Food

In defence of red velvet cake

8 March 2025 9:00 am

I will admit to having been dismissive of red velvet cake in the past, considering it to be bland in…

Stop scoffing food on trains!

8 March 2025 9:00 am

I’m on the 10.45 slow train to Ipswich. It’s not even lunchtime, yet everyone around me is already gorging on…

The tiramisu is one of the loveliest things I’ve eaten anywhere: La Môme London reviewed

1 March 2025 9:00 am

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

15 February 2025 9:00 am

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?

1 February 2025 9:00 am

The Harrods bookshop, which I browse for masochistic reasons, is mesmerising: an homage to the lure of ownership. The first…

Can you still afford to eat out?

1 February 2025 9:00 am

Many of us will remember, misty-eyed, how things changed around the turn of the century. How Britain ceased to be…

Is ‘legacy’ an insult?

25 January 2025 9:00 am

Dictator dining

18 January 2025 9:00 am

The Savoy Hotel is a theatre playing Mean Girls with a hotel attached to it, so you can expect it…

Why I’m obsessed with Farming Today

11 January 2025 9:00 am

Farming Today airs at an undignified hour each morning on Radio 4. On the few occasions I’ve caught it live…

Not worth its salt: Wingmans reviewed

4 January 2025 9:00 am

I see this column as an essay on cultural polarisation: artisanal butter can only take you so far into wisdom.…

Something out of a Spectator reader’s dreams: The Guinea Grill reviewed

14 December 2024 9:00 am

Back to the past: it’s safer there. There is a themed restaurant dedicated to George VI of all people, near…

Ideal for winter: The Dover reviewed

30 November 2024 9:00 am

For British people, America is an idea brought by cinema, and The Dover, the New York Italian bar and restaurant…

What does the City really think of the Chancellor?

23 November 2024 9:00 am

Regular invitations to Mansion House banquets petered out after I asked a shifty-looking waiter for a glass of champagne and…

A light in the darkness: Home Kitchen reviewed

16 November 2024 9:00 am

Home Kitchen is in Primrose Hill, another piece of fantasy London, home to the late Martin Amis and Paddington Bear.…

Mince, glorious mince

16 November 2024 9:00 am

Sometimes, when it comes to culinary history, Britain is its own worst enemy. For a long time, British food has…

You’re spoiling us: The Ambassadors Clubhouse reviewed

2 November 2024 9:00 am

The Ambassadors Clubhouse is on Heddon Street, close to Savile Row and the fictional HQ of Kingsman, which was a…

At Japan House humanity has arrived at the perfect future: food for ogling, not eating

26 October 2024 9:00 am

There is a popular Japanese television show that features a segment called ‘Candy Or Not Candy?’. Contestants are presented with…

The secret to making great oysters Rockefeller

19 October 2024 9:00 am

There’s nothing more intriguing than a closely guarded secret recipe. Coca-Cola and KFC are two famous examples, with the precise…

An inedible catastrophe: Julie’s Restaurant reviewed

5 October 2024 9:00 am

At Julie’s at the fag end of Saturday lunchtime, Notting Hill beauties are defiantly not eating, and the table is…

As good as Noble Rot: Cloth reviewed

21 September 2024 9:00 am

Cloth is opposite St Bartholomew the Great on Cloth Fair. People call this place Farringdon, but it isn’t really: it…

The anxiety-inducing world of wellness tech

14 September 2024 9:00 am

I first came across the Zoe programme when a bright yellow package arrived on my parents’ doorstep last year. My…

Are you a hotel buffet bandit?

14 September 2024 9:00 am

Last week, on a Swedish train somewhere between Linkoping and Mjolby, as I struggled to open a bag of cheesy…

Pity the restaurant critic

7 September 2024 9:00 am

An atom is made of protons, electrons and neutrons, and protons are made of quarks, and a quark is the…