Posts by Tom Johnston
Restaurants – How (and Why) Do I Love Thee?
And before I start counting the ways, please do NOT write in to point out that I ought to have said ye instead of thee. As I may have written before, there’s room for only one annoying pedant in this blog. As a boss of L’s, a great stalwart of the Labour Party, was wont…
Read MoreOrodeal – Birth of a Legend
It is said that the most successful people in life are those who made plans early and followed them through rigorously. Apparently, on leaving university, Michael Heseltine scribbled down his goals on the back of an envelope. The list read – 25 Millionaire; 35 Cabinet Member; 45 Leader of the Party; 55 Prime Minister. All…
Read MoreAlison Doody’s Guinness Cake
As many of you will know, making sweet things is not my forte. In an attempt to broaden my repertoire, I have tried to develop this part of my game; however, bread making apart, baking is not my thing. I therefore suggested to my sister in law, cook and baker extraordinaire, that she might contribute…
Read MoreTo Takeaway or Not To Takeaway
Don’t let the two week break make you think that activity here at Casa Johnston has slowed. Au contraire. My willing helpers, PAs, research assistants, sous chefs and food stylists, have been beavering away as usual. No furloughing here. Material for future On The Side columns is tucked away in the can: recipes for Tom Cooks! are…
Read MoreChef Watch – Campbell Mickel, Merienda
Featuring Campbell Mickel of Merienda and Exec Chef Cuisine. See below for details of how to order their amazing food even during lockdown. How long have you been a chef? I started cooking full time when I was 15….February 1986. It was strange being so young out working 50 hours a week until very late…
Read MoreGolden Oldies – The Fat Duck, Bray
The Fat Duck High Street, Bray, Berks SL6 2AQ 01628 580333 www.thefatduck.co.uk The Bill 15 courses: £275 + Service (2017 price) The Score Cooking 10/10 | Service 5/5 | Flavour 5/5 | Value 5/5 TOTAL 25/25 Obviously there are no restaurants to review at present. Tom Eats! will provide a varied programme which will include…
Read MoreTom’s Moroccan Style Chicken Drumsticks with Potato Wedges
As I mentioned in the recent article on TV chefs, I’m not a fan of Ready, Steady Cook. Of watching it, that is. Being presented with unexpected ingredients and having to rustle something up is quite fun. And occasionally there are external factors which impact upon one’s options. It started when herself went out to…
Read MoreLamb? Yes, please, but at Easter it ain’t Scottish
On many dinner tables this Easter Sunday, there will be a roast. Not as large as if the family was coming to visit, but lots of you will maintain a traditional feast on a smaller scale. And for many, perhaps even the majority, that will be sheep meat, almost certainly lamb. That’s a very fine…
Read MoreTrotters Independent Condiments and Super Meals
Trotter’s Independent Condiments and now Super Meals – Good Guys Doing Good Things www.trottersindependent.co.uk/super-meals 07712 339 275 I had one more restaurant review in the can. It was half done, as I had intended to revisit, the first lunch having resulted in rather too much duplication. When I invite others out to a Tom…
Read MoreMeat Balls – The Sublime…
I’m pretty certain that meatballs will have been with us for as long as we have had meat, and certainly for as long as we have had butchers. My late Ma alerted me to a long established trick practised by unscrupulous members of that profession, sticking a half ounce of mince on the bottom of…
Read MoreTV Chefs – Who Gets Your Vote?
Here in Johnston Towers not a huge amount of TV is watched in normal times. Each of us has our own guilty secrets. And we also have guilty TV watching habits, some of which simply cannot be shared, lest divorce follow, at least as soon as lawyers’ offices reopen. So, sadly, you will hear nothing…
Read MoreSupper Club at The Strawberry Barn – Guest Reviewer David Dickson
Thistly Cross Roundabout Dunbar, East Lothian EH42 1ST 01368 860573 www.belhavenfruitfarm.co.uk The Bill Supper Club 5 courses: £40.00 The Score Cooking 8/10 | Service 4/5 | Flavour 4/5 | Value 4/5 TOTAL 20/25 I thought long and hard about continuing to publish reviews, given present circumstances. I have decided to press ahead with what…
Read MoreSpatchcock Chicken
Spatchcocked and ready to cook I received a very generous Christmas present from my sister in law, a voucher for Nisbets, kitchen equipment suppliers. Never, ever, buy stuff again from chi chi little “kitchen shops”. Nisbets will sell you professional quality stuff at keen prices. (But if you are perusing their price list, remember that…
Read MoreChef Watch – Craig Wood
Featuring Craig Wood, chef and co-owner of The Wee Restaurant, North Queensferry and The Wee Restaurant, Edinburgh. Obviously the restaurants are closed just now, but there is a fantastic takeaway and delivery service available from North Queensferry. See below for details. How long have you been a chef? 32 years. I started part time at…
Read MoreThe Peat Inn
Restaurant With Rooms Peat Inn, near St Andrews, Fife KY15 5LH 01334 840206 www.thepeatinn.co.uk The Bill Set Lunch 3 courses: £25.00 Dinner Menu of the Day 3 courses: £58.00 Tasting Menu 6 courses: £78.00 A la Carte First Dishes: £19.00 – £20.00 | Second Dishes: £28.00 – £35.00 To Follow: £11.00 – £12.00 The Score…
Read MoreChicken, Leek and Red Pepper Pie
First day of spring approaching? Well not if you shove your nose out of my door, it ain’t. After some good feed back from last week’s recipes featuring leeks, I thought I’d dig this one out. Take this pie, break the crust and you get colours of summer, succulent white chicken, pale green leeks and…
Read MoreRestaurants – Let’s Stay Together
Lovin’ you ever, whether, times were good or bad, happy or sad… The Today programme aside, at home I listen to radio relatively rarely. One exception is the occasional half hour of Steve Wright’s Sunday Love Songs. Today featured the mellifluous (note to self – must look that up in the dictionary) tones of the Reverend Al…
Read MoreFabric
2 Canmore Street, Dunfermline, Fife, KY12 7NT 01383 733430 www.fabricdrinkanddine.co.uk The Bill Lunch and Dinner 2 courses: £13.95 | 3 courses: £17.25 A la Carte Starters: £5.25 – £6.95 | Mains: £8.95 – £26.95 | Desserts: £4.95 – £5.25 The Score Cooking 6/10 | Service 4.5/5 | Flavour 4/5 | Value 5/5 TOTAL…
Read MoreLeeks
This week’s column was inspired by finding a puddle of creamed leeks hiding below some slices of beef at The Peat Inn, the subject of next week’s Tom Eats! column. I am very fond of leeks, but it occurred to me that my use of them tends to be in leek and potato soup, for…
Read MoreRoast Beef No More – Blame The Railways
From time to time I have mused idly as to why we talk today of roasting beef in an oven, yet baking potatoes. The latter term is correct. Traditionally roasting is done by exposing food to a naked flame, either on a spit or grill. Until watching a recent BBC programme on the history of…
Read MoreL’escargot bleu
56 Broughton Street, Edinburgh EH1 3SA 0131 556 1600 www.lescargotbleu.co.uk The Bill Set Lunch 2 courses £12.60 Set Dinner (pre 18.45) 2 courses £14.90 A la Carte Starters: £6.00 – £14.00 | Mains: £14.00 – £24.00 Desserts: £6.00 – £7.50 The Score Cooking 7.5/10 | Service 5/5 | Flavour 4.5/5 | Value 5/5…
Read MoreBeef Hough
Just outside St Andrews in the Cupar direction, you will find Balgove Larder. Farm shops are pretty common these days: this one, pun intended, is a cut above. There is a deli, there are books, of course there is a cafe/restaurant. The latter was choc a bloc, with a long queue for tables. But, best…
Read MoreRestaurants: The Economics of The Madhouse
My mother was the worst of all. In addition to having a great head for figures, she was a very talented cook. No, those weren’t the failings. But take her to a restaurant, then unless she took an immediate like to the place or the people (this happened about 25% of the time) she could…
Read MoreAnd Another Daft Thing!
One of the great things about social media is being able to hear so many of the unbelievably stupid things heard in restaurants, principally (but not exclusively) said by diners. Please let me have examples, the dafter the better. Thanks to Janet Hood for this example from her chef husband Alastair, concerning an organic,…
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