The withering of the presence of UK supermarkets across the Channel has left The Wine Society and Majestic as the last redoubt of the English wine trade in and around Calais. While Majestic, as a publicly listed company, must show that there is a commercial imperative for the continued presence of its two stores in Calais, The Wine Society, as usual, has a rather different perspective.
Read more...Primo Franco, of Prosecco producer, Nino Franco, marked 30 years since he produced his first vintage by hosting a lunch at Hawksmoor restaurant, Air Street, Mayfair. Franco mentions that his choice of restaurant - the latest in the clubby Hawksmoor quartet, and first to offer dishes devised by celebrity fisherman, Mitch Tonks alongside signature steak - happens to lie close to the recently-refurbished five star, Café Royal. It was in those kitchens during the early 1970s, explains Franco with a wry smile, that he toiled as a kitchen porter. After his first shift, during which he confronted "an endless seeming conveyor of dishes", the disorientated, young navvy found himself spending the bulk of his earnings on the taxi home to Acton.
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In the aftermath of International Pisco Sour Day, Douglas Blyde talks to Guillaume Glipa, general manager of Coya, London's latest Peruvian restaurant.
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Douglas Blyde learns how the founders of the Modern American Steak House are training up a new wave of sommeliers
Read more...What does vermouth mean to you? What images does this fortified wine conjure? It's hardly what we'd call a fashionable drink now is it!
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Restaurants, bars, pubs and hotels are all invited to enter the Best Drinks Offer of the Year category as part of the Harpers Awards 2013.
The latest appointments see Maxxium UK strengthen its spirits and cocktails training scheme, and Le Cercle in Chelsea gets a new head chef.
Read more...Pacta Connect's Trevor Long and Judith Burns, enthusiastic importers of quality Croatian wines from Umag to Pula, and also Slavonia and Dalmatia, invited Harpers to taste a tailored menu of British food and Croatian wines at the Cuthbert Pub & Kitchen, Brighton.
Read more...The latest openings include a new Champagne venue aiming to become one of London's most exclusive celebrity haunts; a makeover for Fulham Road's the Goat in Boots; and a pop-up venture for Yalla Yalla.
Read more...Wine and cider are to go head-to-head in a food and drink matching competition to be held at foodie pub, The Thatchers Arms, near Colchester in association with DrinkBritain.com.
Read more...Britain's pub and restaurant groups reported better Christmas and New Year trading than a year ago, but the increase was marginal, according to Coffer Peach Business Tracker.
Read more...Wine industry professionals including sommeliers are being called to enter a competition to find the first Koshu of Japan UK Brand Ambassador.
Read more...The north's hospitality trade show, Northern Restaurant & Bar, has announced its strongest line-up to date of chefs who will cook in the Chef Live theatre at its event in Manchester Central in March 2013.
Read more...The Academy of Food & Wine Service is calling for entries to the Moët UK Sommelier of the Year 2013.
Read more...Luggage porter, Dan, leads me to a small, unmarked door flanked by flames. "You'll be impressed by the first sight you see," he says. "Some places have women. But we have goddesses."
Read more...The UK Sommelier Association (North Area), is to roll out one of the only northern-based fully accredited sommelier courses from February 2013.
Read more...As we go into 2013, we ask three industry sommeliers from Sketch, Coq d'Argent and Launceston Place how they'll be looking at changing their wine lists this year.
Read more...Openings for February include one all-British, a Brazilian-Japanese, and a Japanese restaurant aiming to venture beyond sushi and sashimi.
Read more...As we go into 2013, we ask some industry sommeliers how they'll be looking at changing on their wine lists this year.
Read more...Wine Australia shows its "artier" side, Oregon and Washington state show their "most comprehensive" line up, with Bibendum it's all a Matter of Taste at the following trade tastings.
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