I have just spent a year in Liverpool off and on, dispersing and disposing of my late mother’s house and effects, and re-acquainting myself with the city. It is a place beguiling and infuriating in equal measures, and over the decades I have known it, prone to peaks and troughs which don’t necessarily chime with …
Reviews
La Ferme London
In case you thought there were more than enough restaurants at the Farringdon road end of Exmouth Market, let me introduce you to another one. Quietly over the last 2 months a Chinese takeaway has metamorphosed into la Ferme, a small stylish but not-at-all-trendy restaurant and shop. It couldn’t be more French if it tried. …
The Greek Larder
Theodore Kyriakou is an old hand, with great taste in spectacles. He was instrumental in 1999 in introducing Londoners to a world of Greek food away from the standard kebab, chips and salad formula, sensibly choosing bargain sites. The Real Greek opened in Hoxton Market when the area was edgy. Before this, Livebait in 1995 …
Babaji Istanbul Pide Salonu
Since Wagamama, Hakkasan and Yauatcha, Alan Yau seems to be making it increasingly tricky to pronounce the names of his enterprises. The last one, a Bangkok cafe called NaamYaa, maybe even suffered from this, although most seem now to have got their tongues round the Thai chain Busaba Eathai. Until we have the opening of …
Lima Floral – Peruvian gastro revolution (1)
What makes for a successful restaurant? The food, the food I hear you reply, but it is by no means the only factor. In fact, it is only one of many. For example the way the person who greets you is vital. That first moment of stepping on to the premises can set your mood …
La Table des Anges
Perhaps the proprietor of this restaurant was thinking of the book An Angel at My Table by the New Zealand writer Janet Frame, when he decided to build an identity to launch his new venture. But I didn’t ask him. I have the FT critic Nick Lander to thank for having found this restaurant. By …
Euphorium and Harris & Hoole at Tesco
Many people have a love-hate attitude towards supermarkets. They can be seen as a massive convenience to which we have succumbed, reducing the tedious process of daily food shopping to a bearable once a week exercise. We have better things to do with our time, we say to ourselves. We promise to trek to the …
Pret a Manger and Exki, Paris
I spent the first decade of my sandwich cafe life when in the North West of England referencing Pret a Manger. The first branch of Mangetout in Liverpool opened in 1992 when Pret at two branches in central London still had to be qualified by its full title. Pret now has branches seemingly on every …
Grain Store Kings Cross
The January before last, the restaurant critic AA Gill declared 2012 to be the year of the vegetable. In the event, this prediction did not materialise as it was instead the rise of Mark Hix’s Tramshed serving only two types of meat: steak and chicken, Meat Liquor, Meat Wagon, and as many other name permutations …
