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Ripe for the picking: Skye Gyngell makes the most of plump, summer fruits

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 23:00:25 GMT

So far it has been the most glorious summer in England that I can remember, and one of the great benefits is that classic English fruit has been ripe and sweet.

Bites: Punters take a chance and eating al fresco

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 23:00:01 GMT

Is it tempting fate to sit outdoors at a restaurant? Given last week's combination of blazing sun followed five minutes later by torrential rain, it might be unwise. But ever since the terrace at London's Scott's became the place to be seen, punters are taking a chance and eating al fresco.

Wine: Something for the weekend?

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 23:00:01 GMT

Anthony Rose: The aim is to give the man in the street the chance to exchange wine, eBay-style, over the internet

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 23:00:01 GMT

It's always been the case that you cannot buy and sell wine on eBay because you need a licence. Recently though, there's been a spate of new web-based initiatives, offering the opportunity to buy or sell wines without going through the cumbersome procedure of the auction house or traditional wine broker. How to price your wine or what to pay? Helpfully, there are also sites giving you the market price of your wine or a wine you're thinking of buying.

Rich pickings: Mark Hix turns culinary cast-offs into delicious summer dishes

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 23:00:01 GMT

As a nation we waste an awful lot of food. Some of this is due to over-buying on the part of supermarkets, who bin the lot when the sell-by date is up; and some of it is down to shoppers who buy too much food and let it rot in the fridge. Restaurant and hotel kitchens are just as bad and I so often see greengrocers binning produce that is still good to eat.

Exposed: The big waste scandal

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 23:00:32 GMT

Lamb chops rotting in the fridge, bananas blackening in a bowl, potatoes mouldering in a cupboard. We all know that wasting food is wrong. After all, we're lucky to have enough food in the West.

Cocktails remixed: Exotic molecular mixology

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 23:00:29 GMT

Sweetcorn, avocado and jelly: call me conventional but these are not ingredients that belong in a martini glass. Tom Cruise did not spin those liquor bottles, toss those silver shakers and strut his stuff behind the bar in Cocktail only to pause and add a final flourish of cumin to his alcoholic creation.

How very Moorish: Spice girl Skye Gyngell hots things up for summer

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 23:00:01 GMT

These dishes are loosely based on the cuisine of North Africa – their flavours are warm and spicy, with slightly sweet undertones. Ground whole spices are used in abundance, as are plenty of fresh herbs – especially coriander and mint – plus fresh and dried chillies and perhaps a little lemon.

Bites: Dante Gonzales is banging the chicken drumstick for peace

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 23:00:01 GMT

KFC RIP, or so says Dante Gonzales, aka "Dante Fried Chicken", the New York-based "chef and conceptual artist" who reckons that deep-fried drumsticks hold the key to a better world.

Wine: Something for the weekend?

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 23:00:01 GMT

Anthony Rose: The upturn in English wine's fortunes is due to growing professionalism and a change in grape varieties

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 23:00:01 GMT

It's a fair bet that when Barack Obama sipped the 1998 Nyetimber Blanc de Blancs served on his recent visit to Britain, compliments will have been duly showered on his host like confetti. It's an open secret that despite the stigma that sill attaches to English wine, England can more than hold its head high in the sparkling wine stakes. With more than 100 awards doled out this year in the UK's consumer wine competitions, English wines, sparkling wines in particular, have harvested a bumper crop. All but one of several gold medals went to English fizz, among them the 2005 Camel Valley White Pinot from Bodmin in Cornwall, Nyetimber's 1992 Blanc de Blancs 1992 from East Sussex and the 2005 Hush Heath Balfour Brut Rosé from the Weald of Kent.

Pass the port: Mark Hix finds culinary inspiration on a trip to meet a Portuguese wine-maker

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 23:00:01 GMT

A few weeks ago, I went on a trip to Portugal with the Chop House's wine merchant John Hutton – but our journey out there turned into a bit of a passport nightmare. In London the night before we left, I suddenly realised that my passport was in the side pocket of my small travel case in Dorset.

Observations: Doodle Bar invites drinkers to make their artistic mark

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 23:00:01 GMT

Children are always told off for drawing on things they shouldn't but, at a new arts café and bar in Battersea, South London it's positively encouraged. Aptly named the Doodle Bar, everything is a whitewashed, blank canvas and punters are invited to make their artistic mark on walls, tables, chairs and even the waiters, who wear white. Inside the bar is a VW Beetle, a 1970s chaise longue, a ping-pong table and, weaving across the walls, a basic outline of a map of London, that can all be added to and coloured in.

The Ten Best Ice Creams

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 23:00:57 GMT

Chosen by Simon Usborne

Heston Blumenthal has torn up the rulebook again

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 23:00:01 GMT

Take one dishwasher, add a pinch of sandwich toaster and finish with a hint of scouring sponge. Cleaning equipment doesn't ordinarily feature in recipes, but then Heston Blumenthal doesn't specialise in the ordinary. His taste for innovation doesn't just concern his famously surprising combination of ingredients, but also stretches to the equipment he chooses to employ in the kitchen.

Criminally tasty: Britain's first prison restaurant

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 23:00:01 GMT

I've played chase-the-reservation at some top restaurants and put my name on waiting lists, praying for cancellations, at places like The Fat Duck, The Ivy and Nobu. But until now, I've never had to have Home Office clearance and a government minder to get a table. Then again, The Clink is no ordinary venue. As the only commercial restaurant in the country to open inside a prison, it's arguably the nation's most exclusive eatery.

Appliances of science: Heston Blumenthal has torn up the rulebook again

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 23:00:01 GMT

Why I Love: A steak to the heart

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 23:00:01 GMT

I don't know how Michelin-starred chefs produce outstanding plates of food so readily, because when I cook, I find it difficult – it took me five years to learn how to cook a steak properly. For me it's about finding a good piece of meat, knowing what pan to use, what temperature to have the pan at, and when to take the steak out.

Just add flower: Skye Gyngell's summer dishes with the delicate flavour of roses

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 23:00:01 GMT

May and June are when roses are at their most glorious – they herald the beginning of summer. Old-fashioned roses that have a sweet perfume and large blousy petals are my favourite – not only are they beautiful to behold, they can also be used in the kitchen.

Bites: It's time to try downsize dining

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 23:00:01 GMT

Many years ago, your Bites correspondent happened to be staying in the same Miami hotel as a certain London-born supermodel. We ended up having lunch together in the (very chi-chi) on-site restaurant. The thing to order, she confided, was the burger and fries from the kids menu – delicious, decidedly big enough, and half the price of the adult version.

Marvellous mayo: Mark Hix adds a touch of luxury to summer with home-made mayonnaise

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 23:00:01 GMT

Mayonnaise is the indisputable king of the cold sauces; although I’m often shocked at the rogue stuff on the supermarket shelves calling itself mayonnaise.

Wine: Something for the weekend?

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 23:00:01 GMT

Anthony Rose: France's big rival in the syrah stakes is Australia, where syrah is metamorphosed into shiraz

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 23:00:01 GMT

Gather a group of wine writers together – or sponge, as we of the species are collectively known – and you can be sure that one of the abiding topics of conversation, ourselves apart, is the awfulness of that form of life known as the PR. Unless they're inviting you to top eaterie The Square, or biking over a sample of Bollinger Rosé (and how often does that happen?), all they're seemingly good for is bolstering the fragile journalistic ego.

The Ten Best Espresso Machines

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 23:00:31 GMT

Chosen by Pauline Lockwood

Will we soon be tucking into mitten crabs fresh from the Thames?

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 23:00:01 GMT

I didn't believe that the Thames had the power to cause hallucinations until one day its banks started to wriggle and writhe in front of me, as if taking on an undulating life of their own. From out of nowhere, eight hairy legs crawled along the mud banks and drunkenly staggered sideways towards the water. Yet more crabs followed. Feeling a little like the lead actor in an improbable 1950s B-movie (Killer Crabs Eat Tower Bridge!), I ran off along the embankment to warn friends and family of the invasion.