Thursday, March 28, 2024
HomeTIPPLE & FARE

TIPPLE & FARE

A call to enter

La Brasserie invites entries to their third inter-bar cocktail competition   On Sunday 12th April, La Brasserie is holding their third inter-bar cocktail competition. To be judged by amongst others the well-known Italian British personality and...

Wally of the Week: Champagne swiller Dawn Ward

ITVBe’s ‘The Real Housewives of Cheshire’s’ Dawn Ward provides an example of all that is wrong with ‘new wealth’ of her type   Dawn Ward is tackiness personified but frankly it isn’t her fault. This poor,...

Wine of the Week: Les Belles Côtes Sancerre Roger Et Didier Raimbault 2012

Citreola Cellars wine merchant Gael Dantec selects Les Belles Côtes Sancerre Roger Et Didier Raimbault 2012 as his Wine of the Week for readers of ‘The Steeple Times’   This week as my Wine of the...

Bashed at Balthazar

Mirror falls on former French Minister of Industrial Renewal at Balthazar in New York   On Friday at 10am, a large mirror fell on the head of Arnaud Montebourg, the former French Minister of Industrial Renewal,...

Model Behaviour

La Brasserie celebrates London Fashion Week and the Gin Festival with a new cocktail named ‘Model Behaviour’   London Fashion Week is once again upon us and alongside stick insect like models and the arrival of Anna...

Wine of the Week: Champagne Simart-Moreau Brut Sélection Grand Cru

Citreola Cellars wine merchant Gael Dantec selects Champagne Simart-Moreau Brut Sélection Grand Cru as his Wine of the Week for readers of ‘The Steeple Times’   This week’s I’ve decided to opt to choose a champagne...

Wine of the Week: Clos Grand Faurie, Saint-Émilion 2009

Citreola Cellars wine merchant Gael Dantec selects his Wine of the Week for readers of ‘The Steeple Times’   A perfectly balanced, medium-bodied wine is this week’s Wine of the Week. It is a Close Grand...

John Paul Murphy: “What’s on your mantelpiece?”

The Steeple Times asks John Paul Murphy, head chef of South Kensington restaurant La Brasserie: “What’s on your mantelpiece?”   The Steeple Times shares “wit and wisdom”. What’s your guiding force? I have a passion for living.   “Don't...

Quote of the Week: Royal beer

Queen Victoria on the merits of beer   Our Quote of the Week was shared by The Cross Keys pub on Facebook. It was made Queen Victoria and sums up her views on the merits of...

Wine of the Week: Domaine Les Goubert “Sablet” Cotes du Rhones “Sablet” 2011

Gael Dantec of Citreola Cellars selects an affordable rustic gem   This week’s Wine of the Week is a “slightly rustic” Cotes du Rhones from the vineyard of Jean-Pierre, Mireille and Florence Cartier.     From the Domaine Les...

Whisky for the Chancellor

Scotch Whisky Association calls for a reduction in duty on spirits and highlights that the tax on a £12.50 bottle of Bell’s Whisky is a staggering £9.98   Revelations by the Scotch Whisky Association that UK...

Wine of the Week: Domaine du Cereberon Mersault Vireuils 2009

Wine merchant and founder of Citreola Cellars Gael Dantec selects his Wine of the Week for readers of ‘The Steeple Times’   Situated in the heart of Meursault, the Domaine du Cerberon is just 7 acres...

All you need is champagne

South Kensington’s The Exhibitionist Hotel offers a £35,000 Valentine’s Day package that would most definitely appeal to a wealthy ‘Fifty Shade of Grey’ fan   Kate Moss and Johnny Depp allegedly asked a hotel to fill...

Wine of the Week: Clos Du Moulin Aux Moines Bourgnone Aux Secrets 2008

Special offer: Citreola Cellars wine merchant Gael Dantec selects his first Wine of the Week for readers of ‘The Steeple Times’   From a vineyard in Auxey-Duresses that has existed since the year 962, this 100%...

Bucking the trend

Chelsea public house The Cross Keys to reopen   Pubs in Britain are closing at a rate of 31 per week so it is refreshing to hear of one that is actually reopening. Bucking this sad...

Fifty Shades Of Gin

Knightsbridge bar and restaurant The Rib Room creates a cocktail using 41 gins (and 9 other ingredients) to mark the release of the film ‘Fifty Shades Of Grey’   To mark the release of the film...

Locking up the local

Matthew Steeples suggests that the closure of the Knightsbridge restaurant Racine brings with it another nail in the coffin of dining out in The Royal Borough   London is awash with restaurant openings but for every...

Boozing publicity

Nigel Farage giving up drinking is nothing other than an orchestrated publicity stunt   There’s nothing wrong with deciding to cut back on the drink but Nigel Farage and others who’ve decided to have a “dry...

A crown for a meal

Wear a crown to Brasserie Zédel on 6th January and get a meal on the house   Brasserie Zédel, just off Piccadilly Circus, marked La Fête des Rois –the French celebration of Epiphany – last year...

Giving celery a reason to exist

As South Kensington restaurant La Brasserie offers lessons in Bloody Mary making, we explore the history of this hair-of-the-dog drink   Someone once said: “If you want to drink all day, you better start early” and...

How not to make the perfect gin and tonic

Pompous “drinks scientist’s” claims of discovering how to make “the perfect gin and tonic” are utter tosh   There are many ways to make a gin and tonic. I like mine served in a heavy tumbler...

Currying May

Isn’t it time for Theresa May to laud British boozers?   This week, our Home Secretary attended an event celebrating the culture of curry. In her speech, she ridiculously stated that Indian restaurants are more important...

The open bar

Bartenders flock to attend “open bars”   There’s a new culture in London amongst the bartending community. It’s called the “open bar”.     After a long day’s work, these eternal night-owls flock to what turn out to be...

All power to The Punchbowl

Mayfair’s The Punchbowl gets a makeover   The Punchbowl in Mayfair was a public house that I first visited in the late 1990s. It had the typical swirly patterned, sticky carpets that you’d find in any...

Wally of the Week: Jack Monroe

Blogger Jack Monroe returns to our pages   Not content with having featured as our Wally of the Week once, the acid tongued food and politics blogger Jack Monroe has again made an utter fool of...

Tripping up

Was a Blackpool hotel wrong to fine a couple £100 after they left a negative review about their stay?   Though TripAdvisor is an online review site that allows customers to vent their fury at genuinely...

Pleurat Shabani: What’s on your mantelpiece?

The Steeple Times asks Konik’s Tail Vodka founder Pleurat Shabani: “What’s on your mantelpiece?”   The Steeple Times shares “wit and wisdom”. What’s your guiding force? Beware, the half-wise are everywhere.   “Don't get even, get medieval” is, in...

A kebabed troll: Lady Meyer and TripAdvisor don’t mix

TripAdvisor and the wives of former ambassadors do not mix   Champagne loving Lady Meyer is a woman who should have known better. An associate of Gerry and Kate McCann – whose own comments about having...

Watering down

£8 million mansion with the only Cotswold drawn spring water comes to the market   They say: “Where there’s a well, there’s water” and whoever is prepared to part with some £8,000,000 could get an awful...

Watering down

£8 million mansion with the only Cotswold drawn spring water comes to the market   They say: “Where there’s a well, there’s water” and whoever is prepared to part with some £8,000,000 could get an awful...

Head to Highclere: A review of The Yew Tree Inn

The revitalisation of The Yew Tree Inn at Highclere has put this country pub firmly back on the culinary radar   Highclere used to be known primarily for two things: The first, Highclere Castle, has been there...

Love on a shoestring

Matthew Steeples explores the story behind Konik’s Tail vodka   Kosovo born Pleurat Shabani came to London in the early 1990s and has progressed from working in an Angus Steakhouse to owning a much loved vodka...