Category: Food & Drink

Rear Window

The story so far. Property developer, Dominvs Group, bought the old Magistrates’ Court on the Talgarth Road. They paid £50 million – nice money, if you have it. The site is between the Ark building to the west and a BP filling station to the east. On the south boundary are the Piccadilly and District… Continue reading Rear Window

Hop, Skip and Jump

The seasons and the weather change; there’re always new things to see and the river has many moods. Now I talk, sometimes, to other dog owners. Recently I met a Dutch Shepherd puppy with his Swedish/Japanese owners. Overhearing other towpath walkers, I seldom hear English. London, at its best, is a cosmopolitan, civilised place to… Continue reading Hop, Skip and Jump

Arnold’s Omelette

The James Tait Black Memorial Prizes were first awarded in 1919, so happy birthday and may there be many happy returns. Unlike the not-Man Booker you will have read many of the authors and some of the winning books. I think I’ve read eighteen titles in the fiction category; fewer in biography.

Scrambled Eggs

Brexit was inevitable. Breakfast in the British Isles is not like breakfast in Europe. If you can’t agree about brekker it’s time to part brass rags.

Going West

We drove to the Forest of Dean on a wet Tuesday. I am getting to know the green car better. Sometimes it is breathtakingly brainy, at other times exasperating; in fact just like Bertie.

Kippergate

On Wednesday evening at ExCel Boris Johnson brandished a kipper from a smokehouse on the Isle of Man.

The Eyes Have It

Luis Buñuel ‘s 1929 film, Un Chien Andalou, has a scene in which an eyeball is slit with a razor. Arabesque, a 1966 comedy-caper starring Gregory Peck and Sophia Loren has a scene early on in which a scientist is killed by having toxic eye drops administered by a baddie posing as an optician.