Peter Sichel, spy and marketing genius behind Blue Nun by Bruce Palling
For most people, it would have been enough of an achievement to have been one of the original founders of the US Central Intelligence Agency. But for Peter Sichel, that was just one of his careers....
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Making (or receiving) Predictions – always hazardous – mine for the 2020...
St Hubertus - the funghi of the Italian Alps Making predictions about the future is, of course, an inexact science. A few decades back, I had travelled to Himachal Pradesh with Mala and Tejbir Singh,...
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Jean-Michel Cazes: prominent Chateau owner who played a vital role in...
Jean-Michel Cazes with his son, Jean-Charles.Jean-Michel Cazes left Bordeaux at the age of 18 to study in Paris, he did not imagine returning 20 years later to run the family wine estates. Bordeaux was...
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Mimi Sheraton - the first female restaurant reviewer of the New York Times by...
Armed with a wardrobe of wigs and fake spectacles, Mimi Sheraton, the first female restaurant critic of The New York Times, pioneered the use of masquerade to avoid recognition. Her three most...
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Patrick French - an appreciation by Bruce Palling
Patrick celebrating Holi in Delhi photo: Maya Jasanoff When V.S. Naipaul, the Nobel Prize winning author, first approached Patrick French in 2003 to write his authorised...
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Michel Bourdin: The Greatest Connaught chef ...and "The Last French...
Michel Bourdin with General Manager Paolo ZagoIn 2001, when Michel Bourdin stepped down after 26 years as head chef of London’s Connaught Hotel, there was widespread praise for his uncompromisingly...
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Is Korea's Hanwoo Beef the new Wagyu? By Bruce Palling
On a recent visit to Seoul, I was intrigued to discover that South Korea is renowned for the high quality of its beef, which is relatively unknown and virtually unavailable outside its borders. South...
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Andrew Edmunds (1943-2022): Colourful Soho Art Dealer and Restaurateur by...
Wine lovers had a special reason to be grateful for Andrew Edmunds. Thanks to his passion for fine wine, his restaurant possessed a superb list, with some of the lowest mark ups in Britain. One...
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In Search of the Perfect Biryani by Bruce Palling
Biryani dishes served at Adaa, Falaknuma Palace Hyderabad When I ordered a mutton biryani at the Shadab Restaurant in Hyderabad, I had no idea what to expect– all I could see in this ‘atmospheric’...
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Stevie Parle and Tom Dixon bring JOY to Sotheby's by Bruce Palling
When it comes to Pop-Ups, chef/restaurateur Stevie Parle has more form than most. His first one was in an abandoned rowing club in Hammersmith, then a dormant factory in Shoreditch before putting down...
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Steven Spurrier (1941-2021): The Judgement of Paris and a life in Wine by...
Steven in his vineyard in Dorset - note the folded handkerchief even in his work jacket Photo: Lucy Pope Steven was one of the most kind, affable and charming people I ever knew. There was...
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James Symington 1934-2020 - passing the Port by Bruce Palling
James Symington, the scion of the Port family, had many interests, ranging from collecting classic cars to shooting snipe, but nothing came close, even in retirement, to his single-minded promotion...
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Kol Restaurant: lashings of corn but no avocados in this Modernist Mexican...
Pulpo and bone marrow - grilled octopus After first being announced more than two years ago, Kol finally opened its doors in October at a...
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Lulu Peyraud - France's best-loved home cook and proprietor of Bandol's...
Lulu, second row, with Jeremiah Tower on her l and Richard Olney to the r Photo: Caryl Chinn Lucie “Lulu” Peyraud, who has died aged 102, was long considered the personification of “la...
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From Gay Hussar to Noble Rot - Soho's latest restaurant opening by Bruce Palling
Upstairs at Noble Rot Soho Where do fine wine lovers go to enjoy themselves in London? I’m not talking about those with infinite amounts of cash, who can afford the three to four times mark ups which...
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Pierre Troisgros - Farewell to a great French chef who trained under Fernand...
Pierre (l) and Jean Troisgros at the famous Roanne Station just across the road from TroisgrosIn the early Sixties, Jean and Pierre Troisgros, two ambitious French chefs, were intrigued...
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Ed Tuttle - death of the architectural genius behind Amanpuri and the birth...
Amanpuri and its blue/black pool On New Year’s Day in 1988, a small hideaway resort was launched on a peninsula above a beach in Phuket, southern Thailand. There was no reception, car rental desk or...
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Returning to Rome: an amateurs cultural and culinary guide By Bruce Palling
Distanced dining in front of the Pantheon After several months of enduring semi-isolation save for the diversions provided by a handful of country house gardens, we were itching to go abroad. Rome was...
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The Ledbury and fine dining – au revoir or adieu? by Bruce Palling
The Ledbury in happier times Scientists are always telling us that miniscule, unrelated events can ultimately have profound unforeseen consequences. The most common example posits that the flapping...
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Denis Durantou (1957-2020) - the genius behind the Renaissance of Chateau...
Denis next to a painting by his wife, Marie ReilhacOn meeting Denis Durantou for the first time on his home soil in Bordeaux, Neal Martin, the wine writer, asked him what made his renowned Château...
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