Food
A right royal travesty: Lilibet’s reviewed
Elizabeth II was a god and a commodity: now she is gone it is time for posthumous exploitation. Lilibet’s is…
‘The food is not the point here’: Carbone reviewed
People say that Carbone is Jay Gatsby’s restaurant – Gatsby being the metaphor for moneyed doomed youth – but it…
Bagels that even New York can’t beat: Panzer’s Delicatessen reviewed
That Panzer’s Delicatessen in St John’s Wood is called Panzer’s – for the instrument of Blitzkrieg – is mad, until…
Almost too interesting for Notting Hill: Speedboat Bar reviewed
When you are old enough, you can measure your life in restaurants. I remember, for instance, when the Electric Diner…
So boring it’s mesmerising: The Place to Eat at John Lewis reviewed
I am, like a strain of Withnail, in the John Lewis café by mistake. I meant to review the new…
A Mayfair brasserie for people who work, or at least pretend to: 74 Duke reviewed
There is an immaculate brasserie called 74 Duke at 74 Duke Street, Mayfair: this is postcode etymology. Duke Street runs…
I doubt there’s a better ravioli in London: The Lavery reviewed
The Lavery in South Kensington is named for Sir John Lavery, official artist of the Great War and designer of…
A fictional Edwardian waif’s hungry fantasy: Fortnum & Mason’s food hall reviewed
I like a picnic weighted with history and class terror, which means Fortnum & Mason on Piccadilly, which is historical…
‘Italian that just works’: Broadwick Soho reviewed
This column sometimes shrieks the death of central London, and this is unfair. (I think this because others are now…
The chef does not understand sandwiches: Raffles London at the OWO reviewed
I am mesmerised by the restaurants of Raffles London at the OWO (Old War Office) because war approaches and the…
Picture perfect: Locatelli at the National Gallery reviewed
I feel for Locatelli, the new Italian restaurant inside the National Gallery, whose opening coincides with the 200th anniversary of…
‘This is as good as food gets in London’ – Town, in Drury Lane, reviewed
Town – well-named, it has vitality – is on the ragged part of Drury Lane WC2 near the Majestic Wine…
A man’s restaurant: Victor Garvey at the Midland Grand reviewed
The Midland Grand Hotel at St Pancras Station is George Gilbert Scott’s masterpiece: his Albert Memorial in Hyde Park (a…
‘Rushed and under-loved and lacking conviction’: Hawksmoor Canary Wharf reviewed
Hawksmoor is the finest steak chain in London, because it lacks pretension and cares about blood. Years ago, at the…
Food that’s both serious and serene: Babbo reviewed
After a week in which Israel triumphed at the Eurovision Song Contest with second place – western Europe is for…
Everything Ottolenghi should be but isn’t: Delamina Townhouse reviewed
Delamina Townhouse is on Tavistock Street in Covent Garden. It is an Israeli restaurant, and a very fine and subtle…
Northern Europe doesn’t get salads: Claro reviewed
Claro is at 12 Waterloo Place, St James’s, and, when I tried to find out what it used to be…
Smart even for Chelsea: Josephine Bouchon reviewed
Josephine is a Lyonnaise bistro on the Fulham Road from Claude Bosi. It is named for Bosi’s grandmother and is…
A creche for nepo babies: the River Cafe Cafe reviewed
The River Cafe has grown a thrifty annexe, and this passes for democratisation. All restaurants are tribal: if dukes have…
A great-day-out cafe that’s good value: Kenwood House reviewed
The immaculate bourgeois socialists of north London – that is not code for Jews – like to eat and drink…
The tiramisu is one of the loveliest things I’ve eaten anywhere: La Môme London reviewed
La Môme is the new ‘Mediterranean’ restaurant at the Berkeley, Knightsbridge’s monumental grand hotel. It has changed, as all London’s…
How to get a table at Audley Public House
The Audley Public House is on the corner of North Audley Street and Mount Street in Mayfair, opposite the Purdey…
Is a soul the only thing unavailable in Harrods?
The Harrods bookshop, which I browse for masochistic reasons, is mesmerising: an homage to the lure of ownership. The first…
Dictator dining
The Savoy Hotel is a theatre playing Mean Girls with a hotel attached to it, so you can expect it…
Not worth its salt: Wingmans reviewed
I see this column as an essay on cultural polarisation: artisanal butter can only take you so far into wisdom.…
