking a shot at The Glorious Twelfth

  THE taunting grouse cries of ‘goback, goback, goback ’ preceded a whirring of wings. Clad in smart tweed camouflage, our tightly structured line halted, raised shotguns to our shoulders, took aim and fired. With a whiff of sulphur, the detonations briefly shattered the peace of the valley. As a beaten [...]
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  Posted: August 26, 2009, 4:22am EDT
  

• '#lanima'

  IN the frame, wine writer Jamie Goode and I make our pitch to voters for the L'Anima Wine Challenge '09.You can see films from our competitors and cast your vote (for us, please!) HERE. Winners will be announced on Thursday. [...]
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  Posted: August 24, 2009, 8:19pm EDT
  

• Hash (Tags) and Alcohol

  AS a ‘friend’ of the city’s most stylish Italian restaurant, ‘L’Anima’ (I interviewed chef Francesco Mazzei for The Guardian) I have agreed to take part in an interactive wine tasting tomorrow afternoon. The premise of sommelier, Gal Zohar: to democratise part of his selection process using a bit of theatre [...]
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  Posted: August 23, 2009, 8:58am EDT
  

• On-Site Parking

  BYPASSING a stalled lift, the mirror of which was scrawled with ‘Heaven’, I took a deep breath of ammonia infused air and crept up a ramp through dark, hellish gates. On one of the wettest evenings outside a rainforest, I had come to ‘Bold Tendencies’, the third summer showcase from [...]
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  Posted: August 19, 2009, 5:30am EDT
  

• A Shucking Tradition

  THERE exist almost untouchable restaurants. ‘Institutions’ protected by the armour of tradition and gilt-edge of hearsay. From stuffy old piles with threadbare edges to dinky dens run by unpredictable proprietors. I predict that the critic controversial enough to pour vitriol over such endearingly eccentric eateries would encounter a barrage of [...]
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  Posted: August 14, 2009, 12:30pm EDT
  

• Cultured Milk: ‘Frae’

  Rather than silver spoons, two Glaswegian entrepreneurs were seemingly born with biodegradable starch ones in their mouths... ISLINGTON’S bazaar lined Camden Passage boasts a new foodie attraction: a parlour purveying swirls and smoothies blended from frozen yoghurt. Meaning ‘from’ in Glaswegian, ‘Frae’ was founded by two university friends born and [...]
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  Posted: August 12, 2009, 5:00am EDT
  

• À la Carte Doorbell Dining

  HERE is a little food pornography showing how domestic restaurateur extraordinaire, Arno Rupert Maasdorp, spent his 'day off' yesterday - preparing a cornucopia of colourful dishes. He generously invited me along to an open house. Look closely at the strawberry salad. ...succulent slithers of beef on the bone with densely [...]
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  Posted: August 10, 2009, 7:35am EDT
  

• Edible Ethics

  THE title of this restaurant worried me. Not only does it have ‘Carry On’ connotations, it also sounds like the title of a hellish, low budget, box-ticking sitcom.Located in somewhat claustrophobic arches between Brighton’s ruined piers, one a listed wreck and the other a luminous palace of tat, this shabby-chic, [...]
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  Posted: August 07, 2009, 5:00am EDT
  

• From Roulette to Rillette

  FROM working at Washington’s ‘Watergate’ to opening Las Vegas’ ‘Playboy Bunny’, Jacques Van Staden now has a new ambition. The Food and Beverage Vice President of ‘Celebrity Cruises’, a luxury fleet of ten leviathans, with three more on the way, intends his most upmarket restaurant on ‘Celebrity Equinox’ to be [...]
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  Posted: August 03, 2009, 12:50pm EDT
  

• An Arran Adventure

  TV PRESENTER turned ‘Godhead’, David Icke predicted that by Christmas 1991, great earthquakes would obliterate Cuba, Greece and the Isle of Arran. Despite evidence of volcanic activity some 60 million years ago, I am glad to report that my recent visit to what has been branded ‘Scotland in Miniature’ proved [...]
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  Posted: July 31, 2009, 4:50am EDT
  

• Fair Mayfair

  WHEN spread, the pinkish orbs of Semplice’s menu resemble a g-stringed bottom. A curious detail to have slipped the attention of the posterior (oops, interior) designer responsible for rehabilitating London’s first ‘Spaghetti House’ into Michelin stardom. But beyond that interpretation, the dining room is a chic space in the seam [...]
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  Posted: July 29, 2009, 4:56am EDT
  

• Water Terroirists...

  ...beyond the question, ‘still or sparkling’APART FROM being the basis for all known life, I have long harboured an interest in the nuances of H2O, visiting Buxton and Vittel’s bottling plants and Bath’s Roman Spa. I was thirsty, therefore, to drink-in the argument of recent ‘Best Sommelier in the World’, [...]
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  Posted: July 27, 2009, 4:50am EDT
  

• On Eat Street

  LINEN curtains pursed against neighbours prying eyes, food stylist, photographer and painter, Arno Maasdorp fought a battle against an oyster the size of a slipper. His increasingly famous, debonair moustache shielded any exasperation. Once severed from its ancient looking shell, he fleetingly steamed the specimen, crafting an instinctively complimentary sauce [...]
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  Posted: July 23, 2009, 4:35am EDT
  

• Levi Roots

  Following a memorable musical pitch, Levi Roots, 50, won BBC’s ‘Dragon’s Den’ with his potent ‘Reggae Reggae’ sauce. In exchange for a 40% stake in his business, he secured the support of millionaire ‘Dragons’, Peter Jones and Richard Farleigh – not to mention £50,000. Roots’ life has been fascinating: from [...]
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  Posted: July 20, 2009, 5:21am EDT
  

• Yawning at Quilon

  “You’ve got to write hell or heaven,” advised my friend, Will Gau, months ago. “No one wants to read about a restaurant that’s just okay.” Well, ‘Quilon’ peddles purgatory - so look away now...In a misguided attempt to camouflage what may well be London’s most soulless hotel dining room, shrubs [...]
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  Posted: July 16, 2009, 8:55pm EDT
  

• My Path: Richard Bigg

  Richard Bigg, 46, has been described as ‘the grand druid of hip hangouts’. He founded Shoreditch’s ‘Cantaloupe’ bar in 1995 followed by ‘Cargo’, ‘Market Place’, ‘The Big Chill’ and ‘Camino’. He lives in Sussex with his wife and two young children. I met him at Camino, the Observer Food Monthly’s [...]
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  Posted: July 14, 2009, 7:30pm EDT
  

• ‘I Scream for Ice Cream’

  I OFTEN wonder whether I will ever redeem the cost of my education. In a lean moment, having being rejected by John Lewis’ lighting department, I resorted to handing my heat-bound C.V. to a similarly dejected-looking ice cream vendor in central Milton Keynes. I never heard more, which was deeply [...]
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  Posted: July 13, 2009, 5:00am EDT