From the category archives:

Reviews

Reviews of books, restaurants and kitchen gadgets that I can’t live without… or with.

R&R in Europe: 48 hours in Brussels

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Two hours from central London to Brussels? Amazing food, gorgeous architecture and some great art? Why had I never done this before? Friday A bit of wandering around to get our bearings before dinner at a down-to-earth brasserie recommended by the Independent, one of the myriad seafood places off Place St. Catherine – paper tablecloths, [...]

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London restaurant review: Nozomi (SW3)

Do you have baselines for trying out new restaurants? Those dishes that, if they get just right, you’re an instant fan and will come back to try everything else on the menu? Mine include a classic champagne cocktail, scrambled eggs on toast and the perfect black and blue steak. For Japanese restaurants, my must-get-right-dish is [...]

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London restaurant review: Saf (EC2)

I really did want to like Saf (here on Urbanspoon). My contrarian instincts extend to my own opinions too, so that a gourmet vegan restaurant that seemed like the very sort of place I should detest, actually might have been a perfect counterfoil for my sausage-eating tendencies. I wanted to put all my preconceptions aside [...]

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London restaurant review: Aubaine (SW3)

Went to this cute bistro for lunch on Wednesday – it’s so welcoming with its patio doors thrown open to the pavement, big mirrors and distressed wood tables. We were greeted by smiley and efficient waiters bearing a toothsome bread selection (they have their own bakery at the front) and seated on a table that [...]

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Stalking Dan Lepard: pistachio, coffee and ginger cake; wholemeal bread; lemon drizzle cake

Mum and I are going to Dan Lepard’s (baking guru and Guardian contributor) sourdough masterclass in September. I thought I should do a little research, basically so I can get tips from the source himself and bitch him out in person when things go wrong. Kidding, kidding. I’m more likely to ask for his autograph [...]

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Ginger ice-cream with caramelized pecans

Ladeez and gents, my kitchen has been pimped. If it were a car, it would have decals, blue running lights and tyres large enough to squash sea-lions. It is a granite and steel monstrosity. It is all Bosch, all the time. It is indecently large. So large, in fact, that I have misplaced nearly everything [...]

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Link smörgåsbord – April 22, 2010

Golden linseed & cheddar sconesMore scone scoffing in the works. (danlepard.com) Focaccia col Formaggio di Recco in Diretta l’11/4 alle 20Live blogging of focaccia made with melty cheese. Nuff said – I will replicate asap (Viva la Focaccia) OTTOLENGHI'S CARROT WALNUT CAKE … with mascarpone frostingLove the Ottolenghi cookbook – when I eventually get it out [...]

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Restaurant review: Bond St Lounge @ Townhouse, Miami Beach

Bond St Lounge 150 20th St Miami Beach, FL 33139 If you’re going to pick a time and a day to see a restaurant with a bar/loungey vibe in its best light, I’m guessing a random Monday at 7pm isn’t it. This also isn’t the kind of restaurant you want to go to when it’s [...]

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Weekly link smörgåsbord – March 19, 2010

Poppy Seed Cake with Blueberry GlazeI’m craving poppy seeds – perhaps some deep biological instinct, perhaps just because they normally come in a carbohydrate-laden delivery system. Cake or bread, that is. (Joy the Baker) Blackberry ClafoutisI’ve been meaning to do a clafoutis for ages and this is good inspiration. (Baking Bites) Roasted CauliflowerGreat combination of indian [...]

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Pleasures: Cantal cheese, a better peanut butter, the pick of vanilla ice-creams and Jello.

Thumbnail image for Pleasures: Cantal cheese, a better peanut butter, the pick of vanilla ice-creams and Jello.

Cantal Week by week, I’m working my way through the local gourmet supermarket‘s extraordinary cheese counter. There are incredibly fresh, grassy goat cheeses, Italian staples like fresh ricotta and ultra-decadent burrata, a great selection of American artisan cheese (Oregonzola, chortle chortle) and this Cantal, my absolute favourite. I tried it for the first time in [...]

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Black olive gougeres; parsnip, celeriac and blue cheese bake

Two recipes from the Guardian’s resident recipe writers this week, both more apt for winter climates but (did I mention this?) it’s been cold in Miami and the only heating in this town is the kind that comes from rib-sticking calorie-loaded food within. Let me tell you, I’m still thawing out my feet from stand-up [...]

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Restaurant review: Doraku, Miami Beach

Doraku 1104 Lincoln Road, South Beach, Fl 33139 (305) 695 8383 www.dorakusushi.com I just can’t get enough of this little place on the Lincoln Road in Miami Beach. I love it so much that I have the pdf of the menu saved in Evernote, and I’m systematically working my way through it, meal by meal. [...]

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