The bar at Dukes is agreed by all to be one of the finest in London. It comprises a collection of three small Edwardianesq rooms, their walls dripping with portraits and etchings, and low lighting, The head barman, Alessandro Palazzi, is one of the most highly respected and admired cocktail makers, as well as a…
Tag: St James’s

Ole & Steen
Founded in Denmark in 2008, but with its roots stretching back over 20 years, 2016 finally saw Ole & Steen open up shop in London. From their first store in the new St James’s Market, they now have four more locations, including Canary Warf and the Nova development in Victoria, with plans for a further…

Avenue
Avenue on St James’s Street has been one of those places I’ve been dining at since it first opened. I was a kid and going regularly for lunch with the family after visiting the RA just up the road on Piccadilly; the Sunday roast beef and Yorkshire pudding was just superb. As often happens with…

London’s Best Boozy Brunches
Breakfast on most occasions either consists of some burnt toast or tasteless yogurt: occasionally life treats you to the luxury of breakfast out, though that is almost always because of work. For those of us that are students, or night owls, we far prefer to have the extra sleep rather than a bowl of soggy…

London's Best Tartare - An Alternative List
Steak Tartare has seen a renaissance of late, but for such a simple and versatile dish it is easy to screw up. You’ll find it on many bistro, steak restaurant, and fine dining menus, including the likes of Hawkesmore, The Ivy, Zedel, M Raw and Boisdale. But for our list of the best we thought…

London's Best Raw Fish
Having given our run down of the best alternative tartares in London, it’s only fare we give a run down of the best raw fish places in town. How can we not when it’s so permeated into the current zeitgeist. Appearing even more often than steak tartare these days, there are a number of places that…

Dukes' White Truffle Martini
Let the choirs of archangels, angels, seraphim and cherubim (and all the others) cry forth “Hallelujah!”, for it is once again white truffle season, that time of year when we spend vast fortunes on an underground fungus that looks like a mummified testicle but, when thinly shaved, releases a transcendent and heavenly smell that takes…

Fortnum & Mason: The London Grocer
Every department store going has at least one place for it’s weary customers to rest their aching bodies. For some it’s just a matter of providing a café or two, a self-service restaurant or even a sit down waiter service arrangement. The best of the best department stores have food halls that serve food via…

Yoshino: A Japanese Tour de Force
Restaurants consist of three things – food, service, and ambiance. Yoshino has them in such perfect balance that, when I hear its name or simply walk past, a smile always comes to my face. I’m hopeful about all in the world. I was first introduced to Yoshino by a friend my partner and I bumped…

45 Jermyn Street
Immaculate in its design, Fortnum’s The Fountain Restaurant’s replacement, 45 Jermyn Street, is a sure bet from design to plate. Pure Heaven Unlike the tired tea room that it replaced 18 months ago, 45 is run as a separate entity, rather than a restaurant within Fortnum’s, and is a place I have loved since its…