Fighting the fatbergs: how cities are waging war on clogged sewers
Fatbergs are the scourge of cities all over the world, and can grow to the length of a Boeing 747. Ian Wylie braves a London sewer to witness this filthy threat for himself – and uncovers some new...
View ArticleWe have two options. Tip properly – or protest for better pay for waiters |...
Protesters are targeting Pizza Express for keeping 8p out of every £1 left as a credit card tip. Waiting and bar staff deserve proper tips or a decent wageWhen Bob Dylan sang“You may be an ambassador...
View ArticleMy kitchen gallery: Clerkenwell Boy
Clerkenwell Boy is an enigmatic Australian Instagrammer, known in London foodie circles for his mouthwatering photos of food.Continue reading...
View ArticleWhy I went from working in a top restaurant to making school meals
I gave up running the kitchen at Yotam Ottolenghi’s Nopi to make food for kids – and here’s what I’ve learned about how to get them to eat (almost) everything“I want fish fingers.” It was the usual...
View ArticleConservatives need to stand up for waiters over skimmed tips | David Skelton
Speaking out for workers who are treated poorly is not ‘anti-business’. Rather, it follows a long conservative tradition of giving workers as well as businesses a fair dealResponsible capitalism. It’s...
View ArticleEight courses high and rising: Amsterdam's gourmet marijuana dining experience
What happens when you scoff a psychedelic cannabis-based tasting menu stuffed with hashish, bud and trippy truffles?When was the last time you felt trepidation prior to eating in a restaurant? Not the...
View ArticleXi’an Impression, London N7 – restaurant review
‘None of this is food for the timid or for those who like their chicken sanitised into a nice breaded goujon. The chicken looks like roadkill, little bones in every bite, the meat and skin to be...
View ArticleChecchino dal 1887: restaurant review | Jay Rayner
Checchino dal 1887 in Rome is remarkable for two things: its history and its no-holds-barred offal specialities. Jay tucks inExpediency can feed us well. Those restaurants that define what they do by...
View ArticleEating out with kids – what restaurants need to know
Serve us quickly and serve us well. That means Wi-Fi not crayons and no chicken nuggets. And we definitely don’t want balloons on long, pointy sticksWe are now well into the final run of the annual...
View ArticleAlbina, Crosby, Merseyside – restaurant review
‘They call themselves “eccentric”. You don’t say. Still kind of love the place, though’The list I’m reading of newish restaurants in Liverpool is dismaying. There’s the drive-thru, the chain, the one...
View ArticlePay staff their tips, business secretary tells restaurant chains
Sajid Javid’s intervention in row over tips comes as the Giraffe chain, which is owned by Tesco, said it would now give all tips directly to staffThe business secretary has insisted restaurants should...
View ArticleHow much of your tip goes to staff? A restaurant by restaurant guide
From Angus Steak Houses to Jamie’s Italians, we break down how each major restaurant chain distributes its tipsAt Angus Steakhouse, our staff keep 100% of their own tips less a small processing fee for...
View ArticleRestaurants’ tipping policy ‘forces waiters to pay to work’
Chains’ rules require staff to hand over cash after the end of a shift, union claimsWaiters at major restaurant chains say they are being forced to “pay to work” on some shifts because of a tipping...
View ArticleHere’s a tip on how to thwart greedy restaurateurs | Lisa Bachelor
If you don’t want the owners of the restaurant to use your tip to top up low wages, there are ways you can helpThere is nothing better than an evening out at a restaurant where the food is delicious...
View ArticlePret A Manger: restaurant review
Pret A Manger’s attempt at an evening service with waiters and cutlery is a flop. Stick to the sandwiches, says Jay RaynerPret A Manger, 87-88 The Strand, London WC2. Meal for two, including wine and...
View ArticleFrom fork to fork: five cooks and their kitchen gardens
Some chefs can’t wait to escape the restaurant so they can retreat into their backyard, their rooftop, even their front steps, and surround themselves with … food!Head chef, the Ledbury, London. Grows...
View ArticleIt’s goodbye to snail porridge as Heston Blumenthal bids to reinvent the...
The award-winning Fat Duck is reopening and its chef says that it won’t just be a place for dinner – it will be about storytellingHeston Blumenthal interview: the Fat Duck flies againHe has pioneered...
View ArticleWash, clean, scrub: Can Jay Rayner hack life as a kitchen porter?
The Observer restaurant critic is used to life on the other side of the kitchen door. So how would a hard shift on the hottest day of the year work out?I am standing in another man’s shoes, and those...
View ArticleEnough with Heston Blumenthal’s puffing puddings at the Fat Duck – I’d prefer...
There is making an effort to cook something delicious, and there is tearing the arse out of things. I couldn’t stomach eating in a restaurant with such incomprehensible menus and outlandish pricesIt is...
View ArticleWhat's behind America's burning desire to stick with tipping at restaurants?
Many Americans don’t want to let go of tipping because they see it as a step toward socialism, or because they don’t want to lose the power to judge serviceAs progressive American municipalities roll...
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