Recreate restaurant dishes at home with the help of the country's best chefs, from Tommy Banks's tomato salad to Padella's cacio e pepe pasta and Dishoom's chilli cheese toast
Fancy recreating your favourite restaurant dishes at home? Check out our favourite chef recipes from around the UK, including Padella's epic cacio e pepe pasta and Dishoom's chilli cheese toast. Best chef recipes from UK restaurants Fried corn ribs – Fallow, Piccadilly Circus This umami-packed dish from sustainable dining restaurant Fallow is irresistibly crunchy, and makes a great starter or snack to serve with drinks. Lamb and anchovy crumpet – Ploussard, Clapham Make these epic bites from Ploussard in Clapham – they're topped with slow-cooked lamb, anchovy emulsion and barley puffs. Cynar negroni – Morchella, Farringdon Cynar, a bitter herbal liqueur made from artichoke leaves, joins Campari in Morchella's twist on the classic Italian cocktail. Garnish with a wedge of blood orange to serve. Hainan chicken rice – Med Salleh, Bayswater Make the condiments while the chicken cooks, and this recipe from Malaysian street food restaurant Med Salleh will be quicker than it first appears. Marmite bread with seaweed butter – Etch, Hove In this bread roll recipe from Etch in Hove, the dough is laced with moreish Marmite while a salty seaweed butter amps up the flavour. Rotisserie chicken – Bébé Bob, Soho This chicken from Bébé Bob is usually cooked on a rotisserie, but at home you can turn the birds over several times as you cook. Serve with roast potatoes and wilted spinach or a salad. Hereford onglet, Cafe de Paris butter and spoonwort – Camille, London Bridge Taken from the diaphragm of a cow, onglet has a unique flavour. Camille restaurant serves this with spoonwort, succulent leaves with a similar flavour to horseradish. Celeriac carbonara – Nessa, Soho This playful rendition of the classic carbonara using spiralised celeriac instead of spaghetti and a rich duck egg is the masterful creation of the modern British bistro Nessa. Crab rarebit – Queen's Head, Chalke Valley Upgrade your traditional Welsh rarebit by topping it with a creamy mixture of sweet and salty crab, zesty lemon and crème fraîche. Taking seasonal produce and using them to enhance crowd-pleasing pub favourites is chef Dean Freckleton's speciality at the Queen's Head pub. Tikin xic (sea bream cooked in banana leaves) – Cavita, Marylebone Stuffed into tortillas and served with avocado, this Mexican-style sea bream makes for a zingy sharing dish that's great for a crowd. Kashmiri lamb chops – Gunpowder, Soho These griddled lamb chops are fantastic served with a zingy mint chutney and watermelon salad to cut through the meaty richness. For the green chilli and coriander paste, whizz 30g of coriander with two green chillies and 4 tbsp of water in a high-powered blender. To make a whole feast, pair with Gunpowder's golda chingri, malai broccoli and a saffron martini. Bateman's lobster roll – Manzi, Soho The lobster roll to end all lobster rolls, from Manzi's seafood restaurant in Soho. Homemade mayo and a sharp thousand island dressing take this posh sandwich to the next level. Rigatoni with kale sauce – Manteca, Shoreditch This recipe comes from nose-to-tail Italian restaurant, Manteca. The pasta's striking colour from an earthy kale sauce. Sprinkle with pecorino for an umami tang. Serve alongside Manteca's artichoke alla giudìa and rhubarb frangipane. Burmese coconut noodles with chicken – Lahpet, Covent Garden This recipe for ohn-no kauk swé comes from Burmese restaurant Lahpet in Covent Garden, London. It's a brothy, coconut-laced dish with chilli, ginger, paprika and fish sauce. Pair with Lahpet's grilled aubergine and finish with cassava cake. Crispy salt 'n' pepper okra – Fatt Pundit, Soho Recreate Huzefa Sajawal's Indo-Chinese recipe from his Soho’s chic Kolkata-inspired café, Fatt Pundit. Okra really shines when you add Himalayan pink salt to the mix. Spiced cauliflower shawarma – Berber and Q, Haggerston This recipe for cauliflower shawarma, pomegranate, tahini and pine nuts comes from Berber and Q Grill House in East London. Serving cauliflower whole like this, fresh from the BBQ is inspired, particularly, when it's smothered in shawarma butter. Malabar monkfish curry, Fatt Pundit, Soho Recreate this Indo-Chinese recipe from Soho’s chic Kolkata-inspired café, Fatt Pundit. It's well worth making your own sauce for this decadent monkfish curry. Cacciucco (Tuscan fish stew), Caldesi in Campagna, Bray Cacciucco is a fish stew from Livorno, a port on the coast of Tuscany, and it should contain five types of seafood. This recipe comes from Caldesi in Campagna, an Italian restaurant in Bray. Pici cacio e pepe, Padella, Borough Market Three of the most comforting words you'll read: pasta, butter, cheese. This is one of the most queued-for dishes in London, from Borough Market's Padella. Check out Padella's instagram for live cookalongs with owner Tim Siadatan and family, some including live music guest appearances. Courgette agrodolce, Little Duck The Picklery, Dalston Dalston’s Little Duck The Picklery was a gamechanger when it opened in 2018. Describing itself as a “fermenting kitchen, eatery and wine bar”, this third venue from the same team behind Soho’s Ducksoup and Hackney’s Rawduck centred around one large, family-style kitchen table from which the team prepped and cooked a carefully curated selection of seasonal small plates. The diner quickly became famous for its jars of unpasteurised, fermented treasures, drinking vinegars and kombuchas, and its impressive choice of natural and biodynamic wines, as well as the series of workshops it held on all its funky ferments. This dish, which chef Tom Hill shared with us, is a great way of perking up courgettes with very few ingredients. Follow @littleduckthepicklery for updates. Tommy Banks' tomato salad with shaved goat's cheese, Black Swan at Oldstead, Yorkshire Try Tommy Banks' Great British Menu tomato starter topped with shaved goat's cheese. This vegetarian recipe is deliciously refreshing and gluten free, inspired by the celebration of midsummer. You can help support Black Swan at Oldstead by buying homemade products from Tommy's website – we love the bottled cocktail set including a damson sazerac. Or if you live in the Oldstead, Harrogate or York areas you can purchase a Made in Oldstead food box, including two oven-ready, freshly made three-course meals for two people. Lamb ragu pappardelle, Bancone, Covent Garden If ever there was a time to indulge in slow, meditative cooking, it’s now. This pappardelle recipe from Bancone was a big hit with the team (and you! – it’s one of our most popular chef recipes). Open since the summer of 2018, Bancone was part of a new wave of pasta bars popping up in London that offered bargain plates of dreamy carbs (from silky pasta handkerchiefs to honeyed garlic focaccia and gorgonzola stuffed polenta) alongside pokey negronis and sparkling, sweet bellinis. Its first branch, in Covent Garden, a mere stomp from Trafalgar Square, proved such a hit that a second, much larger site quickly followed a year later in Soho. Sadly Bancone is now closed until further notice, and founder Will Ellner says: “The best thing you can do to support us is to come and get your pasta fix as soon as we open our doors again”. Follow @bancone.pasta for updates. Sweet potato gnudi, 27 Elliots, Edinburgh Founded in 2018 by cookbook author and food stylist, Jess Elliott Dennison, 27 Elliott’s opened as a small neighbourhood café in Edinburgh’s leafy Southside in 2018. Another Jamie Oliver alumni (Jess previously worked for his food and homeware range), Jess’s food and drink focusses on using the best produce (often veggies) in an accessible, effortlessly cool way – from pickles and ferments to fresh pasta, preserved cordials and homemade shrubs. This recipe takes a little time but is simple to make and seriously comforting, which is very much needed in these times. You can still support Jess now by ordering the restaurant’s good-quality local staples, so that they can continue to support their usual suppliers (think groceries, bread, milk, eggs and natural wine). You can also buy Jess’s brilliant (and particularly helpful right now) cookbook, Tin Can Magic, and tote bags here. Follow @27.elliotts for updates. House dahl, Brigadiers, the City The family group behind Trishna, Gymkhana and many more of London’s most successful and delicious eateries, JKS Restaurants opened Brigadiers in the City of London in 2018. A barbecue joint and drinking den inspired by the army mess bars of India, its slick interior (red leather booths, plush velvet curtains, distressed mirrored walls, monkey lamps and a whisky vending machine) matched its playful menu. Tender, incredibly moreish butter chicken wings soon became the star attraction (get the recipe here) but this house dahl wowed us in the test kitchen, too. Comforting and nourishing, simple to make, and easily adaptable to what spices you have at home, this recipe should be on your weekly roster. Support the team by ordering home delivery from Motu (it uses the same suppliers and the same team as JKS Restaurants), which serves British-Indian classics across selected London postcodes. The name refers to the affectionate Hindi term for fat man (‘motu’) and is a nod to the dabbawalas of India, who would traditionally deliver packed meals for workers in triffins. Follow @brigadiersldn for updates. Jujeh kabab, Berenjak, Soho Styled on the kabab houses of Tehran, Berenjak was one of many Iranian restaurants to open in 2019. Serving the likes of refreshing sharbats (non-alcoholic Persian fruit cordials), flatbreads cooked on hot pebbles, kababs and khoresht (stews), and baklava ice-cream sandwiches, it was a welcome addition to London’s Soho (and the site of some boozy bonding for team olive). This particular recipe, from chef Kian Samyani, was originally served with garlic sauce, chilli sauce, roasted tomatoes and fresh herbs – proof that you don’t need many ingredients to impress. You can support the team by buying vouchers here. Follow @berenjaklondon for updates. Baharat-spiced lamb, hummus, pine nuts, raisins and flatbreads, littlefrench, Bristol A regular face on Saturday Kitchen and Sunday Brunch, chef Freddy Bird knows good food, and we’ve been seriously impressed with every restaurant he’s been involved in. This spiced lamb is a twist on a Lebanese classic and can be adapted to what you have – it’s worth making the hummus and flatbreads alone. You can buy baharat readymade in supermarkets and online if you can’t get all the spices to make it from scratch. This recipe is from Freddy’s time cooking at the Thames Lido in Reading. Before that, he was at the Bristol Lido, as well as London’s Moro, and he’s also cooked under Phil Howard at The Square. Last year he opened his debut solo restaurant, littlefrench, in Bristol’s Westbury Park area – you can find more recipes from Freddy and the restaurant here. Sticking true to its modus operandi, this neighbourhood restaurant is now providing the local community with veg, meat and fish boxes (either for collection or doorstep delivery to those in self-isolation), as well as eggs, vegetables, La Fromagerie cheeses and Extract Coffee coffee. You can also order a box of Freddy’s Buxton & Bird pies (think pork, leek and cider; Indonesian butternut and sweet potato curry; and chicken, ham, leek and tarragon). Follow @littlefrench_bristol for updates. Chilli cheese toast, Dishoom, various UK locations If you haven’t tried a Dishoom dish (in either one of the eight locations across the UK, including London, Manchester, Edinburgh and Birmingham; or via the Dishoom cookery book, which quickly became a bestseller upon its release last year) you’ve not lived. Inspired by Bombay’s old Irani cafés, Dishoom is best known for its addictive, queue-worthy brunches – bacon naan, anyone? – cool, quirky interiors and crowd-pleasing curries. In 2017, olive celebrated the opening of the first branch outside London (in Edinburgh) with a series of recipes – check out the gunpowder potatoes, or chloe bhature (a vegetarian chickpea and potato curry). This recipe, Kejriwal, aka chilli cheese toast, is incredibly simple and uses very few ingredients, making it ideal for kitchens with limited supplies. You can support the Dishoom family by buying the cookbook, Dishoom: From Bombay with Love, which is as much a collection of recipes as an ode to Bombay. Follow @dishoom for updates and may we recommend cooking the house black dahl first, if you do buy the cookbook. Maple syrup and smoked-bacon scones, Frenchie, Covent Garden Nantes-born chef Greg Marchand was nicknamed ‘Frenchie’ by Jamie Oliver during his time as head chef at Fifteen restaurant. Greg’s eponymous bistros in Paris and London’s Covent Garden won legions of fans thanks to charming staff and minimalist, modern French menus. We’d happily eat his ingenious, super-light and fluffy maple and bacon scones (served at Frenchie as a starter) for breakfast, lunch or dinner. You can support Greg and his team during this time by buying vouchers, the Frenchie cookbook and more right here. Follow @frenchiecoventgarden for updates. Spiced aubergine and tomatoes with yogurt, Westerns Laundry, Islington This easy recipe packs a punch and was shared with us back in 2017 by Westerns Laundry in north London. The second restaurant from Jeremie Cometto-Lingenheim and David Gingell, the focus at Westerns Laundry is on seafood sourced from Devon and Cornwall, alongside Yorkshire meat. Follow @westernslaundry for updates. Banana bread, Snackbar, Dalston Oat milk, tahini and super-ripe bananas keep this egg-free, dairy-free banana bread moist and moreish. Freddie Janssen of Dalston restaurant Snackbar says, “We like to serve our banana bread toasted with a slab of butter and some Maldon salt, which un-vegans it but it tastes great as is, or vegan butter would work, too.” Chicken curry, Kolamba, Soho Make this your go-to special chicken curry. Straight from the kitchen of London's Kolamba restaurant, this Sri Lankan recipe uses oodles of fresh spices and a homemade roasted curry powder. Sardine katsu sandwich, Two Lights, Dalston Check out this twist on the Japanese katsu sandwich, packed with breaded sardines. This moreish recipe comes from chef Chase Lovecky of Two lights in east London. Miso crème brûlée, Four Legs, Islington Recreate modern pub food in the comfort of your own home with this easy dessert recipe from Islington’s Four Legs. Kid goat stew, José Pizarro, various UK locations Slow cook kid goat with peppers, paprika and sherry for tender, flavour-packed meat. Serve with a salad or crisp roast potatoes. Heritage potato terrina with caviar lentils, Pilgrm, Liverpool Get a taste of the Spanish Camino with this smart potato and lentil dish from My Million Pound Menu winner, Pilgrim. Roast cod with slow-cooked English peas and shoots, Gold, Notting Hill Recreate simple yet delicious sharing plates in your own home with this easy cod recipe from Notting Hill's Gold.
ep 207 - a deep-dive into British charcuterie with Cobble Lane Cured
This week we chat to Matt Hill from Cobble Lane Cured for a deep-dive into the world of charcuterie, including tips on making, buying and storing salami
This week editor Laura Rowe meets with Matt Hill, co-founder of British charcuterie specialist Cobble Lane Cured. They have a really in-depth chat covering everything to do with curing meat including his career in butchery, why ’nduja is the ultimate zero-waste ingredient (make your own 'nduja with our recipe), and some tips on making, buying and storing salami. View oEmbed on the source website Make your own charcuterie with our step-by-step recipes
ep 204 – The Great Feast of London virtual festival
Find out about this online interactive food, music and wellbeing festival, and how organisers Bejay Mulenga and Dominic Cools-Lartigue have been tackling food poverty during lockdown
This week editor Laura Rowe has talks to Bejay Mulenga and Dominic Cools-Lartigue, the founders of a new, interactive food, wellbeing and music festival taking place online next month. Tune in to discover the pair’s fascinating journey into becoming entrepreneurs, how they’ve been tackling food poverty during lockdown, and their tips for starting your own business. View oEmbed on the source website Here are more virtual food festivals to check out this summer
ep 199 – how to make the most of your kitchen garden
Editor of Gardeners World, Lucy Hall, returns to the podcast to share her tips on making the most of your kitchen garden during lockdown (even if you only have a window box)
This week editor of Gardeners World, Lucy Hall, returns to the podcast to share her tips on making the most of your kitchen garden during lockdown. She talks to olive’s editor Laura about how you can grow in any size space, even if you only have window boxes or pots. They also discuss some great hacks, including how to keep those pesky supermarket growing herbs alive and sustainable pest control without using damaging chemicals. View oEmbed on the source website Want to grow your own veg, herbs and salad? Check out our useful kitchen gardening guide. Now find out 10 expert tips for designing your kitchen. Gardeners’ World Magazine’s May issue is on sale now - look for the special edition that comes with six packs of seed, plus their annual 2 for 1 garden entry card. Or go to gardenersworld.com to buy a copy online.
Try jugs of sangria, Cornish limoncello and silky charcuterie at Cornwall’s hippest beachfront bar
Looking for beach bars in Cornwall? Read our review of Watchful Mary, or check out our Cornwall guide here. Watchful Mary in a nutshell There’s a new spot from which to watch the sunset on Watergate Bay – a beachfront bar with small-batch beers and beats. Where is Watchful Mary? The latest addition to Watergate Bay Hotel, just north of Newquay – Cornwall’s ‘ski resort on a beach’, where swimming, surfing, and coastal walks are encouraged before dips in the pool, soaks in the hot tub, and après in the hotel – Watchful Mary looks over the water. It’s the perfect place, so say the owners, to catch the ‘green flash’ dancing along the horizon. Click here for more restaurants and bars with great views. What’s the vibe at Watchful Mary? Standalone from the hotel, Watchful Mary feels like the grown-up counterpart to Watergate Bay’s family friendly vibe. There’s a DJ on the decks, driftwood furniture, buttery tan leather sofa seats, and dozens of rattan lampshades in all shapes and sizes hang from the ceiling, as well as, of course, those views across the shoreline. What’s the drinks menu like? Things are kept simple and decisions come easy at Watchful Mary. Order a jug of sangria, or a martini (dry by day, sweet and coffee-spiked by night), or work through the local craft beer and spirits, including colour-changing rose-scented Cornish gin, Lyme Bay spiced rum, or even limoncello made from lemons grown in the Eden Project. Is there any food? Bar food at Watchful Mary consists of truffle-roasted nuts, plates of silky charcuterie, veggie antipasti and wedges of British cheese served with gooseberry and nettle or pear and nigella chutney. Where to go nearby for dinner Slope up to Watergate Bay Hotel, to Zacry’s for the likes of monkfish katsu curry and slow-cooked duck shepherd’s pie. And if you’re lucky enough to stay over, be sure to grab a place at the DIY waffle stand, then load up with sausage, bacon, egg and tomatoes for an extra-special full english. olive tip Check out the Watchful Mary website for the team’s tip on the best time to catch the sunset and the elusive green flash. Price Expect to pay around £7.50 for a sangria, or £10 for something a bit stronger. watchful.co.uk
ep 181 – Gennaro Contaldo shares his guide to the Amalfi Coast and gives a masterclass in pasta making
This week we get a lesson in pasta making with Gennaro Contaldo, plus he gives us a guide to the Amalfi Coast
On the olive podcast this week, editor Laura Rowe visits Italian cookbook author and chef Gennaro Contaldo in his East London home for a lesson in pasta making, a guide to the Amalfi Coast, and discovers his secret skill for walking stick whittling. View oEmbed on the source website Read Gennaro's foodie guide to the Amalfi Coast here...
Who makes the best Christmas sandwiches in the UK?
Whether you want a towering turkey sarnie for your lunch or prefer a bloomer filled with brie, we’ve found the best Christmas sandwiches to buy this year
Looking for the best Christmas sandwich? Read on to find out the results of our Christmas sandwich and vegetarian Christmas sandwich taste test. Want to make your own Christmas sandwich? Click here for our ultimate Boxing Day sandwich recipe How the best Christmas sandwich taste test worked Four members of the olive team conducted a blind taste test to find the best Christmas sandwich, awarding gold and silver awards to the ones we were most impressed with. The best meat Christmas sandwiches to buy Gold for traditional Christmas sandwich: EAT. Festive Full Works Bloomer, £3.99, EAT. Comments: With tender turkey, smoked ham, crisp spinach leaves, well-balanced sweet and sour notes from the cranberry sauce and creamy mayo – all sandwiched between slices of springy seeded bread – this sarnie is one you could happily eat repeatedly through the festive season. Gold for non-traditional Christmas sandwich: Sainsbury’s On the Go Christmas Market Sandwich, £3, Sainsbury’s Comments: This might not sing Christmas to some, but the chunky ham hock, punchy mayo and crunchy pickles in a golden bun gives this supermarket sandwich an deli-style feel and wowed us all. Silver for traditional Christmas sandwich: Tesco Finest Turkey Feast, £3, Tesco Comments: A classic turkey feast with squidgy white bread holding plenty of herby stuffing and juicy meat. Silver for non-traditional Christmas sandwich: GAIL’s Turkey and Cheese on Waste-less Sourdough, £5.10, GAIL’s Comments: Buy this loaded sarnie, made using GAIL’s ground-breaking ‘waste-less’ sourdough from unsold surplus bread, if you think a sandwich isn’t a sandwich without the addition of cheese. The smoked turkey slices balance well against the swiss-style cheese, chewy sourdough, chipotle aioli and sweet and savoury bacon jam. If you passed this off as homemade, we’d believe you. Other meat Christmas sandwiches we tried Lidl Christmas Turkey Feast Sandwich, £1.69, Lidl PAUL The Festive Pig Sandwich, £4.65, PAUL Asda Turkey Tower, £3, Asda Pret Christmas Lunch, £3.95, Pret Waitrose and Partners Christmas Coronation Turkey Wrap, £3.30, Waitrose Spar Turkey Feast, £3, Spar Aldi Specially Selected Turkey with Pigs Under Blankets, £1.99, Aldi Co-op Turkey Feast Sandwich, £3, Co-op The best vegetarian/vegan Christmas sandwiches to buy Gold: EAT. Brie, Cranberry and Nut Stuffing Bloomer, £3.99, EAT. Comments: The separate elements – creamy brie, crunchy nut stuffing and a layer of cranberry sauce – worked well together in this meat-free sarnie made with springy white bread specked with fragrant onion seeds. Other vegetarian/vegan Christmas sandwiches we tried Asda Vegan Roasted Cauliflower and Houmous Sandwich, £2.50, Asda Sainsbury’s On the Go Vegan Christmas New Yorker, £2.25, Sainsbury’s PAUL All About the Sprout Sandwich, £4.25, PAUL Waitrose and Partners Christmas Vegan No Turkey Feast, £3.30, Waitrose Pret Veggie Christmas Lunch, £3.75, Pret Marks and Spencer the Nutcracker, £3.30, M&S Co-op Vegan Feast Sandwich, £3, Co-op Tesco Wicked Kitchen Festive Feast Wrap, £3, Tesco Spar Wensleydale and Spiced Chutney, £3, Spar Lidl Brie and Cranberry Sandwich, £1.49, Lidl Aldi Brie and Cranberry Sandwich, £1.69, Aldi Taste test conducted and written by Ellie Edwards
ep 176 – The olive Chef Awards are back! Listen to hear about the brilliant chefs that have made the shortlists
This week we chat about the second annual olive Chef Award and some of the great entries we've had including sustainable bakers and small but mighty chefs
This week editor Laura chats to digital editor Alex all about the second annual olive Chef Awards. They discuss some of the great entries we've had this year including sustainable bakers, small but mighty chefs and street food stars. View oEmbed on the source website Click here to find out more about the olive Chef Awards…
Want to know which is the best tonic water to make your G&T with? We’ve tasted 11 original tonics to find out which goes best with gin and other spirits
Looking for the best tonic water? From Indian tonic water to Devon tonic water, we’ve found the best bottles, plus the tonic water ingredients. What is tonic water? Tonic water is a carbonated soft drink with a distinctly bitter flavour that is usually used as a mixer. Natural quinine is sometimes added to give the bitter taste, while some brands add sugar for sweetness. How the best tonic water taste test worked Four members of the olive team conducted a blind taste test to find the best original tonic water, awarding gold and silver to the ones we were most impressed with. All products have been chosen and reviewed independently by our editorial team. This page contains affiliate links and we may receive a small commission for purchases made, but this comes at no extra cost to you and helps us to continue providing top-quality content for our loyal readers. The results for the best tonic water taste test Joint gold: Schweppes 1783 tonic water, £26.49, 24 x 200ml, Amazon Comments: This has everything you want from a tonic water – sweet yet bitter with a well-rounded flavour profile and lemon notes. Try mixing this one with a vodka. Buy now Joint gold: Fever-Tree Indian tonic water, £21, 24 x 200ml, Amazon Comments: If you like your drinks a little sweeter, try this tonic with citrus notes. With a longer finish, this is ideal for a G&T. Buy now Joint gold: Bermondsey tonic water, £4.65, 4 x 200ml, Ocado Comments: A more complex tonic than the others we tasted, with distinct fruity, honey undertones. The grown-up flavour means it’d be lovely to drink on its own. Buy now Silver: Schweppes tonic water, £15.45, 24 x 200ml, Ocado Comments: One of the more bitter tonics we tasted, this lemony one had a delicate sweetness and a slight dryness at the end. Buy now Other tonic waters we tried Fentimans premium Indian tonic water, £1.80/500ml; Waitrose. Buy now About the tonic: Fentimans botanically brewed tonic water was first established in 1905. With no artificial sweeteners, flavourings or preservatives, this tonic water is made with natural botanicals and quinine. Luscombe Devon tonic water, £23.93/24 x 200ml; Amazon. Buy now About the tonic: Created and blended in Devon with spring water, Japanese yuzu and Indian quinine to create a classic tonic. Franklin and Sons tonic water, £1.10/200ml; ginkiosk.com. Buy now Double Dutch Indian tonic water, £22.99/24 x 200ml; Amazon. Buy now Lixir Indian tonic water, £1.30/200ml; ginkiosk.com. Buy now London Essence Co classic London tonic water, £3.49/4 x 200ml; Ocado. Buy now Lamb and Watt original tonic water, £34.95/24 x 200ml; Amazon. Buy now About the tonic: Launched by Halewood Wines & Spirits, this British tonic is made with organic agave and spring water from the Lake District. In the past we also conducted a taste test to find the best flavoured Indian tonic water... The results for the best flavoured tonic water taste test Gold: Fentimans Pink Grapfruit Tonic Water, £18/pack of 8, Amazon Comments:With an aromatic light grapefruit taste this winning flavoured tonic was a great all rounder, with a distinct tonic hint. Beautifully presented in a elegant vintage style bottle. Joint silver: Franklins Sicilian Lemon Tonic, £27.74/pack of 24, Amazon Comments: With a very sweet smell this cloudy lemon tonic is sweet on the palate with a bitter aftertaste Joint Silver: Luscombe Grapefruit Tonic Water, £30.92/pack of 24, Amazon Comments: With subtle notes of grapefruit, this tonic was slightly dry with a lot of fizz. Joint bronze: Fever-Tree Elderflower Tonic Water, £1.81/500ml, Ocado Comments: Strong notes of elderflower, this tonic water was syrupy and creamy. It was one of the sweeter flavoured tonics we tried. Want to find out which is the best gin tonic in a can? Check out our expert tast test here, or if you’re now thirsty for gin, check out our top 15 British gins here. Taste test conducted by Ellie Edwards
ep 171 – US food writer Alison Roman on fuss-free food
This week we chat to US food writer Alison Roman about how she became an internationally acclaimed recipe writer and cookbook author
This week, editor Laura Rowe meets with American food writer and viral recipe queen, Alison Roman, ahead of her latest book coming out this month. Discover the food Alison grew up with, how she became an internationally acclaimed recipe writer and cookbook author, how to achieve her lo-fi cooking style and lots more. Be sure to check out the November (2019) issue of olive magazine for four recipes from Alison's new book, Nothing Fancy, or buy it from Amazon here. View oEmbed on the source website Try Alison's one-pot chicken with dates and caramelised lemon for yourself here…
Who makes the best peanut butter in the UK?
Whether you spread it on toast or spoon it straight from the jar, peanut butter is a storecupboard essential, so we’ve found the best smooth varieties to add to your shopping list
Looking for the best smooth peanut butter? Want to know which nut butter to buy? Read on for the results of our peanut butter taste test… What is peanut butter? Peanut butter is a spread made from ground, roasted peanuts. Some are made from 100% pure peanuts, while others add sea salt, sweeteners or oil. How the best smooth peanut butters taste test worked Four members of the olive team conducted a blind taste test to find the best smooth peanut butter, awarding gold, silver and bronze awards to the ones we were most impressed with. All products have been chosen and reviewed independently by our editorial team. This page contains affiliate links and we may receive a small commission for purchases made, but this comes at no extra cost to you and helps us to continue providing top-quality content for our loyal readers. The results for the best smooth peanut butters taste test Joint gold: Meridian organic smooth peanut butter, £8.70, 1kg, Amazon Comments: 100% peanuts, roasted with their skins on, give this smooth peanut butter a natural flavour. A great artisan purchase if you’re after a pure nut butter to dip apple slices in, drizzle over pancakes or add to a curry. Buy now Joint gold: Marks and Spencer smooth peanut butter, £1.30, 340g, Marks and Spencer Comments: A mixture of peanuts (90%) with sunflower oil, palm oil, cane sugar and sea salt gives this nut butter a gentle sweetness and salty kick. With a dark roast and creamy texture, it’s the one to slather on toast. Buy now Silver: ASDA smooth peanut butter, £1.50, 280g, Asda Comments: Like monkey nuts? Then this nut butter (made from 100% peanuts), with its raw flavour profile, is the one to go for. With a lighter roast, it’s got distinctly different flavour notes to others on the market. Buy now Bronze: <a href="https://www.anrdoezrs.net/click-100565798-16998092?sid=olivemagazine-723&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tesco.com%2Fgroceries%2Fen-GB%2Fproducts%2F300226319%3Fsc_cmp%3Dppc%2AGHS%2B-%2BGrocery%2B-%2BNew%2APX%2B%257C%2BShopping%2BGSC%2B%257C%2BAll%2BProducts%2ANew%3A%2BF%2526D%3A%2BFood%2BCupboard%3A%2BFood%2BCupboard%2APRODUCT_GROUP300226319%2A%26gclid%3DCj0KCQjw_absBRD1ARIsAO4_D3tg-ApYqw-O2PxikSo9GSq3YDSyxwq2GoGBvLxhOMpqitMdmPp1ZS4aAp1_EALw_wcB%26gclsrc%3Daw.ds" target="_blank" rel="sponsored">Sun-Pat original smooth peanut spread, £3, 400g, Tesco Comments: The addition of cane sugar to this peanut butter makes it a great buy for those that have a sweet tooth. With a thicker consistency, it’s ideal for topping a cake with. <a href="https://www.anrdoezrs.net/click-100565798-16998092?sid=olivemagazine-723&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tesco.com%2Fgroceries%2Fen-GB%2Fproducts%2F300226319%3Fsc_cmp%3Dppc%2AGHS%2B-%2BGrocery%2B-%2BNew%2APX%2B%257C%2BShopping%2BGSC%2B%257C%2BAll%2BProducts%2ANew%3A%2BF%2526D%3A%2BFood%2BCupboard%3A%2BFood%2BCupboard%2APRODUCT_GROUP300226319%2A%26gclid%3DCj0KCQjw_absBRD1ARIsAO4_D3tg-ApYqw-O2PxikSo9GSq3YDSyxwq2GoGBvLxhOMpqitMdmPp1ZS4aAp1_EALw_wcB%26gclsrc%3Daw.ds" target="_blank" rel="sponsored">Buy now Other smooth peanut butters we tried Lidl smooth peanut butter, 99p/340g; Lidl. Buy now Skippy smooth peanut butter, £2.40/340g; ocado.com. Buy now Pip and Nut smooth peanut butter, £3.50/400g; Amazon. Buy now Whole Earth organic smooth peanut butter, £3/340g; ocado.com. Buy now Yumello Wild Atlas peanut butter, £2.75/170g; ocado.com. Buy now Biona organic peanut butter smooth, £7.99/1kg; ocado.com. Buy now Essential Waitrose smooth peanut butter, £1.55/340g; Waitrose. Buy now ManiLife original roast smooth peanut butter, £3.99/295g; ocado.com. Buy now Duchy Organic smooth and spreadable peanut butter, £1.89/340g; Waitrose. Buy now In the past we've also judged other types of peanut butter, here are the results... Best crunchy peanut butter: Biona organic crunchy peanut butter, £14.98, 1kg, Amazon Comments: Perhaps it’s the fact that Biona doesn’t use any additives (such as palm fat and emulsifiers) that makes this peanut butter special. Rich, salty and definitely the crunchiest of the bunch, we’d love it on our toast any day of the week. It’s also got a refreshingly short ingredients list. Buy now Best palm oil-free peanut butter: Meridian natural crunchy peanut butter, £8.29, 1 kg, Amazon Palm oil is a controversial issue, and as such products that exclude it are on the rise. We tasted five palm oil-free butters, all of which had separated slightly due to the lack of oil. Just give them a stir before eating. Meridian’s crunchy peanut butter was our favourite – they’re one of the few producers that leave the peanut skins on for roasting. It’s made from peanuts and nothing else (not even salt), which accounts for the clean and wholesome flavour. Honestly, it made us feel good inside. Buy now Best supermarket peanut butter: Lidl’s McEnnedy ‘American Way’ smooth peanut butter We loved it in the ‘smooth’ category, and we picked it out again in the ‘supermarket’ line-up. A real winner. Taste test conducted and written by Ellie Edwards
ep 164 – Wilderness Festival chefs special with Andrew Clarke and Yossi Elad
This week we head to Wilderness Festival and catch up with chefs Andrew Clarke and Yossi Elad
This week we have a special podcast recorded by editor Laura at Wilderness Festival, in Oxfordshire where she catches up with two of the chefs hosting feasts at the festival. We hear from Andrew Clarke of St Leonard’s in Shoreditch about the joys of live fire cooking, his own battles with mental health and why cooking and being a chef saved his life. Then Laura talks to Yossi Elad co-founder of The Palomar in London about Israeli cooking, his incredible 40-year career and why he can’t quite retire yet. View oEmbed on the source website
Give these dark chocolate brownies a grown-up Middle Eastern twist with an indulgent salted tahini buttercream topping
Try this tahini twist on a brownie, then check out our classic chocolate brownies, Guinness brownies, vegan brownies, Oreo brownies and more brownie recipes. Take it to the next level by using your own tahini.
Pensons, Netherwood Estate, Herefordshire: restaurant review
Try cherry blossom cosmopolitans, sourdough with Marmite butter and Herefordshire Herdwick lamb at this bucolic escape
Looking for restaurants in Herefordshire? Read our review of new destination restaurant Pensons, and check out our foodie road trip guide to Herefordshire here. Pensons in a nutshell Pensons is a new destination restaurant for Herefordshire, that’s redefining the modern, rural fine-dining experience. Who's cooking? Last seen as the ground-breaking head chef of Bethnal Green’s Typing Room, Lee Westcott is back behind the pass of Pensons and making a big impression with locals. What's the vibe? Lots of restaurants talk a good talk about provenance but so integral is it to Pensons’ ethos that the (hyper) local sourcing begins right at the front door. Housed in a previously derelict 15th-century barn, the space has been dramatically restored and renovated using materials from its surrounds, the Netherwood Estate. The farm’s manger is now a lighting rig. Fabric made on a weaving mill on the estate, from Netherwood wool, forms the unique napkins. Striking bell-bottomed lampshades are made with estate-harvested willow. There are even excavated treasures, found in the surrounding fields, framed. You can find out more about the makers who helped shape the space, here. Lunchtime is worth a venture, just for the light, which pours through the stylish Crittal windows, or if you’ve a night-time booking it’s hard to resist the glow of the open kitchen. Either way you’re in for a good meal. What's the food like at Pensons? Fans of Lee’s food in London will be more than satisfied with the food at Pensons – which feels familiar yet future-looking. Ingredients lead the direction of the menus (there’s an à la carte lunch and dinner menu, alongside a five- or seven-course tasting menu) – whether they’re plucked from the kitchen garden, yards away from the pass, foraged or farmed from the estate. (There’s a pescatarian and vegetarian menu available, too, but not vegan.) On our visit there were new takes on recognisable signatures from Lee – including fish skin, crisp like pork crackling, topped with delicate dots of smoky salt cod brandade, oyster and dill emulsion and tiny, brackish sea vegetables; perfect miniature rounds of sourdough with Marmite butter and roasted yeast; and a final dessert course of flawless, palate-cleansing sheep’s yogurt sorbet, with textures of apple and dill, and a tangy meringue crisp. Flavours and textures build with every course – from mackerel with beetroot, horseradish and smoked yogurt, to brill with pine, mussels and purple sprouting broccoli. Herefordshire Herdwick lamb particularly impresses with its simple, traditional flavours – potato, turnip and greens – but elegant execution (think silky smooth purées, glossy emulsions, and potato cakes of a thousand, or so, layers). And the drinks? Seasonal guest cocktails are the thing to look out for here (we spotted a cherry blossom cosmopolitan in the spring). Otherwise, work your way through the classics, Wye Valley beers, or the crowd-pleasing wine list. olive tip Pensons is happily in what feels like the middle of nowhere so, for the full experience, it’s worth booking a stay at one of the estate’s properties – The Hyde (a Grade-II* medieval hall house that can be booked for individual bed and breakfast) or The Freeth (which is only available for exclusive use for groups of up to 18). Pensons Restaurant, Pensons Yard, Stoke Bliss, Tenbury Wells, WR15 8RT Words by Laura Rowe Interior photographs by John Carey, food photographs by Patricia Niven
Try platters of ruby beef carpaccio bigger than the table, ‘godsent’ smoked stracciatella and pasta served in a whole wheel of pecorino at Shoreditch’s crazy new Italian
Looking for restaurants in Shoreditch? Read our review of Gloria, and check out more suggestions for eating in Shoreditch here. Gloria in a nutshell A Paris export bringing top-quality Italian food to the streets of east London in its own quirky, seriously OTT way. What's the vibe? Gloria might call itself a “pure and traditional Italian trattoria” but this is signature Shoreditch (by way of Paris) – expect long queues thanks to a no-booking policy for groups under six, one-way-glass in the loos (yes, really) and overflowing plants, everywhere. In a nod to 50s Capri, the dining room mixes Carrara marble with colourful antique Italian ceramics, mirrored ceilings and velour banquettes. It gets raucous, tables are crammed in and you very well might need a torch to read the menu once it gets dark. What's the food like? All produce is sourced from Italy and it shows. Order smoked stracciatella (if you can resist burrata from Puglia), accurately described on the playful menu as “bloody godsent”. Crocchè (think croquettes) with black truffle béchamel, guanciale (face bacon – better than it sounds) and a cloud of parmigiano melt in the mouth and deserve a new moniker: golden balls. A Big Mamma platter of carpaccio is really too big for a table of two (but we couldn’t resist, and made a gallant dent) but is a definite must-order if you’re hungry and/or in a gang. This is seriously decent beef, dressed with vibrant fresh basil pesto, toasted hazelnuts and suitably generously shavings of more cheese. There’s plenty more on the menu you’ll want to order, too, before you even get to the main attractions – we’re looking at you deep-fried artichoke with a cacio e pepe sauce. If Instagrammable dishes are your bag then look no further than the La Gran Carbonara, for two to share, served in a giant wheel of pecorino, and the “incomparable” lemon pie with a promised 5.9-inch meringue layer – but we opt for more truffle and button mushrooms, beaten into mascarpone, clinging to the curls of fresh mafalda pasta. It’s an umami knockout. Neapolitan-style pizza is as it should be, too. Big, blistered crust; a sloppy, well-seasoned San Marzano tomato sauce heart – and the spicy “Robert de Nitro” toppings of mozzarella, ricotta, candied onions and salame piccante, leaking its amber oil, were a dream. And the drinks? There are plenty of classic cocktails to choose from but Gloria’s trophy negroni is unlike anything you’ll see elsewhere in London, with unusual additions of porcini mushroom wine and a truffle foam. Wines are all Italian, naturally. olive tip The service is as chaotic as the décor, so be prepared. Expect to have to shout your order above the thrum – we had to repeat the order of our cocktail four times and it still arrived wrong – and pack your own food into boxes at the table if you want a doggy bag (and trust us, you will). Plus, if it’s your birthday, expect to be serenaded, loudly. Gloria, 54-56 Great Eastern Street, London EC2A 3QR Words by Laura Rowe Photographs by Jérôme Galland, Joakim Blockstrom and Joann Pai
Join us at Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons
Exclusive offer for olive readers – join us for lunch, gin tasting and a cooking masterclass at Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons this May (2019)
Raymond Blanc’s celebrated Oxfordshire manor house hotel and two-Michelin-starred restaurant, Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, is a must-visit destination for food lovers. Why not treat a loved one (perfect for Mother’s Day) or yourself to an unforgettable three-course lunch, where you will be joined by members of the olive magazine team. Arriving at the stunning 15th-century manor, surrounded by gorgeous kitchen gardens, you will be welcomed with a morning tea or coffee. Once you have settled in, you will be given a spring demonstration by the expert team of chefs in The Raymond Blanc Cookery School, the first Michelin-starred kitchen in the UK with its own cookery school; plus there will be a gin-tasting session with an expert bartender, who will guide you through the various types of gins and mixers. Prior to lunch there will be a Champagne Laurent-Perrier reception with canapés to whet your appetite, after which you will sit down in Belmond Le Manoir’s elegant La Belle Époque dining room to enjoy a three-course seasonal spring lunch, complete with wine, finishing with tea or coffee and petits fours. Your day will end with the opportunity to explore the wonderful surrounding gardens and see the produce being grown in the expertly tended grounds and orchards. And don’t forget to collect your olive goody bag (worth £20) before you go! Details Date: Monday 20 May 2019 Venue: Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, Great Milton, Oxfordshire, OX44 7PD Time: 10am – 3.15pm Price: £199 per person (£10 discount for olive magazine subscribers*) Early booking is recommended. You will be seated with fellow guests and the olive team. Itinerary 10am Arrive for coffee or tea with biscuits 10.25am Welcome by Belmond Le Manoir staff and members of the olive team 10.30am Guests split into two groups for gintasting and spring cooking demo in The Raymond Blanc Cookery School 11.30am Guests swap activities 12.15pm Champagne Laurent-Perrier reception with canapés 12.45pm Three-course lunch served with selected wines, coffee or tea and petits fours 3pm Collect your olive good bag (woth £20) and take the opportunity to explore the kitchen gardens at your leisure. To book, call 01844 277200 quoting ‘olive reader lunch’ or email: events.mqs@belmond.com More about Belmond Le Manoir Belmond Le Manoir is one of the few restaurants in the world to have retained two Michelin stars for over 30 years. Raymond’s menus constantly evolve with the seasons. His two-acre kitchen garden produces 90 types of vegetables and more than 70 varieties of herbs, which are then used in Belmond Le Manoir’s kitchen. Interview with Raymond Blanc Read our interview with Raymond Blanc here to find out his favourite foods and guilty pleasures... Terms and conditions: Payment is taken at the time of booking and ticket purchases are non-refundable. Guests must be at least 18 years old. *To claim your £10 subscriber discount, quote your subscriber number when booking.
BRAT, London E1 (Shoreditch): restaurant review
We try turbot, sharing plates and brown bread ice cream at this Shoreditch restaurant from Tomos Parry
Looking for restaurants in Shoreditch? Read our review of open wood fire grill restaurant BRAT, and check out more suggestions for eating in Shoreditch here. BRAT in a nutshell: BRAT could have been a difficult second album for chef and Young British Foodie winner Tomos Parry – such was the affection for his former gaff and celeb hang out Kitty Fishers – but it seems he’s learnt lessons in his time “off”. What’s the food like at BRAT? Brat, slang for turbot – the much ordered and much Instagrammed star dish on the menu at this former Shoreditch strip bar – is grilled over an open wood fire grill to much dramatic effect, along with more prime ingredients. We order the Cornish moorland beef chop after a hot tip – slices of ruby red meat with a darkly charred bark, come lined up like dominos, their border of gamey yellow fat almost better than the meat itself. Italian tomatoes, on the side, are simply quartered, seasoned and drenched in an olive oil so peppery it catches in your throat. The rest of the menu follows the trend for sharing plates – small snacks up to giant platters. We regret not ordering the chopped egg salad with bottarga as we spot it on the pass, but a bouncy, blistered, pillow-soft grilled flatbread, topped with curls of salty anchovy fillets, a slick of oil and sprinkling of chives does the trick. Sweet langoustines with earthy spikes of roasted rosemary are barely licked by the flames – still daringly see through. Spider crab, cabbage and fennel salad was refreshingly different – a careful dance between the sweet shellfish, brassica pepperiness and aniseed hit, lemon zest and chervil. Perhaps the most surprising, underdog dish of the night was a bowl of cockles, boldly served with a sharp, vinegary liver sauce, earthy, sweet – and (who knew?) the perfect partner for these salty little sea bursts. Burnt cheesecake was granular and didn’t do it for us, but a Tomos classic, brown bread ice cream marbled with marmalade, was just right. And to drink? The wine list lives up to its promise, too – curated with the help of the cool gang at Noble Rot – there’s plenty for the chipper team to recommend, from supremely sippable sherries, to the grown-up Koehler-Ruprecht riesling trocken we consumed numerous glasses of. See BRAT’s menu here. Reviewed by Laura Rowe Photo credit Ben McMahon
We reveal the talented winners making a difference to the way we eat across the UK
The inaugural olive magazine Chef Awards, in association with Dark Horse Wine, were launched in May with the aim of championing the chefs who are having a positive impact on the food we eat, the communities we live in and the planet as a whole. Thousands of you nominated your local heroes, and over the summer we whittled it down to a sterling shortlist of 30 chefs, along with loads of their recipes, podcasts, restaurant reviews, interviews and more. Our esteemed judges – Clerkenwell Boy, Felicity Cloake, Laura Rowe and Mark Taylor – travelled the country meeting the chefs, tasting their food and learning their stories. These are the winners they selected… Best pastry chef or baker Winners: Calum Franklin of Holborn Dining Room, London, and Sarah Lemanski of Noisette Bakery, Yorkshire Calum Franklin of the Holborn Dining Room in London took an unconventional route into pastry stardom. He didn’t train as a pastry chef but was inspired to learn the craft as an executive chef because, as he puts it, “I don’t like having gaps in my knowledge”. His passion for reviving traditional pastry skills was ignited by finding an old pâté en croûte pie crust mould in the cellars of the restaurant. “None of us knew what that mould was but now I’ve had the opportunity to train 35 chefs in these old-school techniques. I am on a mission to pass on these skills to the next generation.” The proof, of course, is in the eating, and everything our judge tasted was “outstanding”, from a dry-aged Cornish duck and pork pâté en croûte with pistachios and plum chutney to a vegetarian potato pithivier with aged comté and caramelised onion. And then there were the desserts, including a classic tarte tatin that Calum spent three months trying to perfect, and a paris-brest so good our judge claimed they were even better than those they had eaten in France over the summer. A purist but also an innovator who is now developing new types of pastry, Calum is the real deal – talented, relentlessly curious and utterly obsessed with the technicalities and details of pastry. Here are some of Calum's pastry recipes to try at home... Founded by our second winner Sarah Lemanski in 2013, and now co-run with sister Hannah, Noisette Bakehouse calls itself a “curious micro bakery” and started life working from a converted 1978 Citroën HY van at pop-ups and events. It’s now a full-time bakery with a separate café in the dockland area of Leeds, a space it shares with North Star coffee roasters. The daughter of a Yorkshire village butcher, Sarah is self-taught and was a trained nutritionist before turning to baking. She takes a “holistic” approach to running a bakery café in that she will only sell items she has baked herself and never buys products in – that’s why, uniquely, and some might say bravely, she doesn’t sell croissants despite customers asking for them. Sarah’s passionate and knowledgeable approach to baking is formidable and her background in nutrition means she has an in-depth understanding of the science behind it all. She likes to play with unusual ingredients like miso and kefir, and is inspired by baking across the globe, from Japan to eastern Europe. Sarah’s signature streusel-topped morning cake was inspired by American ‘coffee cakes’ and it’s layered with a white soured-cream-enriched batter, tonka beans and topped with almond streusel crumb and a dusting of cocoa powder. But it was the savoury bakes our judge tasted that really showed Sarah’s strengths – a galette with swiss chard, leeks, caraway seeds, rosemary and labneh was as memorable as the four-cheese and rye scone: a blend of stoneground wholemeal and rye flours, black pepper and cayenne with cheddar, red leicester, parmesan and cream cheese. Head judge Laura Rowe says: “We couldn’t decide between these two incredible chefs because they excel in very different ways. Calum has revived the art of pie-making in this country with his obsessive eye for detail and craft, and shared his knowledge with chefs across the globe, while Sarah has determinedly innovated in the world of pastries, and punches way above her weight as an independent baker.” Best street-food chef Winner: Terri Mercieca of Happy Endings, London A former YBF Awards baker of the year, artisan chocolatier Terri Mercieca’s pop-up have become a familiar sight at festivals but now her Happy Endings desserts can be enjoyed in a new dessert bar at Old Spitalfields Market in east London. Stocked in Harrods, Terri’s ice-cream sandwiches are also sold in a number of places around the capital, including Selfridges and the ramen restaurant Tonkotsu. Made from organic chocolate, Somerset cream from The Estate Dairy and free-range eggs, the ice-cream sandwiches include passion fruit, popcorn and a ‘naughty’ version comprising miso salted caramel parfait squished between layers of chocolate Guinness cake and soy dulce de leche. Fun and approachable, ethical and retro, Terri produces high-impact desserts that wouldn’t look out of place on the menu of a fine-dining restaurant. The fact they can be eaten with your hands in a street-food setting makes them all the more enjoyable and decadent. Head judge Laura Rowe says: “We were inundated with nominations for Terri’s quirky Happy Endings ice-cream sandwiches and our judge was bowled over with the innovative and complex flavours these sweet treats provided.” Veggie Pioneer Winner: Richard Buckley of Acorn, Bath “Acorn is one of the most exciting restaurants we’ve visited this year,” raved our judge after experiencing the vegan cooking of Bath chef Richard Buckley. Despite being a lifelong vegetarian, Richard didn’t want to cook vegetarian food. Or, at least, not the kind of stodgy lasagnes and worthy lentil bakes that most restaurants were offering at the time. Acorn doesn’t really shout about its vegan-ness because Richard wants to cook good food that just so happens to be vegan, rather than be defined by it. This is vibrant food that keeps diners interested to the last bite, with a balanced combination of flavours and textures. “This certainly isn’t nut roast territory,” gushed our judge, who singled out a main course called One Whole Cauliflower – an elegant arrangement of roasted florets, truffled purée, molasses-cured stalk and sautéed leaves, with onion and fenugreek croquetas to add crunch, and puddles of creamy, savoury spelt rice pudding for richness. There’s serious process here, too, with Richard working in “the lab” to get almond milk to form curds for the confit tomato our judge started with. He is justifiably proud of the rich mushroom parfait with a jellied top that looks for all the world like a chicken liver version, and tasted (to our omnivore judge at least) “even better”. This is not only clever vegan cooking but clever cooking full stop. Head judge Laura Rowe says: “Richard’s food has continued to improve and improve over the years and it’s little surprise to us at olive that he’s won this award. He impressed our judges with his approach to plant-based cookery, shunning easy wins from carbs or cheese, and instead displaying the true versatility and ingenuity that can be achieved with vegetables alone.” Community Champion Winner: Tony Evans of Can Cook, Liverpool Chef Tony Evans left the world of restaurants when his first child was born, taking a huge pay cut to work at a children’s centre and start a community café there, teaching parents to cook basic dishes. That planted the seed for Can Cook, which Tony started with Robbie Davison, and the first project was teaching a group of 16 people how to cook basic dishes over the course of 10 weeks. “This was often the first time any of these people had cooked from scratch,” says Tony. “There was one lady, aged 75, who was a victim of domestic abuse and lived in a refuge. She had had a very hard life and had never cooked.” Eleven years later and Can Cook has trained 13,000 people, and the business now has various strands and projects. Venturing into catering too, Can Cook now provides a fresh-food service for care and education settings across Merseyside, specialising in catering for children and older people. Tony says he believes that everybody should be able to access “good fresh food” and the aim is to tackle food poverty and create employment (it is a committed Living Wage employer, all staff are paid a minimum of £8.25 per hour). This summer, Can Cook started a new pilot project called Holiday Hunger, providing around 700 meals each day for children who might not otherwise get a proper meal during the school holidays. It’s also started a project based on the old ‘meals on wheels’ system but taking the food to community centres. Tony says: “When I was a restaurant chef 10 years ago, I would have never predicted we would be doing this and it’s the hardest job I’ve ever done. But even when I get home and I’m on my knees because I’m so tired, the thought that we are helping to fight food poverty by feeding families, kids and old people fresh food when they might otherwise not eat, makes it all worthwhile. I wouldn’t do it if it wasn’t for having the belief in what we do.” Head judge Laura Rowe says: “While we had plenty of strong contenders in this category, for chefs who run their businesses with positive purpose, Tony’s unfailing and inspiring humanity, the impact he has had on his local community and the sheer scale of good deeds made him a clear favourite.” Small But Mighty Winner: James Cross of Lake Road Kitchen, Ambleside Lake Road Kitchen in the Cumbrian town of Ambleside is run by chef James Cross and his partner, Sally Wilson, who looks after front of house. Located in the heart of the beautiful Lake District, but with a decidedly Nordic feel, this small local restaurant is rapidly gaining a national reputation for its innovative food and DIY approach. Everything is made on the premises, from the sourdough (using a 30-hour fermentation) to the aged butter (which is ‘washed’ in aquavit and then aged for nine months – the result is the richest butter our judge had ever encountered). This is an entrepreneurial kitchen that grows a lot of its own ingredients and also uses a lot of foraged wild food, which it preserves and pickles throughout the year. This was evident to our judges over a meal that included fermented wild garlic capers (served with an extraordinarily creative taco made from thinly sliced slow-roasted celeriac and topped with barbecued veal short rib, pickled cabbage and yogurt) and an intense tomato consommé (made from this year’s homegrown ripe cherry tomatoes and last year’s green ones) with super-fresh Norwegian king crab. Although James gets most of the fish from sustainable Norwegian and Scottish waters (the steamed halibut with miso butter emulsion, fines herbes and trout roe our judge tried was “sensational”), he also has local Lake District farmers rearing rare-breed pork, beef and lamb for him. Head judge Laura Rowe says: “James has appeared on olive’s radar numerous times and that’s because his obsessive commitment to producing ground-breaking food, in what feels like the middle of nowhere, stands out. He’s truly passionate about the land he lives and works in, and that is evident on every plate he produces. He lives and breathes Lake Road Kitchen.” Sustainable Star Winners: Brad Carter of Carters of Moseley, Birmingham, and Douglas McMaster of Silo, Brighton For St John-trained Douglas McMaster, his zerowaste epiphany came when he worked in an Australian restaurant that threw away too much. “I just knew something was wrong,” says the chef, who has reduced his own waste by simply not having bins in his kitchens. Douglas and his team use every part of the vegetables and animals, with pickling and fermenting techniques employed to make everything last longer. Whether it’s using eco-friendly clingfilm or using vegetable skins (our judge enjoyed a resourceful dessert of blackcurrant with potato skin and fennel flowers), Douglas goes the extra mile. “I’m doing everything I can to provide an alternative,” he says. His first book, Silo: The Zero Waste Blueprint, is out this month. At Carters of Moseley, Brad Carter uses exclusively British-sourced produce and little-known or ‘lost’ ingredients such as lemony Douglas fir (yes, the same as your Christmas tree) and kaffir lime leaves grown in Evesham rather than Asia. As well as growing produce on his urban allotment, Brad’s commitment to sustainability goes beyond the plate. This month he will start giving his sous vide bags to a company that will recycle them and turn them into children’s plastic toys. The money made from these toys will then be given to Hospitality Action, a charity for hospitality workers who have fallen on tough times. Head judge Laura Rowe says: “Both of these chefs are inspiring in very different ways. Douglas takes sustainability incredibly seriously – in everything from the tabletops (made from recycled yogurt pots) to the crockery and glassware (he’s now looking into recycling glass to turn it into plates in the future) – and he is producing truly zerowaste food that is challenging and delicious. On the other hand, Brad produced one of the best meals I’ve had all year, all from British-sourced ingredients, most of which were from his allotment or locally foraged. It’s smart food that you want to return for, food that you know is having a positive impact on its environment.” Dark Horse Wine Award Winner: Luke French of Jöro, Sheffield Luke French calls his food a “Scandi-Jap mash-up’, which pretty much sums it up, although it is, of course, a lot more refined than that throwaway description might suggest. Formed from a cluster of shipping containers on the side of a busy road on Kelham Island – the old industrial part of Sheffield where Victorian warehouses and steelworks are being transformed into chic apartments, restaurants and bars – Jöro is quietly gaining a name for itself outside Sheffield. Local produce combined with Scandi/Japanese techniques are at the fore, with lots of Yorkshire produce named on the menu. The food here is all about extracting as much flavour as possible out of what are often pretty humble raw materials. Our judge pulled up a stool at the chef’s table to enjoy a parade of genuinely exciting, deeply flavoured dishes. Highlights included new-season peas cooked in lamb fat and dotted with a ‘pesto’ of mint and local Yorkshire Fettle (a feta-style cheese), pea shoots and mint ‘jam’; and tender, juicy Moss Valley pork neck barbecued and glazed with a rich, sticky homemade yakiniku sauce (made from sake, mirin, sugar, rice vinegar, soy sauce, miso and katsuobushi); and Scottish king scallops brined and cured in elderflower vinegar, sliced and served with grated horseradish, samphire, pickled elderflowers and grated smoked scallop roe. The quality and inventiveness continued through to a dessert of frozen parfait of brown butter and muscovado with plum sake caramel, spiced cake and apple. Head judge Laura Rowe says: “This was a no-brainer for our judges – Luke’s food is special and hard to define. There’s no one else producing food quite like this in the country, and we’re sure it won’t be long before Michelin comes knocking.”
Read our review of St Leonards in Shoreditch for dishes such as tuna bone caramel, Swaledale lamb leg and salted caramel and sherry tart
St Leonards in a nutshell: A new, maverick fire-and-ice restaurant from Jackson Boxer and Andrew Clarke, of Brunswick House, in the heart of Shoreditch. Who’s cooking? Between chef-patrons Jackson and Andrew there’s quite the glittery culinary CV, having worked for Margot Henderson, at The Salt Yard, The Square and St John, amongst others. But their latest project together is unlike anything either have done before. What’s the vibe? A far cry from the grandeur and antiquity of Vauxhall’s Brunswick House, St Leonard’s is a vast and underdressed space in the grungy end of Shoreditch. Living trees add a bit of colour to the sparse, concrete-chic decor – wooden tables adorned only with cutlery, crudely pressed linen napkins, and tortoiseshell tealight holders. Funky, industrial chain lights cast pretty shadows. What’s the food like at St Leonards? Expect flavours and combinations here that you won’t have tried before and a lot of love for pork. There’s a dramatic, large, log-fuelled open fire which produces small plates of flame-scorched margarita onions, with a tuna bone (yes, you read right) caramel (sweet, umami, sticky) and specials such as Swaledale lamb leg, slow roasted and rosy, with Vesuvio tomatoes and anchovies. There’s also a raw ice bar where oysters come natural, dressed or, with help from the hearth, flamed. Ours come warm from the fire with a lardo crumb – every bit as mind blowing as you might imagine – but still not as good as the single cherrystone clam. It’s worth its eye-watering £9 price tag – sweet, chubby and drinking in its szechuan oil dressing and fine dice of coriander stalks. There’s plenty more worth ordering. Smoked eel and foie gras custard with pork rind is like the punk sister to an elegant and restrained chawanmushi (a Japanese savoury egg custard). Sides, too, shouldn’t be shunned. Hispi cabbage – uncontested king brassica – is crowned with more pork fat and an XO crumb. Sprouting broccoli is slathered in delicious, dainty scraps of ham knuckle and aggressive smoked chilli. And the drinks? Bitter is the theme when it comes to apertifs – Cynar and Kamm & Sons spritzes, and Suze, get star billing, alongside sherry and vermouth. The wine list is well annotated with full tasting notes, which make navigating the lesser-known bottles a dream. olive tip: Desserts are no less ballsy, so don’t skip, even if you don’t think you have a sweet tooth: the salted caramel and East India sherry tart with cardamom ice cream is the best thing on the menu. And, trust us, it’s got a lot of competition. And the brunch? Snack on next-level cheese toasties, where slithers of sourdough sandwich comte cheese, with a side of sweet-yet-punchy leek-top kimchi. Bacon and eggs come reinvented, with blushing-pink slices of bavette steak and a crisp fried egg lifted with sweet corno peppers. If that doesn’t fill you up, order a side of generously peppered fries. Savoury is the way to go, but if you want something sweet, go for grilled brioche with a dollop of funky farmyard ricotta and gently stewed rhubarb. Blood marys come laced with beef stock and forest salt for a heady umami kick, but if you fancy something booze-free, the house-smoked mule pairs lemon juice with ginger ale and smoked clementine for a zesty start to the day. 70 St Leonard Street, Shoreditch, London EC2A 4QX Read about the hottest new restaurants in London here...
Our mission: to find the best almond milk available in the UK. Here are the results of our expert taste test
Looking for the best almond milk to buy? Read on to find the results of our almond milk taste test. Next, check out our almond butter recipes. Plant-based milk is an alternative to dairy products to add to tea, cereal or drink on its own. Almond milk, coconut milk and oat milk are all plant milks. We taste those available to find the best ones to buy... How the best almond milk taste test worked Five members of the olive team conducted a blind taste test to find the most flavoursome shop-bought almond milk. We tasted all of the biggest almond milk brands widely available in the UK. The group choose an overall winner and the rest all winning under specific categories. The results for the best almond milk Best overall almond milk: Plenish organic 6% almond milk About the almond milk: This almond milk is made with filtered water, 6% almonds and sea salt. It containers no sweeteners or stabilisers and is suitable for vegans. Comments: With a well-rounded toasty flavour, this smooth almond milk is great drunk on its own or in a smoothie. Price: £2.50/1L, ocado.com Runners up Best almond milk for those with a sweet tooth: Innocent almond dairy alternative milk About the almond milk: Made with spring water, 5.8% almonds and sea salt, this almond milk is suitable for vegans. Comments: This almond milk was a little more watery than Plenish, but had a pleasant toasty, salty flavour. Price: £1.75/750ml, tesco.com Rude Health longlife almond drink About the almond milk: This almond drink is made with natural spring water, organic rice, 1% almond Italian almonds, organic cold-pressed sunflower oil and sea salt. It is organic and suitable for vegans. Comments: This almond milk is great for those with a sweet tooth, with a very sweet marzipan-like flavour and creamy texture. Price: £1.40/250ml, ocado.com Here are the best plant-based restaurants across the country including: Chantelle Nicholson at Tredwell’s, London Mono, Glasgow Hendersons, Edinburgh Anna Loka, Cardiff Milgi, Cardiff Other almond milks we tried: Provamel organic unsweetened almond drink About the almond milk: Made with water, 5% almonds, sea salt and stabilisers, this almond water has 0% sugar and is suitable for vegans. Comments: We thought this almond milk was a bit bland and watery, however it had a pleasant and strong nutty scent. Price: £2.49/1L, waitrose.com Alpro organic almond milk About the almond milk: This almond milk is made primarily with water and 2.3% almonds. It is organic, suitable for vegans and has no sugar. Comments: This almond milk was too watery and bland compared to the others we tried. Price: £1.80/1L, ocado.com Paleo Food Co. 9% almond milk About the almond milk: This almond milk is made with filtered water and 9% almonds. It is suitable for vegans. Comments: This almond milk had more of a lumpy texture and watery flavour when compared to others we tried. Price: £2.99/1L, waitrose.com Want to find the best coconut water? Check out the results of our coconut water taste test here Taste test conducted and written by Ellie Edwards
Château la Chenevière, Port-en-Bessin, Normandy: hotel and restaurant review
Read our review of Château la Chenevière in Normandy, a sophisticated base to explore the region’s cider orchards, tread a scallop shell-lined beach, and snack on salted butter caramels
Looking for best places to stay in Normandy? Want Port-en-Bessin hotels? Read our review of hotel Château la Chenevière, Normandy. What’s the hotel’s USP? Set along Normandy’s lush, north-west coast, the honeyed stone of 18th-century manor house Château la Chenevière glows in the mid-afternoon sun. A former mansion and farm – they used to grow hemp here, then bred foals before a German and American occupation in World War II – Chenevière opened as a hotel in 1988. Now with five stars, and membership of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World, it’s mastered the art of looking after its guests, especially those with food on their minds. Read our foodie guide to Normandy here... And the general vibe? Sophisticated relaxation. Beyond the satisfyingly crunchy driveway there are 30 acres of grounds to amuse yourself in – with scented rose gardens (a flower show is held there every May), exotic trees, Chenevière’s own beehives, tennis courts, bikes (you can borrow them for free), a heated outdoor pool, and a hard-working vegetable patch that serves the hotel’s two restaurants. Attention to detail is strong – organic waste is turned into compost for the garden, and rain water is recycled. Which room should I book at Château la Chenevière, Port-en-Bessin, Normandy? There are 29 rooms in Chateau La Chenevière, each uniquely designed (think marble fireplaces, velvet-backed beds and wood paneling) but book into the deluxe executive rooms if you fancy an open, marbled bathroom. Wherever you stay, on wet weather days be sure to pick a DVD from the library and order free popcorn and a handful of individually wrapped salted butter caramels to be delivered to your door. What’s good to drink? Château la Chenevière’s speakeasy-style Zanzibar bar is decorated with a collection of the owner’s travel souvenirs but looks to its immediate surroundings for menu inspiration. Calvados (apple brandy) is a recurring theme – try the Cheneviere, a combination of pommeau (apple port), peach cream and champagne – or the house ciders. With a fizz more like champagne, a lower ABV, and a bump in tannin thanks to the bittersweet local cider apple varieties, most of the region’s rusty hued ciders are refreshingly crisp – without any West Country funk you might be used to. There’s also a well-stocked wine cellar and an enthusiastic sommelier on hand. What’s the food like at Château la Chenevière, Port-en-Bessin, Normandy? The food is as refined as the building itself. Head chef Didier Robin has created a contemporary, vibrant but recognisably French menu at the hotel’s elegant Le Botaniste restaurant, with its starched tablecloths and shuttered windows. Using local produce and treasures from Chenevière’s own kitchen garden, each plate takes you on a journey of the region from the comfort of your chair. Salmon from Bayeux’s fishmonger is served at 38ºC with a cold crab and Normandy saffron broth. Local squab comes with a Normandy cider sauce. More local apples are paired with steamed asparagus, rapeseed oil and roast hazelnuts. The ‘Twix’, perhaps takes its inspiration from a little further afield, but definitely looks to France for technique with its chocolate biscuit, caramel mousse, crispy coconut feuilletine and coconut and lime ice cream. It – along with the 20-strong French cheese trolley – is definitely worth saving room for. In the second restaurant, a pop-up called Le Jardin in the hotel's pretty pool house, you can get hot oysters with apples and camembert sauce, shoulder of lamb roasted over open coals with garden rosemary (the scents of which will tempt you while you work up an appetite in the neighbouring tennis court) and seasonal fruit pies. Or, if you fancy something altogether more relaxed, just ask the concierge to put together a picnic basket for you to enjoy on the lawn. Check out our best fruit and sweet pie recipes here... Deep-dish apple pie Blackberry and blueberry pie Key lime pie Raspberry meringue pie Lemon s'mores pie What’s the breakfast like at Château la Chenevière, Port-en-Bessin, Normandy? The tables of Le Botaniste stay crisply pressed in the morning – but focus on the long table at the back of the room, where a long buffet is hard to drag yourself away from. Start with a Chenevière-style, chive-flecked, mushroom and cheese omelette, made with free-range local eggs – just cooked, gently wobbling with every stab of the fork, and a lightly dressed salad. Move onto traditional Norman sausages, or perhaps the local bread and pastries collected daily from Fournil de Saint Loup bakehouse with Normandy butter, the Chateau’s own delicate honey and a dangerous amount of fromage. Any other food experiences I shouldn’t miss? This is cider country (Check out our expert guide to cider here) – so plan for days cycling from orchard to orchard, with local dairies as delicious punctuation – but an area rich in history, too. With Bayeux (and its tapestry), Giverny (and Monet’s beautiful garden) and the landing beaches close by – there’s plenty to pack in. Bayeux is ten minutes’ drive from the hotel. Head there on a Saturday, for the farmers’ market, where you’ll find crates of bulots vivants (that’s live whelks), then sit in the shadow of the dramatic cathedral sipping on more amber cider. On the coast, only two minutes away at Port-en-Bessin, look out for Paris-Brest pastries so generously filled with praline-packed cream, they burst with every bite. There’s a wet-floored, fresh fish market, too. Grab crab claws to crack on the pavement outside, as you dangle your feet over the edge of the harbour, the sweet shellfish naturally seasoned with the salty sea air. Take a walk on the scallop-shell lined beach, before heading aboard the Pays du Bessin Bar a Huitres, the port’s own waterborne seafood shack. When it’s not open (this is France – be prepared for unpredictable opening hours) – pop across the road to L’Ecailler, instead, where you can get bargain bowls of rich, terracotta fish soup, with buoys of crispy croutons, grated cheese and slick aioli; and the sweetest, tiniest, little mussels swimming in a cider cream, with shallots, decorative fresh apple cubes and proper, golden fried frites. When it comes to cider tasting, the fun is in the exploring but Dumaine Dupont is one of the best (with fluent English speakers) and definitely worth a detour. A tasting is free – make sure you try (and buy) the calvados and pommeau and, even better, the calvados laced with cream (think Normandy-style Baileys) – and a wander amongst the orchards are actively encouraged. It wouldn’t be a trip to France without cheese playing an important role and there are two local producers to Chenevière that should be added to any itinerary. Discover how regional favourites – livarot, pont l’évêque and neufuchâtel – are made at family owned Le Grain d’Orge. Or on the smaller scale, Fromagerie Durand are producing camembert in the village of the same name. There are few raw milk cheese producers that will let people visit their dairy but the two brothers who run this charming outfit do. They also have a small shop, and tables where you can set up a picnic. Check out our top picks for the best French food trips, 2018: Paris - for a chic city break Flaine - for a foodie ski trip Is it family friendly? Chenevière feels grown up and sophisticated but families are welcome. Extra beds can be made up in the larger bedrooms and suites for an additional charge and thethere’s a children’s menu. Board games, children’s bikes and babysitting are also available. What can I do in the local area? A trip to Saint Laurent sur Mer reveals the Omaha beach memorial, its wave-like metal fins spiking out of the soft golden sand a poignant reminder of what once was. Beuvron-en-Auge – awarded France’s most beautiful village – is a postcard-ready vision of 16th-, 17th- and 18th-century half-timbered homes, antique shops, cafés and stores selling macarons, and yet more cheese, calvados, cider, eggs and butter. Or, for something altogether different, head to yachty Honfleur, home of the Impressionists. The concierge says The concierge at Chenevière can arrange private tours of the landing beaches in everything from a Jeep to a buggy, a hot air balloon to a helicopter (there’s a helipad at the hotel, so your guide can meet you at the door). Horseback riding, golf, sailing and paragliding can also be arranged. olive says... If you have time make a pit stop in Cambremer to place bets on the horses in old pubs and drink cider in the town square. Double rooms at Chateau La Cheneviere start from £271, room-only. <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=71026X1546147&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.booking.com%2Fhotel%2Ffr%2Fchateau-la-cheneviere.en-gb.html%3Flabel%3Dgen173nr-1FCAEoggJCAlhYSDNYBGhQiAEBmAExwgEDYWJuyAEM2AEB6AEB-AECkgIBeagCBA%3Bsid%3D33c3fa277f0d08b0b1bd2df681f354b8%3Ball_sr_blocks%3D5859901_106872110_0_2_0%3Bcheckin%3D2018-11-15%3Bcheckout%3D2018-11-17%3Bdest_id%3D-1459448%3Bdest_type%3Dcity%3Bdist%3D0%3Bgroup_adults%3D2%3Bhapos%3D1%3Bhighlighted_blocks%3D5859901_106872110_0_2_0%3Bhpos%3D1%3Broom1%3DA%2CA%3Bsb_price_type%3Dtotal%3Bsrepoch%3D1540558573%3Bsrfid%3Db721357b279dfeb09fc186d1c80c0f3a8aca6548X1%3Bsrpvid%3D19565af5f77c02cd%3Btype%3Dtotal%3Bucfs%3D1%26%23hotelTmpl" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-id="iframe-0-anchor-14">For the best deals on rooms at Chateau La Cheneviere, click here lacheneviere.com For more info see normandie-tourisme.fr Words by Laura Rowe Photos by Laura Rowe, Château la Chenevière
The Oxford Blue, Old Windsor: restaurant review
We review newly renovated pub The Oxford Blue in Old Windsor, and discover attention to detail rarely seen outside of the capital’s fine-dining restaurants
It’s been two years in the making but the last day of 2016 marked the long-anticipated opening of chef patron Steven Ellis’s first solo venture, Old Windsor’s The Oxford Blue. Let’s make things clear from the off, it’s worth the wait. As the former sous chef of three-Michelin-starred Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, and with Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen and Andrew Pern’s Michelin-starred Star Inn in North Yorkshire on his CV, it’s little wonder that Steven’s menu here is as elegant as it is. Described as one “based on tradition and comfort, presented with a modern twist”, there are familiar pub favourites – a ploughman’s, soup and homemade bread, liver and onions, beef sirloin – but nothing is quite as it seems. (It’s better.) We spot the ploughman’s being served across the dining room – ham is theatrically carved from a trolley and served alongside wedges of Kirkland mature Lancashire – while little black pudding bonbons to get us started are served with military precision from trays by the young but well-versed team. Josh, our waiter, is only 18 and yet advises us on the details of any dish we quiz him on (we weren’t testing, honest), and recommends wine, and later cheese, with authority and charm. This is, in no small part, down to general manager Daniel Crump and restaurant manager Margriet Vandezande-Crump (who created the drinks list). The husband and wife team, and best friends and former colleagues of Steven, have themselves worked for some of the country’s best – Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, Petrus and Adam Byatt’s Trinity. A starter of ‘warm potato salad’ reveals Steven’s attention to detail, playful attitude towards traditional flavour pairings, and a clear obsession with good ingredients. A variety of potatoes are served in a multitude of ways – purple truffle potatoes are boiled and sliced, one more (nutty in flavour) is fried into a crisp, while another's skin is made into some sort of sublime vegetarian crackling and stuffed with yet more whipped potato with chives and sour cream. Bitter leaves and spring onions and a creamy, tangy Lancashire cheese sauce all point to the scale of ambition here – it’s no average pub. Another starter, braised suckling pig’s trotter, was as fine as any plate you’ll find in London’s high-end dining rooms. Wafer-thin slices of green- and red-skinned apples are plated with precision, like fish scales, and topped with the sticky roll of stuffed trotter – tender, salty, immeasurably delicious. Delicate dots of sauce gribiche, a neatly trimmed fried quail’s egg, glistening like a tiny sunshine, another piece of fried black pudding and a crab apple half poached in cider would have been impressive enough; but on the side, too, a bespoke wooden wedge held crisp pinwheels of pork crackling, like crispy little pig tails. If Steven’s aim is to get his guests squealing with delight, he’s definitely on the right track here. A specials menu is inspired by the pick of the nearby Crown Estate. Head round the back of the pub and you’ll spot Steven’s own game shed (a nod to the pub’s former life as two gamekeeper’s cottages in the 1800s), where birds from the estate are hung to mature, alongside a herb garden and another 16 extra covers. (There are 60 inside.) A plate of woodcock catches my eye. It’s not for the squeamish – here it’s presented head split down the middle, brain and all – but delicate butchery and an even lighter hand at the pass made for some of the most tender game we’ve tried, its flavour deeply offally and rich. The tiny bird with a big beak pulled serious punches. A slice of paté en croute made swift work of the innards, and perfectly balanced the sweet slice of buttery, naughtily wobbly, foie gras, and pretty bitter rainbow chard pieces. Incredibly elegant. Pie and mash, too, caused gasps as it arrived at the table, with Josh feeding its rich gravy into a chimney hole at the pie’s centre. Inside the crisp raised pastry (so rare in the modern gastropub world – a lone pie lid does not a pie make), lay shredded confit chicken (now drenched in gravy). Its crispy skin had been made into majestic shards and studded into the smoothest pomme purée, while a poached chicken sausage and sweet leek medallions finished the dish. Familiar flavours but delivered in a thoroughly contemporary, refined way. That’s what a gastropub should be all about. We didn’t need sides, but the call of beef-fat chips and buttered cabbage was too loud for us to ignore. There was no mini fryer, or Jenga-like stack, just a simple pot of cracking fried potatoes – crisp, golden, fluffy and flavourful – and the cabbage was as good as any my grandad pulls out of the ground (and trust me, they’re good). The wine list is well annotated and provides an interesting selection taken from the wine attic upstairs, which doubles up as a private dining room. Bolney Bubbly from West Sussex was a great sparkler to start, while a carafe of Bulgarian pinot noir made for a happy pairing with our two birds. Cheese is charged by the slice, rather than the board (great idea), and a selection of modern British artisanal greats are presented and explained with confidence again by our lovely Josh. We go for Stichelton (think Stilton but creamier and all-round more delicious), Beenleigh Blue (a crumbly Devon Ewe’s milk), and a bloomy brie-de-meaux-like Baron Bigod from Norfolk, which are then joined by all the trimmings: homemade biscuits, fruit cheese, chutney, fresh fruit, nuts and more. Steven’s partner, Ami, is in charge of desserts and clementine parfait is both palate-cleansing and lighthearted. A sphere of creamy, sweet and sharp parfait is coated to look like its original fruit, and joined on the plate by flaky compressed discs of puff pastry, confit orange, ginger and fresh fruit segments. A wonderful assortment of textures and flavours – just as at the start of our meal. Earl grey soufflé (made using Cornish Tregothnan tea), although technically perfect, was a touch too delicate in aroma and flavour to make the right impact with its smooth biscuit ice cream. The only dud note of the night. It didn’t end there, though. After dinner, slabs of The Oxford Blue’s own salted mint chocolate are brought out, along with a hammer to break into them, as we sink ever lower into our chairs, warmed by the heat of the roaring open fire at the heart of the pub. The Oxford Blue is presented as a pub (flagstone floors, tartan upholstery, ales on tap) but it really is a restaurant, and a seriously sophisticated one at that. Just when we thought the gastropub was dead… Written by Laura Rowe, February 2017 The Oxford Blue, 10 Crimp Hill, Old Windsor, Berkshire SL4 2QY
olive magazine podcast ep35 - turbo G&Ts, charcoal lattes and root-to-fruit eating with eco chef Tom Hunt
This week eco chef and restaurateur Tom Hunt comes into the studio to explain his root-to-fruit philosophy and gives the team tips on reducing food waste. Janine gets excited about plant-based cooking, and Laura and Sarah experiment with charcoal lattes and 'turbo' G&Ts. You'll never guess the secret ingredient...
olive magazine podcast ep34 - Purple veg, healthy eating tips and an interview with the Curious Pear
This week Alex talks purple veg with Vernon Mascarenhas, fruit and veg guru at New Covent Garden Market then catches up with Megan and Issy, the pals behind food and travel blog The Curious Pear. Janine and Gregor trade healthy eating recipes and tips.
These cheesy bites have a crunchy exterior, a melty inside and a satisfyingly tangy taste. They're a definite crowd-pleaser and a great way to use up left-over cheese