The only man who didn’t want to be Cary Grant was Cary Grant himself
Cary Grant was a hoax so sublime his creator struggled to escape him. He was a metaphor, too, for the…
‘The internet raised me’: the strange world of online star Belle Delphine
Meet Belle Delphine, the pink-haired online sensation
A magical field hospital for vegetables: Turnips reviewed
Turnips is an haute cuisine restaurant inside a greengrocer in Borough Market in London. I suspect others will try this…
Me, myself and Thai: my cooking lesson from Cher Thai Eatery
Lockdown is hurting everyone except the chickens. I have bought them a conservatory because Philippa, a Light Sussex, looks like…
The journalists who scripted the golden age of Hollywood
Tanya Gold on the journalists who scripted the golden age of Hollywood
Winning a knife fight with a fish: Newlyn Fresh Fish reviewed
It’s a good day to stab something and tear out its heart. Elaine Lorys is the only female master fishmonger…
The magic of cinema isn’t just about film
Going to the movies was a religious experience
This replica is better than the original: The Ivy Oxford Brasserie reviewed
Oxford is not an easy city to homogenise; but that doesn’t mean you can’t try. I found a vast shopping…
The best food Italy can offer: Giannino Mayfair reviewed
Pity the gilded restaurants of Mayfair, if you can: they are dying. Some have reopened; they ache on like men…
Would be much better without Bill or Ted: Bill & Ted Face the Music reviewed
I think I am supposed to say that Bill & Ted Face the Music, the third in a franchise about…
Social distancing in Soho: The French House reviewed
London is gasping — so where to go but Soho, which is so good at despair? It is often necrotic…
This is what cinema is for: Netflix’s Cuties reviewed
Cuties is the subject of a moral panic and a hashtag #CancelNetflix. It tells the story of Amy (Fathia Youssouf),…
The apex of civilisation: the Connaught Grill reviewed
A ghost review, now, of a ghost restaurant: the Connaught Grill, which is yet to reopen after pandemic shuttered its…
My steak cooking lesson turned into a sitcom
Pandemic has brought many truths, the most minor of which is: I can’t cook steak. I thought I could. I…
A great Dane: Snaps + Rye reviewed
Snaps + Rye is a Nordic-themed restaurant and delicatessen on the Golborne Road, at the shabby and thrilling edges of…
Stringfellows with fish instead of women: Sexy Fish reviewed
Sexy Fish is an Asian fusion barn in Berkeley Square, near the car dealerships and the nightingales, if they are…
Drive-in cinemas are back – but for how long?
Tanya Gold on the rise and fall of drive-in cinema
Returning to what makes us happy: Brasserie Zedel reviewed
Brasserie Zédel is a grand salon under Piccadilly Circus and the only place I desired when lockdown (or lock-in) ceased…
Can a chef teach me to cook over Zoom?
We cannot bear more drive-through or take-out or near-fatal snack. I am convinced of the boredom of my female ancestors,…
More drug than nutrient: KFC drive-through reviewed
Drive-through restaurants were invented so Americans could spend more time in their cars. I don’t blame them. American cars are…
Repulsive, depraved and oddly political: Monster Munch crisps reviewed
Now that I have considered Monster Munch I decide to eat one mindfully. I put it in my mouth, and…
The horror of socially distanced restaurants
What does a critic do when her genre collapses? Mostly I panic. I speak to restaurateurs who believe that without…
Hope in a takeaway bag: Mackerel Sky reviewed
You don’t dine in the age of pandemic: you scuttle about in the wreckage. If you can afford food, and…
Fare game: life as The Spectator’s restaurant critic
A fictional Spectator restaurant critic called Forbes McAllister appeared on Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge. He was played…
Much of it is pointless, but that only adds to its charm: Fortnum & Mason hampers reviewed
Stop the clocks: Fortnum & Mason is still delivering hampers. I am not surprised, because this shop — or rather…
