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Editorial
Feature Published 22 March 2023
From the coalface: a case against à la carte
Rather than baulk at the length and dictatorial bent of tasting menus or the inherent unpredictability and lack of control of small-plate formats, those diners still insisting both on wide choice and a three-course format should consider the behind-the-scenes impact of the choice and structure they see as non-negotiable, says restaurateur Tom Fahey.
Feature Published 22 March 2023
Your choice or mine? Britain’s top chefs on the tasting menu question
Tasting menu? A la carte? Bit of both? How do we offer choice without waste? How do we reassure the accountant but also stay creative? How do we keep kitchen and front of house teams enthusiastic, and the experience fresh enough for guests to want to return?
Where to eat Published 14 March 2023
Best restaurants for Mother's Day
What makes the perfect restaurant for Mother’s Day? Warm hospitality and wonderful food are a given, but add a strong female presence into the mix and you’ve got something extra special on your hands. Prepare to be wowed by Skye Gyngell’s celestial Spring at Somerset House, hand yourself over to the inspirational Tessa Bramley at The Old Vicarage, or tuck ...
Feature Published 14 March 2023
Fine dining – an ordeal or a pleasure?
This felt like the hill on which tasting menus ought to die. The pace of it was agonisingly, pole-axingly slow. The meal took three very elongated hours and we still hadn't sighted the finish-line. There’s a point at which you just can't keep sitting there, waiting for what feels like half an hour between each twiddly bit and each couple ...
Feature Published 13 March 2023
A first look at Dan Cox's farm-restaurant Crocadon
Local and seasonal might be food’s biggest buzzwords but there are few restaurants that cleave so dogmatically to cooking from the land around it as Crocadon.
Feature Published 13 March 2023
Guide scoring: what is 'uniqueness'?
Rethinking the scoring system for The Good Food Guide was no small undertaking; it’s a bold move to unpick something so established. But with the fresh eyes of new ownership and the move to a fully digital platform came a healthy questioning of the 1-10 scoring system that had been in place since 1998.
Feature Published 08 March 2023
Filling the hungry gap: how chefs get creative in the season of scarcity
Wild garlic is swathing woodland in vivid green, and lambs are starting to bleat and bounce round fields. Catkins jiggle like said lambs’ tails, and birdsong ripples through longer days. Officially, spring is here – but it’s deceptive as this week’s arctic blast has proven. New-season British-grown veg is a way off being ready, and chefs are having to dig ...
Feature Published 21 February 2023
Gems of bakeries
As our Local Gem category grows, so the number of bakeries in the Guide rises. Here are some of the wonderful inclusions. Some have cafes alongside, some will simply sell you loaves and cakes, some offer delivery or subscriptions so that you need never be without a perfect loaf.
Feature Published 15 February 2023
No alcohol doesn't mean no fun: eight of the best soft drink pairings
So, how was dry January for you? Did you count down the days and hours to midnight of the 31st, or did you find it a brightening start to the year? Maybe – dare we say – you’ve seamlessly continued the habit into February, and discovered new favourite restaurants that serve cracking alternatives to wine, beer and spirits.
Local Guide Published 14 February 2023
Where to eat in York
Jill Turton, restaurant reviewer for the Yorkshire Post, co-founder of the Yorkshire restaurant directory Squidbeak and long-time York resident, gives her culinary tour.
