Gastroblog
The great and the greedy turned out last night for the annual Observer Food Monthly awards at the Freemasons Hall in Covent Garden. Hot Dinners spotted chefs Pierre Koffmann, Benares' Atul Kocchar and Franceso Mazzei from Anima in the crowd.
Another familiar face was Edinburgh's Tom Kitchin who was making his second trip to the capital in as many weeks, this time to pick up the award for Best Rest…
Read more: Observer Food Monthly Awards 2010 winners announced
He's a busy chap is Jamie Oliver - not only was he working too hard to accept his award for Best Food Personality at the Observer Food Monthly Awards last night because he was filming in Yorkshire, now we learn that he's just signed a deal to write a vegetarian cookbook.In a webchat with parenting website Mumsnet this morning Oliver announced; 'I'm gonna do a big veggie bible in the next year. I j…
Read more: Jamie Oliver wants more women chefs in top restaurants
As sore heads all over town celebrate another London Cocktail Week, classic gin brand Tanqueray kept the drinks flowing with an upscale dinner at Babylon Restaurant at the Kensington Roof Gardens. Master Distiller Tom Nichol hosted an intimate dinner for around 20 guests, designed around an inventive cocktail menu showcasing Tanqueray to its full, heady effect.
From champagne cocktails on the terr…
Have you ever arrived back from enjoying the delightful boulangeries and charcuteries of France, only to be greeted in Gatwick by the depressing smell of “abattoir slurry” that, according to food critic Jonathan Meades, is the trademark of a mass-produced Cornish Pasty? For people like Meades, returning to England from a country which boasts cuisine that sets the bench mark for fine dining only re…
Read more: Is French cuisine a spent force? The Big Debate reviewed
There's really no competition: 2011's most anticipated restaurant by a city mile has got to be Heston Blumenthal's new restaurant at the Mandarin Oriental in Knightsbridge. So when Hot Dinners bumped into Heston and the new restaurant's head chef Ashley Palmer Watts in London last week, we simply had to pump them for information on the new opening (on January 29, 2011). Luckily for us, instead of…
Read more: Exclusive: Inside look on what to expect at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal
Hot Dinners gets a red-hot exclusive on what we can expect at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal from its Head Chef Ashley Palmer Watts…
Read more: Preparing Heston's Blumenthal's Dinner - an exclusive interview with Ashley Palmer Watts
Notting Hill restaurant The Ledbury has ousted The Fat Duck from its spot as National Restaurant of the Year, according to Restaurant Magazine. In their 2010 awards, announced in London tonight, The Ledbury beat The Fat Duck and newcomer Bistro Bruno Loubet to the top spot.The Ledbury jumped from last year's position at 31 to topple The Fat Duck from its position as No 1. Other newcomers were Bist…
Read more: Ledbury ousts The Fat Duck as UK's No 1 restaurant
Quizmeister Anne Robinson cowed the unruly masses at the London Restaurant Festival's Big Quiz last night which was held at Le Cafe Anglais. Changing tack from last year's festival quiz which pitted critics against chefs, this year the questions were opened out to festival-goers who were quizzed on everything from their starters to the companions of current restaurant critics.
Round after round ut…
Read more: Anne Robinson chairs London Restaurant Festival Big Quiz
It's been the poorest-held secret in restaurant circles that Angela Hartnett wanted her freedom. Today she finally announced that she's buying her restaurant Murano from Gordon Ramsay Holdings and going it alone.
In a statement released today, Hartnett said; "After 17 amazing years working with Gordon and all the team at GRH, the time is right to stand on my own two feet and have my own restaurant…
Chef Anthony Demetre is best known for the highly successful Soho and Mayfair restaurants he runs with partner Will Smith, Arbutus and Wild Honey. On the eve of the opening of the duo's new restaurant, Les Deux Salons, Hot Dinners caught up with him to find out what makes his restaurants such hits.…
Read more: Anthony Demetre on Arbutus, Wild Honey and the opening of Les Deux Salons
They've often been likened to modern-day Willy Wonka's now foodie experience-creators Bompas & Parr are going to be opening an pop-up Chewing Gum Factory at Whiteleys Shopping Centre in Bayswater for a week. Visitors to Whiteley's will have a choice of more than 200 flavours they can combine to make 40,000 combinations. How about a Hendricks Gin and tonic flavour or a curry and beer yeast gum…
Read more: Bompas & Parr's chewing gum factory for Whiteley's
There was an astonishingly A-list chef turnout last night at Brown's Hotel at a party for the retiring Editor of the Michelin Guide, Derek Bulmer. Brown's, as Bulmer explained, was chosen as it was the hotel he'd been working in over 30 years ago when he read the job advert from Michelin which changed his life. Hot Dinners saw Claude Bosi, Pierre Koffmann, Heston Blumenthal, Gary Rhodes, Tom Aiken…
Read more: A-list chef turnout for Michelin Editor's retirement party
Visitors to this year's Frieze Art Fair in Regent's Park won't have a problem finding somewhere good to eat, when all that deciding which modern masterpiece will look best over the fireplace gives them an appetite. In addition to Mark Hix's pop-up Hix Oyster Bar & Restaurant which will run for the duration of the fair (7-10 October 2010), Sketch's Pierre Gagnaire will also be cooking for the f…
Read more: Mark Hix and Pierre Gagnaire headline chefs at London Frieze
Hot Dinners popped down last night to the Tramshed in Old Street to the launch of London's latest pop-up - the Innocent 5 for 5 Cafe.
With food created by TV chef Gizzi Erskine, the pop up is a full-on healthy affair, with a meal there designed to complete your 5 a day requirements. Gizzi told us; "The whole point of the Five for Five thing is that we're doing 2 courses for £5 and in your two cou…
Read more: Getting your 5-a-day with the Innocent pop-up cafe in Old Street
Read more: The Savoy Truffle Club London Restaurant Pop-up reviewed
