I’m a food journalist and the editor of lovefood.com. I'm also the author of Food Britannia. I've worked for AOL, Channel 4 and the BBC. My print work includes Waitrose Kitchen and Delicious magazines.
London

McDonald’s sees fit for a refit

Everyone’s favourite high street public toilet chain has refitted its Victoria Street branch. In a record 72 hours they’ve turned it into something more akin to Pizza Express, right down to those single funny red plastic looking flowers with the yellow stamen. It’s all dark woods, fake leather and bar stools, contrasted with clean cream...

Olives, slugs and lettuces.

Out with Sarah B from work the other day for a quick drink we ended up in the recently refurbished Slug and Lettuce on Artillery Row. I don’t normally visit Slug and Lettuces, they’re often all hard surfaces and chunky fight-proof furniture that makes it difficult to hear yourself speak over the cacophony of screeching...

Sushi Masterclass at Billingsgate Fish Market

beep beep beep…it’s 4:45am and my alarm’s chirping loudly, am I up this early because I’m going on holiday? Nope, I’m going to Billingsgate Fish Market for their Sushi and Sashimi masterclass with Emi Kazuko. I’m in my battered Toyota and driving through the streets of London by 5am and it’s like a scene out...

The reality of shopping local…

…or The day Crystal Palace ran out of flat leaf parsley. Any food pundit worth their hand drawn Maldon sea salt will bang on about shopping local these days, local this, local that, have your fishmonger do this, any good butcher will do that. But just how practical is it on a day to day...

Heroes and Villains in Sainsbury’s Head office

Tuesday found me in Sainsbury’s head office for a talk by the Food Writers Guild. And in their reception, as you walk in are two cardboard cut outs. One of Batman, one of The Joker. See below… Each holds a piece of paper on which reads: Last week’s supplier Villains * Colgate Palmolive * Heinz...

Food Writers Guild talk on Blogging

On Tuesday night I was invited by my friend Lou to a talk entitled ‘Blogging: A beginner’s guide’ at the monthly Guild of Food Writers. A Guild! How very Medieval. The intro blurb in the mail said: “We can’t afford to ignore bloggers. Blogging is an important and influential aspect of food writing, with more...

Streats of London – a photoset on Flickr

Streats of London – a photoset on Flickr Stumbled on this on Flickr whilst doing some foodie research, it’s a great little project looking a time when street names reflected the contents of what what sold on them. He’s not taken Poultry yet though, home to the Coq d’Argent, but you got to love Haunch...

An afternoon visiting Mrs Beeton

Yesterday I set out to visit to the grave of Isabella Beeton, cook, mother, wife, journalist and author of the eponymous ‘Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management’. Which, after perhaps the Bible, is a top contender for ‘book that everybody’s heard of but nobody’s actually read’. Her grave lies somewhere in West Norwood Cemetery, South...

Anchor & Hope – London Restaurant – London Restaurants Guide – Square Meal

Anchor & Hope – London Restaurant – London Restaurants Guide – Square Meal.One of the few perks of being a ‘free’ wedding photographer is that you hope to get a gift as a thank you. Of course another plus is that by being a ‘mate with a camera’, if it all goes wrong it’s not...

Living London Awards – The Winners

Results: LBC website.Yippee! Crystal Palace favourite Joanna’s won best neighbourhood restaurant. And just look at the other South London faves… ‘ave that Norf! Dulwich won best Gastro Pub, Best Bookshop, coffee shop. Brixton and Clapham did well in the Cinema catagory.. The South shall rise again!(or most LBC listeners live in Dulwich)

The search for the elusive Sunday roast..

Today was probably the worst Sunday I think I’ve had for a long time… It started out simply enough with a plan to drive to the countryside with some friends and have a roast dinner followed by a walk. And although we sort of achieved these things, it came with a great sacrifice.First up, having...

BBC London – Could you live without using a supermarket for a month?

Link: Could you live without using a supermarket for a month?.Well the good people of Crystal Palace have been without a supermarket since November 2005. The local gossip on finding a replacement for Morrisons is between Asda and Waitrose. God I hope it’s Waitrose.. their food is fantastic, they’re pretty good at getting decent suppliers...