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Bordelaise: French vibes in Tooting
Before I say anything else, you need to know this. The chef at Bordelaise is a very bad man. Despite being dangerously full after having demolished two large rounds of food, he insisted that my friend and I each have a pudding, rather than going down the more civilised route of sharing one. What’s more, we were “coerced” into the richest, most decadent dessert on the menu. But more of that later… Bordelaise is the latest offering by the power team behind The Little Bar and The Little Taperia in Tooting. These guys can’t seem to put a foot wrong, so I was pretty confident that Bordelaise would be a…
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5 top places to drink a Negroni in London
I discovered the pleasures of a well-mixed Negroni a couple of years ago and have been addicted to them ever since. A Negroni is a cocktail made with one part gin, Campari and vermouth, served over ice, usually with a slice of orange. It’s not for the faint-hearted. Dry and packing a pretty punch, with no mixer this is all thriller, no filler. The last few years have seen Negronis become increasingly fashionable, and you’ll likely find one on most cocktail menus throughout town. Here are 5 of my top picks: Bar Termini Bar Termini is THE place to go for a Negroni. It’s the where I popped my Negroni cherry…
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The Best Food and Drink of 2016
Yes, everyone keeps saying that 2016 has been the worst year ever. But when it comes to food and drink, this year has been a cracker. With more new restaurants and more foodie entrepreneurs than ever, there is no excuse to eat badly. Here are the best things that I snaffled into my greedy face this year: Chicken and pistachio shish from Arabica Bar & Kitchen I wanted to eat everything on Arabica Bar & Kitchen’s menu. I’ve eaten a lot of samey mezze over the years, but these guys really know how to sex it up. It’s easy to be bamboozled by choice; however, you should definitely include the…
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Tub 4 Grub/The Collective
I have a confession to make. I hardly ever cook. For someone who writes about food, this is a little embarrassing. The thing is, I used to love cooking. I’m a total feeder. I cooked for friends, colleagues and loved ones, and I would always go crazy, making more food than they could possibly eat. I cooked for my boyfriend all the time. In fact, I became a proper little domestic goddess, enjoying nothing more than getting out of bed at the crack of dawn to cook him an amazing breakfast. We hosted parties together and I would push myself to produce fantastic dishes to impress his friends. I baked…
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The Little Taperia
On a grey bank holiday Monday, it’s tempting to spend the whole day watching Netflix in your onesie. Alternatively, you could pretend that you’re somewhere else entirely, somewhere with good food, good wine and summer vibes. Tooting may not be the first place that springs to mind, but step over the threshold of The Little Taperia and it’s as if you’ve gone through a wormhole to sunny Spain. The Little Taperia is the lovechild of two of Tooting’s leading foodies: Hikmat Antippa of Meza and formerly Caprice Holdings, and Madeleine Limm of The Little Bar and ex-Food & Drink editor of the Independent magazine. There is much noise made about Tooting being…
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Spice Village, Tooting
Was it the screaming baby right behind me? Was it the two drunks next to me who only stopped slurping cans of Carling to pass out? Was it the food so smelly that it assaulted my nasal passages and walloped my sinuses? Or was it the person playing their music so loudly that I’m sure they were only wearing headphones as a fashion accessory? It was shaping up to be the journey from hell, and by the time I arrived in London I was feeling about as festive as a turkey on Christmas Eve. Returning to an empty kitchen and having already made myself sick after gorging an entire box of Quality Street…
