From sipping tequila to shorter wine lists, Douglas Blyde asked leading figures in the on-trade what trends they predict will lead the way in 2016
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Douglas Blyde visits Adam Byatt's revamped flagship Clapham restaurant
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D&D to launch the "German Gymnasium", uniting patisserie counter, Grand Café, restaurant and bar, on today in a Grade II former gym at King's Cross.
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Douglas Blyde visits 68 & Boston where popular wine blogger Denise Medrano created the list for the Soho-based venue.
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Cointreau launches the 'Creative Crew' philanthropist programme focused on supporting the creativity of women.
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Douglas Blyde weighs in Sexy Fish. The ambitious, 190-cover late October opening from Caprice Holdings (owners of The Ivy) which is inherently design-led.
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Percival Brown tells Douglas Blyde about his six decades in the business, from the cellars beneath Speakers' Corner to selecting the wines for Concorde.
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The Dorchester's flagship restaurant has had something of a makeover. Douglas Blyde heads to the 'perfect hotel' to investigate
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Referencing the area's law firms, "The Chancery" comes into focus halfway down Cursitor Street. It is a slice of London immortalised in arguably Charles Dickens' greatest work, "Bleak House", featuring: "Sol's Arms Tavern", "Krook's Rag and Bottle Shop", and, perhaps most evocatively, "Coavinses Sponging House" (a temporary debtor's prison).
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Rhubarb, the south-west London-based caterer-turned-restaurateur has three venues atop the £200-million 20 Fenchurch Street, nicknamed the "Walkie-Talkie" for its distinctive top-heavy shape. Together, the Sky Pod Bar, Darwin Brasserie and Fenchurch Seafood Bar & Grill are intended to form a "gourmet, garden oasis". And so they do, writes Douglas Blyde.
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Stoke Place, a characterful Georgian pile unfairly tarred by its Slough postcode has retained the accolade of AA Notable Wine List year-on-year. While the hotel may be a little scuffed around the edges, the 30-page wine list authored by general manager, Terry McEvoy is lovingly put together.
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Italy's Frescobaldi family may be world famous for its wines, but can it succeed in the highly competitive restaurant world? Douglas Blyde goes behind the scenes at its first standalone restaurant off London's Regent Street
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Douglas Blyde: from horror to hedonism at Oakley Court
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Christopher Beaumont-Hutchings and I sip violet-tinged Aviation sours alongside positively fatty Scottish oysters at the Rib Room's bar. The sturdy looking, brass and dark wood build of this old-school drinkers' haven at the five-star Jumeirah Carlton Tower seems appropriately grand given there is cause for celebration.
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Perhaps unsurprisingly considering his high standing in the world of advertising, and the vociferous views on wine marketing which he expressed in last month's Harper's, Sir John Hegarty intends his 37 acre vineyard, located amid woodland and spontaneously sprouting herbs by Minervois' Montaigne Noire, to be a brave venture.
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Douglas Blyde speaks to Steve Manktelow on a career in bars and cocktails that has seen him work with legends like Dick Bradsell to running his own operation at the GOAT in Chelsea.
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"It's been a long time coming, and if fear were the basis on which decisions were made, then Ataraxia would never have been born," says South African winemaker, Kevin Grant of his latest, patiently-maturing winemaking venture.
Read more...If you are looking to introduce and promote your South African wine offer then offering journalists the chance to meet four of their most innovative winemakers at the much brightened Quo Vadis, Soho, where arguably argumentative art has been removed in favour of characterful woodcuts on menus, is a good place to start.
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"I believe Marlborough will be known for producing the best Pinot Noir over time," declares Matt Patterson Green, winemaker of Jackson Estate. In his glass is one expression, Vintage Widow 2012, named, he says, "after women who lose their men to the vineyards..."
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The 22 year-old bar manager of "Hutong" above Aqua on floor 31 of The Shard talks to Douglas Blyde about tea punches, pride in service, and competitive ping-pong...
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