Ciroc Vodka

Grapes distilled vodka

Cîroc, launched in 2003, is the first global French vodka to be made from grapes. Unlike most vodkas that are distilled from grain, at the heart of Cîroc lies fresh French succulent grapes. This delivers an exceptionally smooth and distinctive citrus taste. From inception, Cîroc was created to be a celebration vodka.

Jean-Sébastien Robicquet, the Master Distiller, believes the ‘joe de vivre’ that goes into creating Cîroc makes it stand apart from other vodkas, making it the ultimate luxury drink. While Cîroc is unmistakably modern, it is also about creating something of substance and enduring quality.

Suggested Cocktails:

1) THE Cîroc WHITEHALL LADY

A glamorous cocktail to sip in style.
 

Ingredients

50ML Cîroc Vodka

15ML Elderflower Cordial

10ML Fresh Lemon Juice

Top up with Champagne

Ice cubes

Method

Shake all ingredients together with cubed ice and strain in to a glass. Top Up with Champagne and garnish with a twist of orange or grapefruit.


2) THE Cîroc SOUR SIDE

An elegant cocktail that has a sharp zesty flavour. Perfect to add sparkle to your weekend.
 

Ingredients

40ml Cîroc Vodka

10ml Aperol

15ml Orange and grapefruit sherbet

25ml Freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 Dash cardamom bitters

1 Fresh egg white

Method

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain back into shaker. Shake again without ice (dry shake) and fine strain into a chilled glass. Garnish with Dehydrated grapefruit slice.


3) Cîroc French 76

A fresh and sparkling serve that’s easy to make yet impressive for your guests.
 

Ingredients

30ml CÎROC Vodka

20ml Lemon juice

10ml Sugar syrup

Champagne to top

Dark grape

Method

Shake together the CÎROC Vodka, lemon juice and sugar syrup with ice and strain into a chilled glass. Top with splash of champagne.

Barrica

Tapas bar in  Fitrovia

Barrica

It is hard to beat some well cooked Spanish tapas with a glass of cava on a hot summer night, and Barrica is one of the few tapas bars that has a Michelin bib gourmand in London and it has always been a crowd pleaser from day one. I had eaten at its sister restaurant: Copita del Mercado not long ago and I was generally really impressed especially when you consider the value you are getting. As soon as I found out Barrica also did a fabulous offer for early evening: 3 course for £16.50 with a glass of cava, I had no excuse not to pay it a visit.

Life as a chef

Working experience in a Michelin kitchen

Sous chef Tom Booton and Chef Patron Andy Mcfadden
of L'Autre Pied

Ever wondered what it takes for a restaurant to provide a plate of food in front of you? We see all the glamour and glory side from those so called celebrity chefs like Gordon Ramsay and Marco Pierre White, but most people don't realise that the real commitment and hard work that is required to work in a top professional kitchen, goes unseen. Marcus Wareing, holder of 2 Michelin stars at his flagship restaurant Marcus, once said on Masterchef: "I sacrificed my youth, my friends and my family to get to where I am" also Helene Darroze, who was recently voted world's best female chef, was quoted in a newspaper saying: "at the age of 23 when, she got a job at Alain Ducasse’s Louis XV restaurant in Monaco. For several months, she was authorised only to wash the lettuce."

The Remedy

Casual wine bar and kitchen

The Remedy

London is slowly embracing the trend of casual wine bar concepts, "28-50 Workshop" by Michelin starred chef Agnar Sverrisson was a big success when it was first launched a few years back and one of the pioneers of the trend. Operated by three food and wine lovers, The Remedy is a cosy wine bar and kitchen near Great Portland Street tube station, it is all about great wine and simple but good quality food. There are plenty of interesting and unusual wines in its selection, such as a range of "orange wine" which the white wine has been macerated with grape skin. There is also a great deal about The Remedy iin that they have a happy hours oyster offer that runs every Monday to Friday in the early dinner hours and the whole day on Saturday.

Sip in the sun this summer

Cocktail advices by the Pro

The Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) is the largest body worldwide in wine and spirit education; they teach how the history and production of spirits influences the style and taste of our favourite drinks. Following extensive reports of a Prosecco shortage and talk of a similar situation with New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, summer 2015 is the time to turn to refreshing cocktails. Think Gin & Tonics at a weekend barbecue, or Cuba Libres on a rooftop bar in the sunshine, but do you know the reasons why these iconic drinks taste so good, or what those in the know are drinking this summer?

Gin

Gins were first brought to England in the 1600s and by the early 20th century had become known as the mixing spirit for cocktails. In recent years, a new generation of gins has arrived meaning creating the perfect Gin & Tonic has become a quite a skill.London Dry Gins commonly use dry citrus peels in their botanical mix, the flavours of which can be brought out by garnishing with a slice of the same fruit. For styles with lots of strong spices in the recipe, try a garnish of star anise, rosemary or acinnamon stick for a good pairing. Plymouth gin is a good pairing for a sweet slice of orange which help balance the juniper forward sprit. 

Caorunn G&T

If you like Gin…

Gin & Tonic fans may enjoy white port over ice, topped up with tonic water and garnished with a slice of lemon or sprig of mint for a new refreshing summer cocktail.



Rum

Another popular summer highball drink is the Caribbean inspired Cuba Libre. Supposedly invented by a member of the US Signal Corps known as ‘Mr X’ during the Spanish-American War of Independence in the early 20th century, a Cuba Librecontains golden rum paired with cola and should be garnished with a zesty slice oflime to offset the sweetness.
 

El Dorado Old Fashioned

Rum fans should look out for…

If rum is your usual drink, try Brazilian spirit Cachaça as your pick for this summer. Largely confused with rum, Cachaça is actually made from distilled fresh sugarcane juice rather than molasses. There are two main varieties; white Cachaça, which is aversatile cocktail mixer, and dark Cachaça, which is usually more expensive anddrunk straight.


Vodka

Once known only as the most popular spirit for mixing, recent times have seen many premium and quality vodkas hit the shelves which are thoroughly enjoyable straight. Best ice cold and sipped slowly, those made from grains often have a subtle cereal aroma, grape-based vodkas have a crisp, aromatic taste and potato vodkas are often described as creamy on the palate.
 

Belvedere Martini

Vodka drinkers might also like…

Adventurous vodka drinkers looking for something new this summer could try white whiskey. Known in its illegal form as ‘Moonshine’, when distilled correctly, white whisky can be delicious. Try it mixed into your Moscow Mules and Martinis this summer.

For more information about the WSET, qualifications and where to study please visit: www.WSETglobal.com

Yelp's Slides and Scoops

Ice Cream Festival for Adults!

London is home to some of the best playgrounds in England, possibly the world, but you as a standard sane non-weirdo adult will never get the chance to play on them... until today!Yelp is taking over the Kids Adventure Playground for a day of food, drinks, slides, swings and sweets, just for adults. This is not one of those new, overly done plastic playground but an old school, hand-crafted wooden behemoth from your childhood. And when was the last time you got to climb into a playground's crow's nest while holding a cocktail? Never, that's when!
 

And if that's not enough, to make you even more of a kid at heart again, there will also be an ICE CREAM FESTIVAL with everything from old school ice cream trucks, alcoholic pops, liquid nitrogen ice cream and more. The event will support of KIDS, which is a charity that supports children with disabilities, so you'll even be doing a good deed while having fun. 

RSVP now and we'll see you there!

--

**YELP'S OLD SCHOOL PLAYGROUND TAKEOVER WILL INCLUDE**

AN ICE CREAM FESTIVAL FEATURING:
Bee Me Yogurt (beeme.co.uk)
Black Vanilla Gelato (yelp.co.uk/biz/black-van…)
Gordan Ramsay's Union Street Cafe (yelp.co.uk/biz/union-str…)
Greedy Goat (yelp.co.uk/biz/greedy-go…)
Jaz & Jull's (yelp.co.uk/biz/jaz-and-j…)
La Gelatiera (yelp.co.uk/biz/la-gelati…)
LIC (havealic.com)
Piccadilly Whip (piccadillywhip.com)
POPS (wearepops.com)
Mamoo Ice-Cream (yelp.co.uk/biz/pizza-buz…)
The Original Crispy Candy Co. (yelp.co.uk/biz/the-origi…)
YOG Yogurt (yelp.co.uk/biz/yog-london)
Whaam Banh Mi (yelp.co.uk/biz/whaam-ban…)
WhipSmiths Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream (yelp.co.uk/biz/whipsmith…)

FOOD BY:
Bootlegger Jellies (facebook.com/bootleggerj…)
Liberty Cheesesteak Company (yelp.co.uk/biz/liberty-c…)
Melt Room (yelp.co.uk/biz/melt-room…)
popchips (popchips.com)
Smith & Sinclair (smithandsinclair.co.uk)

DRINKS BY:
Chambord Black Raspberry Liqueur (chambordchannel.com)
Finlandia Vodka (finlandia.com)
The Pickle House (thepicklehouse.com)
Supernatural (sprntrl.co.uk)

ENTERTAINMENT BY:
Big Potato Games (bigpotato.co.uk)
citysocializer (citysocializer.com)
Fantastic Services (fantasticservices.com)
disqovr (disqovr.me)
Rabble (joinrabble.com)
SuperBooths Europe (superboothseurope.com)
Thinking Bob (thinkingbob.co.uk)

MUSIC BY:
The Big Everything (facebook.com/TheBigEvery…)

A/V By:
Shoreditch A/V (shoreditch-av.co.uk)

MEDIA PARTNER: 
WJ London (wjlondon.com)

PLUS, IT ALL HELPS SUPPORT:
KIDS (kids.org.uk)

RSVP now! See you there!

On the Bab Covent Garden

Korean street food

KFC 4 ways, sweet & spicy, soy, garlic mayo & Spring onion

From the same people who ran the famous Korean restaurant Koba in Fitzrovia, On the Bab is an informal Korean street food restaurant that started life in Old Street, barely 1 year later, it is now 3 chains strong with surely more under way in the near future. It gains high popularity from its simple street food items, from salads, buns, noodles, chicken and rice dishes. It is hardly authentic as flavours wise, they are mostly carefully engineered to make it more approachable to the western palate, but this formula has proven to be a big success. 

Kikuchi

Hidden old school Japanese

Kikuchi

Located in a rather hidden ally behind Tottenham Court Road, Kikuchi is a traditional Japanese restaurant serving both sushi and a selection of hot and cold plates. With a lack of any website and no backing of a PR company, I only managed to discovered this place by a recommendation from a friend, there aren't that many classical Japanese restaurants left in London, while there are plenty of westernised ones, with some becoming very successful such as Roka and Dinings, it is always nice to experience something more original to understand the root and tradition of the art of Japanese cuisine.

My Old Place

Affordable Szechuan cuisine

My Old Place

Szechuan cuisine, part of the Chinese cuisine family which usually contains extremely spicy food with rich tastes, is perhaps one of my least favourite of all Chinese cooking, mostly down to my useless palate when it comes to spicy food. My Old Place is a Chinese restaurant in The City specialising in Szechuan cuisine, it is very popular among the local Chinese community, with its excellent price and authentic taste. I have never yet experienced proper Szechuan food in London so I visited My Old Place and wondered what they had in store.

Galvin at Windows

Park Lane sky dining

Views from Galvin at Windows

I first encountered Galvin at Windows back in 2012 before I even started blogging and when Andre Garrett was the head chef, 1 year later, Andre has moved on to work at the Cliveden House Hotel in Berkshire while his then sous chef Joo Won was promoted to be the new head chef. Joo, of Korean heritage, has managed to retain the Michelin star status every year so far and that is a massive achievement in itself. This year, he has injected some Korean food culture in his cooking, with the launch of a Korean tasting menu and the pay what you like menu in the summer, I headed back to the restaurant 3 years after my first visit to experience the luxury sky high dining once again and went for the 5 course "pay what you like" menu, which did exactly what it said: Once you've finished the meal, it is up to you to decide how much it was worth, unheard of in fine dining levels for me before. 

Byron

Burger champ

Sweet Caroline

Byron shows no sign of slowing down expanding in 2015, now a household name and one of the most successful premium burger chains in London, with more stores planning to open in the rest of the UK. One of the successful formulas behind Byron is its simplicity, doing one thing exceptional well, hence the slogan "Proper Burger". The other is coming up with monthly specials to keep up the marketing and social media buzz, the specials are usually tied in with cultures and seasons to make it exciting and keep the Byron's image fresh. 
Some of the specials I've tasted lately:

Chicken Shop

Going downhill?

Chicken Shop Holborn

Chicken shop was one of the most talked about openings back in 2013, part of the Soho group, one of the pioneers in setting up the trend in chicken premiumisation make overs, the premium chicken joint is now 5 branches strong in London with more opening under way. I was very impressed with its quality chicken when I first experienced it at its first branch in Kentish Town but fast expansion always has a risk in reducing the focus and quality, so I headed to the Holborn joint and wondered if it can be as good as it was first launched three years ago.

The Whisky Show 2015

London' finest Whisky Tasting Experience

Now in its seventh year, the UK’s finest and largest whisky event, The Whisky Show is returning to London this October. You are invited to taste world exclusive luxury drams, meet legendary figures from the whisky world,enjoy a variety of culinary delights and soak up the unique atmosphere. Due to the shows popularity, 2015 will see The Whisky Show move to the impressive Old Billingsgate with over 500 whiskies available to try through the day, as well as a generous food offering: Smith and Sinclair, expert confectioners will be showcasking bespoke whisky flavoured sweets using Balblair Whisky. Ibericos de Huelva, a small family run business producing Spanish Ibericos produce, will be hand carving a leg of Iberian ham at the show for people to try alongside the Glenfarclas 10yo. Cheese from La Fromagerie will be pairing artisan cheeses with Balvenie 12yo, and also hosting a more in-depth masterclass on each day with Balvenie Brand Ambassador James Buntin, featuring three of Balvenie’s older expressions.

The Whisky Show is one show you just can't miss out on if you are a true Whisky lover, book your ticket now before it is too late!

Dates: 3, 4October 2015,11.30am–6.30pm
Location: Old Billingsgate, London, EC3R6DX
Prices: Day tickets - £99, Weekend tickets - £165
Buy online at: www.whiskyshow.com
Exclusive Whisky Show Gift Packages: http://www.whiskyshow.com/whisky-gift-packages-now-available/

Saigon Saigon

Local Vietnamese gem 

 clay pot stewed king prawns and grilled pork

Located on the edge of Hammersmith on Kings Road, Saigon Saigon is a popular restaurant serving classic Vietnamese cuisine, unlike many trendy Pan Asian restaurants, Saigon Saigon is all about traditional Vietnamese, combining the bold and powerful flavours of Chinese cooking with a light and sophisticated French touch in a relaxing wooden setting. As a local nearby, I had eaten at Saigon Saigon many times and the £5.50 lunch box take away deal is one of the best lunch offers in the area.