tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-229450972009-07-14T15:03:52.844+01:00<img width="100%" src="http://www.freewebs.com/dnablyde/intoxicating.jpg"> <i>‘No matter how much we scorn it, kitsch is an integral part of the human condition.’</i><br>[Milan Kundera]Douglas Blydehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07246988475977393027douglas@intoxicatingprose.co.ukBlogger555125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22945097.post-91979961595115009932009-07-13T10:00:00.003+01:002009-07-14T13:33:15.914+01:00

I OFTEN wonder whether I will ever redeem the cost of my education. In a lean moment, having being rejected by John Lewis’ lighting department, I resorted to handing my heat-bound C.V. to a similarly dejected-looking ice cream vendor in central Milton Keynes. I never heard more, which was deeply unflattering. I have, I suppose, always harboured an interest in matters soft scoop, probably because

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“It’s a good, strong Essex bird,” said Rowley Leigh as he took me through his Label Anglais chicken. “Points to note: long, deep breast, good line of fat, a muscularity of drumstick which shows that it’s moved,” (he repeatedly pinched it) “and strong skin. There’s protein in that. When a French butcher came to flog us some kit, I showed him one of these and he gasped, ‘Ca c’est undeniably

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AS A STUDENT, I toiled in an English vineyard, untangling tendrils, snipping windbreaks and scything through as much prejudice as weeds. It was hard, wet work, but kept me fit. Only cash caused problems. It took 300 hours to score £1,000. But nine years on, that still beats writing… Q. What do you call a commissioning editor? A. Writer’s block.Its owner, Sam, was a prime salvager of pedigree tat

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IN JANUARY, a brush with administrators saw ‘Fish Works’ streamline its sites from ten to six. Craving crustaceans for not much cash, I stopped by their Swallow Street flagship to check its recovery... Despite taking this snap under soothingly low light, I hope you can see just how lavish a platter it turned out to be. Beyond the parsley was a large crab, legs intact. After an uncompromisingly

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WHENEVER I take the lift to one of these high-rise hospitality pens, two images come to mind. They both involve the Twin Towers of ‘9/11’ infamy. As I feel my ears pop, the first is of Philippe Petit, brave lunatic genius who dreamt of walking a wire between the towers even before foundations were sunk. He finally realised his lofty ambition on a breezy August morning in 1974, achieving eight

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ASIDE FROM Bayswater’s graceful ‘Café Anglais’, I rarely get ‘keyed-up’ at the thought of a meal à la mall. Restaurants are havens. Banked between feet, bags bulging with fevered purchases bring commerce into calm. But the prospect of an Australia week showcase of two of its greatest culinarian exports - Shane Osborn of ‘Pied à Terre’ and ‘The Ledbury’s’ Brett Graham - made an in-store eatery

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IN PRAISE of Cappelletti di Vitello in Brodo, then specially prepared Bollito Misto by Theo Randall for a table of gluttons.

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NOISILY CHATTING in a great many accents, the long queue of hungry customers snaked towards a funk of odours. Amidst the scaly perfume of a fish counter beached in sunshine and the hippy fug of joss-sticks, a waft of heaven prevailed. They came for this: the cosy, welcoming, tempting aromas of sourdough momentarily torched at 500 degrees…Since last April, ‘Franco Manca’ has risen, like and

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AN AFTERNOON spent strawberry picking followed by a soothing pint of Rebellion at The Royal Oak, Marlow.

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‘Am early – sipping bitter French 75,’ read my friend’s text message. I salivated. Having been trapped on a hot train, I mouthed “cocktail” before “hello” when I finally arrived.Past 3D cameras and an increasingly famous commissionaire, ‘No. 20’ is the restaurant at Soho’s ‘Sanctum’ Hotel. This is London’s answer to Paris’ boutique ‘den of opulence’, the Hôtel Costes. Chic and shiny, dining room

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Beyond the bubbles in the land of Prosecco... “Prosecco has become Prosexo” purred producer Bisol’s venerable PR, Dacotah Renneau. I smiled, admiring her rhetoric, but secretly thinking differently. In my Champagne snobbery, anything pressed from the Prosecco grape was little more than cheapish party ammo: easily pronounced and therefore easily ordered, sipping somewhere between Alka-Seltzer,

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“WHERE HAVE you been for the past 20 minutes?” demanded my friends, keen to tuck into jellyfish and abalone, delivered in my absence.“Listening to John Betjeman’s life story,” I explained. “Did you know that the IRA put a price on his head?”Just past Pope John Paul II (one of many disconcerting oils) the Male, Female and Unisex facilities are an impressive distraction. With glossy veneers,

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“INDIA HAS made me, and now is the time to give something back,” said Atul Kochhar, the spice-savvy, Michelin-starred Chef of London’s ‘Benares’ and Hampshire’s boutique vineyard restaurant, ‘Vatika’. The roomful of critics, chefs and editors had been clapped to order to hear about ‘Food for Thought’, an initiative born by charity ‘Find Your Feet’ to help stave off hunger and malnutrition in

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LONDON OFFERS a Pandora’s Box of ingredients. I harbour a particular fascination for back of store freezers in its more dubious shops. Looking for ‘hope’, I have found a foodie’s farrago. From calf's brain, carp and blubber to Nigerian snail and God-willing, something’s, rather than someone’s genitalia!A friend recently organised lunch to celebrate a near miss with inappropriate employment.

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An extended version of an interview which originally appeared in The GuardianThe renowned chef of the top London restaurant discusses technique, training and his signature tagliata... “You look like you’ve just woken-up. Take a coffee and we’ll start in five minutes,” said Francesco Mazzei, executive chef and patron of Broadgate’s ‘L’Anima’ restaurant. Lanky, with a resemblance in face and

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Aldeburgh - fish shop shedsSouthwold - Swan Hotel, Antiques ShopWalberswick -The Bell InnApparently the dog of former ferryman, David Church, used to swim alongside the boat for almost every crossing.Orford - Butley OysterageSnape Maltings

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IF KIRSTY Young invited me to name my desert island dish rather than disc, I would probably say “shellfish”, which seems apt. A recent craving for crustaceans took me to Essex (but not as you know it). Colchester’s Mersea Island is just five miles by two of tidal salt marsh. Whilst far from the dreamy paradise of Radio 4’s flagship programme, it boasts old world atmosphere in bucket loads. There

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ON THE eve of the International Wine Fair, I ventured to ‘Terroirs’, the newish restaurant masquerading as a bar by super-indie wine supplier, ‘Les Caves de Pyrenes’. Behind a forgivably corny title, which describes the influence of soil, site and climate, a tantalising array of ‘blood of the soil’ bottles extends. These often tend towards organic, even biodynamic viticulture – the holistic

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“I'm very sorry Sir, but we can’t turn the music down. It’s preset to this level, or off.” That statement spoke volumes.‘222’ (or ‘twotwentytwo’ as the menu advises) is the basement restaurant at London’s ‘Landmark Hotel’ (222 Marylebone Road). It reopened a month ago, victim of a makeover more about vanity than sanity. As part of the £1m spent, a full-sized horse statue stands watch at the

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GLANCING THROUGH the critiques it appears that the ‘River Café’ rose from last year’s blaze phoenix with a new prefix - ‘Legendary’. Whilst proprietors Rose Gray and Ruth Rodgers have fostered one of Britain’s most influential talent schools within, emitting alumni Oliver, Randall and apparently ‘lucky to be fired’ Fearnley-Whittingstall, ‘legendary’ is an edgy tag. It implies

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I FIND the great outdoors mind-numbing. Buildings fascinate me far more. Above all I like the flowing lines of Modernist architecture. It might sound strange, but I take a sense of optimism and calm from the purest expressions. And if the bank made an error in my favour, my dream home would fuse the sleek facade of a Corbusian villa with the curvaceous, liner like interior of Eltham Palace…

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I RETURNED full and sleepy following a long day playing judge for the Great Taste Awards. Taking place at Olympia’s Pillar Hall, which has plaster like icing, my role involved appraising all manner of foods free from their packaging. Working in one of 11 small ‘juries’ we considered each comestible innocent until proven guilty, deducting points for major and minor crimes against flavour as

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Originally published on FoodepediaPhilip Lowery, Director of the Real Food Festival, on time travel, ‘ros boeufs’ and guilty Ginsters pasties… Are you disheartened by Tesco’s recently announced £3.1 billion profits? On one hand, amidst one of the deepest recessions in years, this announcement represents a blazing success story. But on the other, it’s nauseating. I’d like to ask, how are they

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