David Chandler: "Time was when rosé, was like the viola of the wine world; a faintly embarrassing, Barbie-pink hybrid, neither red enough nor white enough to be taken seriously, and rarely music to anyone's ears. But times have changed along with the climate and what might once have been a lunchtime indiscretion on […]

Panzanella is an Umbrian and Tuscan salad using old bread, tomatoes and onions, and frequently features chopped cucumber and fresh basil. It is traditionally dressed with a mixture of olive oil and red wine vinegar. There are no hard and fast rules about quantities, and roast peppers, pitted black olives and tinned anchovies are often […]

At Holm Our friends, and frequent dining companions, Paul and Ashleigh had long been extolling the virtues of chef-patron Nicholas Balfe, who had firmly established a successful career in their habitat of south London, prior to relocating to our homeland in Somerset in 2021. The obvious thing to do was select a mutually convenient date […]

Top Tips for Your Next City Break – Copenhagen   Why? Copenhagen is a coastal, visitor-friendly, contained capital, where good English is (almost) universally and willingly spoken, with a wealth of history, great design and architecture there is much to enjoy. The residents are generally very positive and helpful and the city is very clean, […]

Spears of Destiny The U.K. asparagus season is necessarily short officially running from Saint George's day, which is also 'National Asparagus Day' on the 23rd April until 21st June. Most supermarkets stock imported asparagus, much of it from Peru, throughout the year but it has a lot of transportation miles and in my (heavily biased) […]

    David Chandler: "If there's one thing David has learned from Jason during their many Adventures In Wine podcasts, it's that you simply can't have too many favourites. Favourites are Jason's life-blood; favourite regions and appellations, favourite vineyards, growers and restaurants; favourite sommeliers, even and of course, favourite grapes. Not as fruity as some […]

A Gastronomic Meander in the Marais I love Paris and enjoy travelling by the Eurostar, and require very little persuasion to decamp to the City of Light for a few days of culture, cuisine and Parisian je ne sais quoi. On a recent trip we managed to book a bijou but well-appointed studio apartment in […]

L'Entente brasserie, Paris To Paris, with Tom, for a challenging but enjoyable whistle-stop run of meetings and tastings at Wine Paris, a sizeable but well-organised wine fair that is the strangely successful offspring of the Bordeaux-based leviathan that was Vinexpo and Montpellier's more manageable Vinisud. Anyway, whatever its heritage, for the time being it works […]

We are delighted that our new 2023 wine list has now gone to press, and is ready for mailing out to our customers this week.   Despite some difficulties with glass shortages and complications with transportation, the 2022 vintage was generally more prolific in France than the frost-depleted 2021 harvest so that, at least, is […]

Fried Pork Chops in Cider with Hasselback Potatoes & Brussel Sprouts When I have a day to myself, I enjoy a spot of leisurely food shopping and try to innovate, compiling a dish that is new to me and that can be enjoyed à deux as our evening meal. Yesterday was such an occasion and […]