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I roam, grow my own, brave the kitchen heat and know my woozy way around a wine list. Welcome to my (very personal) world of food and drink…

After years of journalistic hyper-activity, lockdowns made me reassess the food and drink I really care about. Refreshed and unrestrained, I started this. Call it a blog if you must, it’s certainly a change of direction. Less about me, more the discoveries I want to share. Read more…

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In Seef hands again – the working class Antwerp beer that simply evaporated

What could be more authentically working class than an entire neighbourhood named after a beer? Seefhoek has kept its gritty character against the forces  of gentrification decades after Seef, its iconic foaming raison d’etre, was consigned…
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Celebrating Mexican Independence Day with Santiago Lastra’s goosegog salsa

Gooseberries replace tomatillos in the classic Mexican salsa, according to the gospel of Santiago Lastra. I pair it with oxtail
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Northumbrian spirit – Ad Gefrin matches pioneering whisky with ancient treasures

Whisky tasting and Anglo-Saxon culture combine in the must-visit Northumbrian attraction Ad Gefrin
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How fragrant Malvani lamb took the spice route from Bombay to Leeds

Dishoom has opened in Leeds to great acclaim. Neil Sowerby tracks down the lamb dish it has chosen especially for the new restaurant

You say macaroni, I say Squacquerone. Ciao to one of Italy’s best kept secrets

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One of the delights of our recent trip to Bologna was emerging from our apartment one Sunday morning in search of coffee to find a buzzing organic market on our doorstep. Just 12 hours earlier the Piazza Aldrovandi  had been swarming with carousing students; now it was celebrating the equally vibrant food culture of the Emilia […]

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Red-hot Impala lives up to the hype with a dream duck and molokhia’s ancient magic

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En route to Impala through London’s Chinatown you run the gauntlet of lacquered roast ducks garnishing restaurant windows. From the humblest establishments to the Four Seasons, which trumpets its version as the world’s best. Switch from Wardour Street to Dean Street and you enter a different dining realm. It’s hard to resist dropping in on Jeremy […]

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Danielle and Sofie to reopen OSMA and introduce Boutikk in Manchester’s Northern Quarter

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OSMA restaurant has been much missed. Now it is returning – to the Northern Quarter

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A decade of daiquiris downed! Happy big birthday, Manchester Rum Festival

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Manchester Rum Festival is celebrating 10 years of merriment

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How Vilnius paints the town pink, while I try to scrub beetroot out of my chinos

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Neil Sowerby celebrates a Lithuanian Pink Soup Festival by making his own

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Bella Bologna is pasta and mortadella centrale… yet a whole lot more

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Bologna La Grassa is all I expected but other aspects of this historic Italian city are equally satisfying

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No piece of cake! Expect fierce contest for Le Cordon Bleu’s Pâtisserie Scholarship

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Le Cordon Bleu’s £75,000 Pâtisserie Competition is great for aspiring chefs

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Join the morel crusade as Mike Shaw gives the Freemasons new belief

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The Freemasons is a country gastropub that is in resurgent form

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