Firstly, my apologies for not having posted a recipe for a while. I have just moved house, and until recently my kitchen has born more resemblance to a wardrobe than a place for cooking. But I've finally managed to sort myself out, so I thought I'd share a favourite recipe of mine: vegetable risotto. The beauty of this dish is that you can completely adapt it to your liking (or to whatever vegetables you have lying around in the fridge). It does take a little bit of time to cook, but I think it's totally worth it.
I love Christmas. It's as simple as that. Mince pies, carols, sparkly trees - what more could anyone want?!
Well, one integral aspect of the celebrations in my household is Christmas cake. And I know lots of people say they don't like it (too dense, too fruity, too whatever else) but it really does capture the essence of Christmas, so I thought I'd share my version with you. It''s originally a Nigella recipe, but I've made quite a lot of changes, creating what I think is the perfect Christmas cake. Hope you like it too!
At the weekend I lunched at Inamo on Wardour Street which offers ‘Oriental fusion cuisine’. Inamo is very futuristic, each table has a projector overhead
and diners can use a touch screen to order food, play games and even change the
tablecloth! I thought that these gimmicks would detract from the
food, however the food was delicious and I’d love to return.
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The day after Halloween I took a friend to one of my favourite pubs. The Lighthouse has always had an artistic feel to it but this time the people in charge of the decor had surpassed themselves. Every little detail from the ghostly portraits with moving images on the walls to the pumpkin on the haunted piano screamed for attention and made our afternoon tea feel like a mini Halloween party.
Last night we decided to treat ourselves to a bit of a fancy dinner, so off we went to Marble 8. Everyone I had spoken to - my parents, my friends, my colleagues - waxed lyrical about the food and the ambiance so I had very high expectations.
The first thing to note about Marble 8 is that it is the sister restaurant to Marini's on 57, so expect swanky, polished and ultimately very modern interiors. However, Marble 8 differs from Marini's in that there is lots of black furniture, glass, and low lighting, meaning that the atmosphere is a lot moodier. Another difference is that Marble 8 is situated in a house, whereas Marini's is high up in the Twin Towers. Don't be fooled by the word 'house' though - a bar, wine room, restaurant and prive are all located inside a very large bungalow. The overall effect is therefore of a mini complex where you can go for a drink and/or food and/or just to hang out. Pretty cool!
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I went to Yeast for dinner on Thursday with two friends I hadn't seen in years. Having eaten at Yeast on one previous occasion, I had high expectations - I remember the food being pretty darn good.
We decided to skip the starters and head straight for the main courses. I chose the pan seared chicken breast with onion and lemon marmalade, garlic & herb croquette, mixed fresh vegetables and chicken jus (or, if you want to be fancy, poelee de supreme de volatile et compote d'oignons au citron).
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A while ago Hannah and I wanted to take a friend out for afternoon tea for a birthday treat (we're totally selfless - honest!). We had a little look on the internet for something a bit different and came across this one at The Sanderson. Set just North of Oxford Street, The Sanderson is an ultra-modern, glitzy hotel, with an amazing long bar which I'll definitely be heading back to - word on the street is the cocktails are to die for.
But I digress - back to afternoon tea. The theme is that of the mad hatter's tea party: diners are invited to 'tumble down the rabbit hole' and be immersed in the utter magic that is Alice in Wonderland. The menus are hidden inside vintage books, the tea sets are specially designed for the theme with kings, queens, animals and clocks painted onto them, and the napkins are held together by little quotations.
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