On The Side

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,…

This is the first of a monthly series about chefs of note. Do you have a favourite you think should be featured? Let me know. Why did you become a chef? I’ve always enjoyed cooking and felt if I was going to do something for the rest of my life it might as well be…

When the site was launched, I mentioned that there were still a couple of glitches which had to be ironed out. Many thanks to Alan Tomkins of Alpha Tango, and his tecchy man Adrian for resolving them. There are two separate search facilities. While they are straightforward enough, if you haven’t encountered the wonderful world…

The eyebrows of anyone who knows me are likely to rise considerably at the notion of my penning an article on shopping. As a leisure activity it scores as highly in my book as watching ethnic dancing or having bamboo shoots inserted under my toenails. But, dear reader, you have still got to get the…

Now I bow to no one in my admiration of Nigel Slater. In addition to his writing and broadcasting, he is editor of the Observer Food Monthly, which I take from time to time. The latest edition which I read contained The 8th Annual OFM 50 –  Everything We Love In The World of Food Right…

When a chef has acquired a degree of celebrity, people’s attitudes seem to change. One of the most common questions posed to waiting staff is whether the great one is on the premises or whether he personally prepared that terrine/fish/panna cotta. When the answer is in the negative, this often results in hurt feelings. In…

Last Sunday was National Waiters’ Day. I jest not. Who, I hear you ask, thinks these things up? If I tell you that the ubiquitous Fred Siriex is involved you probably won’t be surprised. Perhaps of more interest is the fact that this goes back about 100 years, to Paris and the annual race, the…

Yesterday, two unthinkable things happened. Firstly, I discovered that L and I both had a completely empty calendar. Ladies and gentlemen, in the month of August, this is something which does not happen. With a few mouse clicks I soon remedied that. Three Fringe shows and a bite of dinner (The Outsider on George IV…

To eat well in England, you should have breakfast three times a day. Thus spake W Somerset Maugham, at the time a resident of France. In 1914 he may have had a point. This is a Scottish column. Why, I hear you ask, such a quotation from south of the border? Well, it’s better than…