Going to nearby Kingston upon Thames with grandsons Freddie (7½) and Ben (4¾) has become a regular holiday time ritual and makes a lovely outing for me with the boys. A major attraction is Bentalls toy department, which is one of the best I know, and they always come with a little money from Mummy […]
Freddie and I were talking about Masaniello last week and Livio’s pizzas. Livio, co-owner and head chef of Masaniello, hails from Naples and thus knows a good deal about making an excellent pizza. We haven’t been for a long time, said Freddie. No, we haven’t, I said, so we’ll go soon, next time you’re on […]
Over the last three years I’ve discovered some great places to eat with my 3-year-old grandson Freddie. Following family tradition, he’s turning into a great gourmet and even likes to help with the cooking. He loves Italian food and has an addiction to olives! Given the proliferation of wonderful Italian restaurants, bakeries and delis in […]
The Italians know how to throw a party. Masaniello was opening its new branch in Surbiton this evening and an invitation to regulars and locals went out to join the party. I arrived soon after 6pm when it was due to begin and it was fairly quiet, but a warm welcome from owner/head chef Livio […]
I haven’t written a My Week in Food post for a few weeks and thought it would be fun to do it for the week just ending as I’ve been out more than usual, but to old favourite places already written about on the blog. It’s nice to take the chance to highlight them again, plus […]
Last weekend I went on an expedition to deepest, darkest Herefordshire. I say this as a Londoner. Entering Herefordshire is always something of an expedition and fraught with the possibility of getting lost. I was on the way to my daughter Nicola’s Hen-do. Fourteen of us were to be housed in a huge 8-bedroom house […]
Pizza is an early street food. Street food is all the rage at the moment with markets popping up all over London, even well-established restaurants taking a stall, and offering the kind of wonderful food that’s only been seen before in places flung very wide of London. Street food when I was a kid was […]
When my friend Elsa suggested we met at Princi last night, I thought that was a great idea. I was introduced to this London branch of a Milanese institution by my friend Lucia last year (click here) and I’ve been there a couple of times with her, eating in the self-service area and having just […]
My son’s 30th birthday celebrations continued at Ruben’s Refettorio last night. Igor’s wonderful bakery and pizzeria have become such family favourites that when Jonathan was deciding where to gather his friends to celebrate his entry into a new decade, it was a natural choice. Some of us had built up an appetite on the playing […]
When I stopped by at the lovely Ruben’s Bakehouse at around 8 am this morning, en route to pick up Jonathan, Lyndsey and Zeph the Puppy and drive to Kent to visit my family, work was still in progress in the Refettorio. I’d popped in to buy one of their wonderful sourdough loaves and a […]