Tom Walker is living in a blur. He has gone from struggling musician who couldn’t pay the rent to having a No 1 album, winning a Brit award and travelling the world. ‘I went to New Zealand for just one day to play a gig,’ he says. ‘I mean, who does that?’ Over the past … Read more
Ah, Valentine’s Day, scourge of chefs the world over. Those once-vibrant rooms, now packed with despondent tables for two. The heavily marked-up ‘romantic’ menus, the soppy specials with a side order of schmaltz. And all those flaccid, overpriced roses. It’s enough to send Venus running for cover. But worry not. The following restaurants are chosen … Read more
Sola 64 Dean Street, Soho, London Rating: (and a half!) California. The Golden State, the promised land, last stop on the American Dream. Go West, young man, follow the gold, to the place where the days are longer, and the nights are stronger, and you’d be safe and warm. If you were in LA. For … Read more
As my mother lay on her deathbed, visitors who asked her how she was feeling would get one of three answers: ‘I’m very well, thank you’; ‘I’m blooming’; or, ‘I’m in the pink’. You didn’t have to be a consultant oncologist to realise this wasn’t strictly true. For one thing, she was so ill towards … Read more