Let’s face it: we have all been having quite a party in London for the last 10 years. There has been exceptional creativity, and the rewards have been prolific for the best, but the sheer quantity of eating out venues has been mind-boggling. The current model of highly leveraged operations reliant on packing people into …
Environment
Le Snacking in Paris
City restaurant tours have become much easier with the fashion of small plate eating. This is particularly the case in London where starter sized portions are now possible in many critically acclaimed restaurants and cafés at any time of the day. In Paris restaurants the lunch menu is still usually offered at a prix fixe, …
Bonnie Gull
Pop ups are a good idea. For the novelty and ephemerality element obviously, but also from a practical point of view. You can try out an idea first before committing to a long lease. Alex Hunter and Danny Clancy had been wholesale seafood suppliers before teaming up with another wholesaler, this time of game, to …
Princi Pizzeria
Princi in Wardour Street has been evolving nicely over 4 years. It never needs to shout about itself in the press, as the hordes of switched on Italian tourists and media folk create buzz aplenty, against the continuous gentle chaos, day and night. The partnership of Alan Yau and the boutique Milanese baker Rocco Princi …
Beauty in the Making
This subject is a bit off piste for this blog, but there is a connection as I will explain later. Yesterday, I was searching for Ben Townsend to take a picture of him for a piece on the Espresso Room in Bloomsbury (coming next). I found him in the basement of Victoria House the running …
Postcards from India (1) – Ananda in the Himalayas
It’s difficult to pigeon hole Ananda, because it is unlike any other spa or retreat I have come across. Was I going to an ashram? I was asked before going there. No, it wasn’t quite like that – too comfortable, based as it was in a maharaja’s palace with British Raj connections. It is a …
Eden Caterers
I had been badgered for months by Mike Green of Tapwater.org to meet the owners of Eden Catering. I was hesitant: I couldn’t see how I could help them or them me. You’ll just get on, Mike persisted. They’re passionate in what they do. They keep bees and produce their own honey. That clinched it; …
Merci – Paris on tap (2)
Merci, a much written about enterprise in Paris 3eme, combines two marketable qualities: style and altruism. The building is cool; a former factory with an old red Fiat 500 visible at its entrance through a courtyard. Once inside, the floors are filled with cabinets/tables/racks of interesting desirable things to wear and for the household, all …
Eau de Paris – Paris on tap (1)
While Tapwater.org is leading the way in London and the rest of the UK towards a bottle-free existence, Paris is making efforts too in this most worthy of causes. France is apparently the eighth biggest consumer of bottled mineral water in the world, and particularly of sparkling, and so habits have died hard. Eau de …
