The Emerald Isle is now a gourmet paradise, says the Great British Menu judge to Victoria Stewart (image from Ireland.com) Oliver Peyton would be the first to agree that a lot has changed since he was a boy in County Mayo in the west of […]
Journalism
I spent 11 years as a food journalist, researching food and drinks trends, interviewing food and drinks entrepreneurs about their innovations and writing stories about people’s adventures in hospitality.
I’ve been food editor at the Evening Standard and written stories for The Times, The Guardian, Stylus, Restaurant and Eater.
Here’s a selection of the work I produced – hover over the menu above to find a relevant category (e.g. Profiles or Producers or Features).
Insider’s guide: how to eat like a local (Sunday Times Travel Magazine)
Dodge the touristy joints and dine like an insider. Victoria Stewart spills the beans (Image: Victoria Stewart) We can all spot the dives: laminated menus in five languages; staff outside touting cut-price prix-fixe; plastic food on display… But how do you find those secret spots […]
Meet cronut creator Dominique Ansel, the man whose pastries sold for $2,000 (Evening Standard)
Get ready, London — the man behind the cronut is coming to town. Victoria Stewart talks banoffee in Belgravia with Dominique Ansel (Image: Vicki Couchman) What links a frozen s’more, a chocolate-chip cookie shot and a DKA? They are all inventions of New York pastry chef Dominique Ansel, […]
Reborn to be wild: Berlin (Escapism Magazine)
Imaginative, artistic reuse of old buildings means Berlin is constantly being reinvented. Victoria Stewart revisits the German capital to experience the shock of the new. Read this article, originally published in Escapism Magazine
The Estate Dairy (Evening Standard)
Follow this collective if only to develop a special affection for Jersey Cows, says Victoria Stewart Who: a collective including latte champions, milk trainers, coffee roasters, Brades Farm in Lancashire, and a leading dairy scientist Morten Münchow, all headed up by Rebecca and Shaun Young. […]
A morning with Magic Breakfast: the charity making sure London school children aren’t too hungry to learn (Evening Standard)
The charity currently organises more than 20,000 breakfasts at primary schools across London and England. When the clock strikes 8.45am at the St Matthias Church of England Primary School in Stoke Newington, it means only one thing: time to tidy. As the Mission Impossible theme […]
Don’t fear the pincers! The essential guide to cooking seafood (The Times)
Daunted by lobster or squeamish about squid? Then you need our expert tips on choosing shellfish and cooking crustacea. By Victoria Stewart This was the week that Larry, a 15lb, 110-year-old lobster, was saved from the pot and sent by a rescuer to see out […]
Food memories: Morito’s Marianna Leivaditaki on growing up in Crete (Evening Standard)
The head chef at Morito Hackney shares her happy childhood memories with Victoria Stewart (Image: Andreas Markakis) Marianna Leivaditaki is the head chef at Morito’s delicious new outpost on Hackney Road. The menu is mostly hooked around gorgeous, uplifting food from Spain and North Africa but […]
The Clink: the Brixton dining experience staffed by prisoners (Evening Standard)
Founder Alberto Crisci tells Victoria Stewart why he decided to set up a dining experience staffed by prisoners working towards cheffing qualifications When he was younger Alberto Crisci was once invited for tea at someone’s house and was nearly sick when offered bread smothered with […]
Scrutiny on the bounty: foraging for fine dining in London’s green spaces (Sphere Magazine)
A new society set up by wild food restaurateurs Oliver and Richard Gladwin wants to make urban foragers of us all. Victoria Stewart. Words: Victoria Stewart. Pictures: Stephen Joyce To read the article, visit Sphere Magazine
Made in London: La Latteria in Acton (Evening Standard)
Simona Di Vietri tells Victoria Stewart why she quit investment banking to make cheese If you’ve ever watched someone stretch out fresh mozzarella you’ll know how transfixing a spectacle it is. Seeing someone use their hands to wind this Italian cheese into knots, mould it […]
‘The taco was a way of life’: Edson Diaz-Fuentes on growing up in Mexico (Evening Standard)
Edson Diaz-Fuentes, co-owner of new Shoreditch restaurant Santo Remedio, remembers his childhood experience of the Mexican food markets, by Victoria Stewart For Edson Diaz-Fuentes, growing up in Mexico City was “a childhood surrounded by food” in which “one of the fundamental things was always going […]
Guest services: how to get pop-ups and guest chef events right (Restaurant Magazine)
What was once the preserve of the keen amateur has now been adopted by top chefs across the country. So why are pop-ups/guest events now so popular in the wider industry? Read this article, originally published in Restaurant Magazine
Meat and greet: Ginger Pig, London’s most talked-about butcher
Ginger Pig has become the most talked-about butcher in London, supplying some of the city’s top restaurants. Victoria Stewart uncovers the secrets of its success. (Image: Ginger Pig) LATE ONE SUNNY afternoon on a North Yorkshire hill, 40-odd ginger and pink piglets are grunting at me. Being […]
Samarkand: Eleanor Ford on why she’s co-written an Uzbek cookbook (Evening Standard)
Victoria Stewart meets the co-author of a new book of recipes and stories inspired by Central Asia and the Caucasus. (Image: Christopher Herwig) I have never visited the Uzbek city Samarkand. Yet talking to Eleanor Ford, the co-author of a new cookbook ‘Samarkand: Recipes and Stories from Central […]
Waste not want not (Square Meal Magazine)
One chef’s kitchen trimmings are another’s useful ingredients as the root-to-stem dining trend grows in popularity. Words by Victoria Stewart. Illustration by Paul Blow. Originally published in Square Meal Magazine (digital version here p.64-65), Spring 2016