Comedian Joe Lycett on his talent for cooking (definitely no capers involved) – and the secret of epic chicken soup (Words: Victoria Stewart. Image: Matt Crockett) If you’ve ever seen Joe Lycett perform stand-up, there’s a high chance you’ll have laughed until your sides hurt. […]
Profiles & Interviews
A distillery that’s the Noma of booze (Wired Magazine)
Copenhagen-based Empirical Spirits, led by Lars Williams and Mark Emil Hermansen, wants to bring new flavour to alcoholic drinks. (Photo: Christoffer Rydqvist) Words: Victoria Stewart In a warehouse on Refshaleøen island, Copenhagen, a chorus of clattering is being produced by hacked-together machinery. Finishing some work on a […]
Digging for Victory: an interview with Tommy Banks (Oryx Magazine)
It’s all down to Yorkshire grit and home-grown inspiration for Tommy Banks’s family-run Black Swan in the middle of Britain – recently named the world’s best restaurant by TripAdvisor. Words Victoria Stewart Photography Kat Green When Tommy Banks was asked about the best dish he’d eaten in […]
Riaz Phillips on documenting the Caribbean food scene in the UK (Evening Standard)
Riaz Phillips, author of a new book about Caribbean food in the UK, tells Victoria Stewart why he started his Belly Full project. If you’ve heard a story like this, where after being turned away by various agents a budding writer finally gets noticed and […]
Mr Lyan on why sustainability doesn’t mean sacrifice (Foodism)
Cocktail alchemist Ryan Chetiyawardana, aka Mr Lyan, tells us how he’s planning on showing a new side to sustainability at his latest venture, Cub. by Victoria Stewart (Pic: Xavier D. Buendia / XDB Photography) LONDON, WE HAVE a problem. There’s stuff we need to sort out […]
Dodie Miller on how our love affair with Mexican food has developed in 20 years (Evening Standard)
Victoria Stewart talks to the founder of Cool Chile Co and Westbourne Grove’s Taqueria restaurant to find out more about London’s love affair with Mexican cuisine A fortnight ago BBC Good Food released the results of its fourth annual summer survey in which it revealed the relationship […]
Chasing the dram: Rachel McCormack on understanding the spirit of whisky, and how to cook with it (Evening Standard
Victoria Stewart talks to Rachel McCormack about her new book, a travelogue around Scotland looking at what whisky means to the people who drink it. Despite having spent a great deal of time in Scotland, I don’t think I’ve ever stopped to think about the […]
Zoe’s Ghana Kitchen: the West African food we should all be eating (Evening Standard)
Victoria Stewart interviews Zoe Adjonyoh, owner of Zoe’s Ghana Kitchen about delicious West African dishes we should all be cooking at home. (Photo: Nassim Rothacker) If you’re a hesitant cook, there’s nothing worse than a cookbook that insists you must follow it to the word, or […]
Animal instinct: under the skin of Soho restaurant Smoking Goat (Foodism)
Smoking Goat and Kiln restaurateur Ben Chapman’s dedication to careful sourcing means success not only for him, but his suppliers too, by Victoria Stewart BEN CHAPMAN IS a special kind of restaurant owner. If his name isn’t familiar to you, then Smoking Goat, the Thai […]
The high-flyer whose life changed when she cooked for Bill Gates (The Times)
Two of the richest men in the world persuaded her to switch careers. Now Saima Khan feeds film stars and dotcom billionaires. By Victoria Stewart (Image: Katie Wilson) Article appeared in The Times, September 2016
Oliver Peyton on Ireland’s food revival: “A lot of the cool kids are farming now” (Radio Times)
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 […]
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, […]
Jamie Oliver on his new cookery school (Evening Standard)
One cookery school, two new books and a fifth child on the way – Jamie Oliver has his hands full. Victoria Stewart hears how he does it. Jamie Oliver is making a Thai green curry and things are heating up. He’s showing me how to […]
Chiltern Firehouse chef Nuno Mendes: ‘It seems like there are people who had an agenda to come in and knock us’ (ES Magazine)
Chiltern Firehouse is London’s hottest dining destination. Now its Michelin-starred head chef is branching out, opening up his own restaurant on the other side of town — and it couldn’t be more different. So what’s eating Nuno Mendes, asks Victoria Stewart. Never in London’s history […]