Food

Why oranges don’t have ‘segments’

9 January 2021 9:00 am

In the aisle of Tesco I stood like one thunderstruck. It was not the print of a man’s naked foot…

Theresa May’s recipe for Christmas cake

19 December 2020 9:00 am

This recipe was given to me years ago by an old friend — hence the imperial measurements — and I…

Food to absorb alcohol: Christmas hampers reviewed

19 December 2020 9:00 am

There is straw inside the Fortnum & Mason Christmas Treat Hamper (£100). As the straw drifts through the house, it…

A magical field hospital for vegetables: Turnips reviewed

5 December 2020 9:00 am

Turnips is an haute cuisine restaurant inside a greengrocer in Borough Market in London. I suspect others will try this…

The surprising brilliance of meal kits

28 November 2020 9:00 am

Ford’s Kumar Galhotra once remarked that carmaking is 100,000 rational decisions in search of one emotional decision. You spend five…

Me, myself and Thai: my cooking lesson from Cher Thai Eatery

21 November 2020 9:00 am

Lockdown is hurting everyone except the chickens. I have bought them a conservatory because Philippa, a Light Sussex, looks like…

Winning a knife fight with a fish: Newlyn Fresh Fish reviewed

7 November 2020 9:00 am

It’s a good day to stab something and tear out its heart. Elaine Lorys is the only female master fishmonger…

The best food Italy can offer: Giannino Mayfair reviewed

10 October 2020 9:00 am

Pity the gilded restaurants of Mayfair, if you can: they are dying. Some have reopened; they ache on like men…

Petronella Wyatt: My food fights with Boris

3 October 2020 9:00 am

I have been in Istanbul, partly to research a French-born collateral ancestor of mine, Aimée Dubucq, who, according to legend,…

Social distancing in Soho: The French House reviewed

26 September 2020 9:00 am

London is gasping — so where to go but Soho, which is so good at despair? It is often necrotic…

The apex of civilisation: the Connaught Grill reviewed

12 September 2020 9:00 am

A ghost review, now, of a ghost restaurant: the Connaught Grill, which is yet to reopen after pandemic shuttered its…

A perfect luncheon wine

5 September 2020 9:00 am

I suspect, though this may be romanticising, that if a French lorry driver with hitherto suppressed culinary tastes won France’s…

My steak cooking lesson turned into a sitcom

29 August 2020 9:00 am

Pandemic has brought many truths, the most minor of which is: I can’t cook steak. I thought I could. I…

Covid has exposed our confusion about food

29 August 2020 9:00 am

Covid has exposed our muddled thinking about food

The joy of pickling

15 August 2020 9:00 am

We have beans, peas, potatoes, tomatoes, butternut squash, plums and strawberries growing in our garden. I dug up and replanted…

A great Dane: Snaps + Rye reviewed

15 August 2020 9:00 am

Snaps + Rye is a Nordic-themed restaurant and delicatessen on the Golborne Road, at the shabby and thrilling edges of…

Stringfellows with fish instead of women: Sexy Fish reviewed

1 August 2020 9:00 am

Sexy Fish is an Asian fusion barn in Berkeley Square, near the car dealerships and the nightingales, if they are…

Returning to what makes us happy: Brasserie Zedel reviewed

18 July 2020 9:00 am

Brasserie Zédel is a grand salon under Piccadilly Circus and the only place I desired when lockdown (or lock-in) ceased…

Can a chef teach me to cook over Zoom?

4 July 2020 9:00 am

We cannot bear more drive-through or take-out or near-fatal snack. I am convinced of the boredom of my female ancestors,…

The sheer hypocrisy of the food culture wars

2 July 2020 6:17 pm

Alison Roman, a celebrity chef and Instagrammer, has come under attack from woke warriors because of her dish ‘#thestew’. Her…

More drug than nutrient: KFC drive-through reviewed

20 June 2020 9:00 am

Drive-through restaurants were invented so Americans could spend more time in their cars. I don’t blame them. American cars are…

Repulsive, depraved and oddly political: Monster Munch crisps reviewed

6 June 2020 9:00 am

Now that I have considered Monster Munch I decide to eat one mindfully. I put it in my mouth, and…

The horror of socially distanced restaurants

23 May 2020 9:00 am

What does a critic do when her genre collapses? Mostly I panic. I speak to restaurateurs who believe that without…

Britain’s strange aversion to seafood

23 May 2020 9:00 am

Britain’s strange aversion to seafood

Who can still make a Sunday joint last a week?

16 May 2020 9:00 am

Sunday lunch was always roast beef and, in the traditional way, the Yorkshire pudding was served first with gravy, supposedly…