To descend the spiral staircase in front of an innocuous office-like building on curtain road is to leave the normal world behind and enter an eccentric fantasy of toys and objet d’art hidden amongst glass sweet jars and cake stands. Ninety-Eight Bar has existed as a private members bar for some 20 years but only recently opened to the public. Which is a good job because now plebs like you and I can also enjoy their cracking cocktails.

The owner, Kath Morrell, has focussed on infusions and is passionate about her product. It shows in the wealth of personal touches, and as we all know it’s the small details that matter. I even enjoyed a blue drink and I don’t ‘do’ blue drinks. It was a type of bizarre Vesper, served in a little tea pot that you pour into a cocktail glass filled with a round of orange peel underneath a puff of candy floss. The blue liquid dissolves the candy floss and allows the round of orange zest to float to the top, it’s the liquid representation of the clouds disappearing and letting the sunshine against a beautiful blue sky…and for once it’s a blue drink that actually tastes pretty good.

I’m impressed by all the drinks on their menu but this and the infused vodka old fashioned that gives the impression of drinking a Sunday roast are my favourites. This is definitely good first date material this bar, but it’s also just a fantastic break from the norm. Expect this to become one of those hidden jewels that you recommend to people, but only people you really like.

By Tom Olesen

What could be better on a cold and unforgiving Tuesday than a Sherry tasting, I’ll answer that for you….nothing! I arrive at L’attelier des Chefs to be greeted by a Harveys Bristol Cream and lemonade, very pleasant indeed. But what I am most excited about is the wetting of my delicate pallet with Pedro Ximenez Sherry. We are given a short but descriptive talk by Beltran Domecq, the master blender form Harveys, which goes something like this. Harvey Pedro Ximenez is made from PX grapes grown in their own vineyard and blended in the traditional method at its bodegas in Jerez in southern Spain. I won’t go into much more detail but must mention that Pedro Ximenez is a VORS (’very old rare Sherry’ for those of you who don’t know) which ages it somewhere around the 30 to 40 year mark. I could talk about carbon 14 or the soleda stages but instead I will describe it as I experience it. First colour, unlike many other sherry’s it is black, literally opaque, and rolls around the glass like oil which doesn’t exactly make it sound palatable but trust me it is. This colouring comes from the concentration of sugars and loss of water over many years. The smell is like a caramel infused wood, wood from the American oak barrels and caramel from the sweet fermenting raisins. Delightful I must say. After the initial tasting we are served a sticky toffee pudding which is the perfect complement and then a vanilla ice cream drizzled in Pedro Ximenez, thank you very much.

Now we set to the kitchen. Under the tutelage of Satyajit Welaratne, a professional pastry chef, and in select groups of three, apprentice styley. Welaratne takes no prisoners and with our ingredients laid out in front of us we are instructed to dice, slice and mash (in my case) the various ingredients which are a variety of nuts, fruits, butter, flower, sugar and brioche. We are simultaneously rustling up a a brioche pudding, filled with cooked and infused fruits, a pineapple crumble and brandy snap basket. I wont bore you with the exact process of cooking but safe to say the ingredients smell and taste (yes I’m eating as I go, isn’t everyone?) delicious and are cooking quite nicely under our watchful, greedy eyes.

Sadly I have to leave before the the cooking and tasting is complete but not before dear Welaratne packages me up a crumble to go and Focus PR give me two bottles of sherry and ‘The Perfect Match’, a book matching sherry with food, thank you very much! I think the point of the exercise is to create puddings that go with the delicious Sherry but frankly anything would go well with Pedro Ximenez, its like an alcoholic nectar and what’s more I now have some jazzy Christmas recipes under my belt, as well as a good understanding of how Welaratne likes things done!

By Jessica Dunn

Anyone who’s met me for more than like five minutes or read practically anything I’ve ever written knows that I bloody love Tio Pepe. I’m actually quite evangelical about it, even to the extent that some of my friends have stopped returning my calls for fear that I’ll just bang on about how Tio Pepe really should be the most popular drink in the world and how I’m determined to make it happen.

Anyway, the point is that you can imagine my delight when a press release arrives detailing something called the Tio Pepe Tapas Trail. For one week (12th-18th July 2010) some of London’s finest Spanish restaurants and bars are participating in the idea – basically you print out a wee map, potter along to some of the restaurants involved and for every tapa you order you get a free glass of Tio Pepe. Oh and the chance to win a trip to Jerez, the sacred home of dearest sherry. Awesome right?

As an intrepid sort of reporter – the kind to really get their hands dirty on the front line – I thought I’d better give it a go. And I’m pleased to report that it’s brilliant. We kick things off at Barrica on Goodge Street – a cool but laid-back bar/restaurant with a bit of street seating and a nice bar to perch at. A glass or two of crisp, chilled Tio Pepe is the perfect accompaniment to meltingly delicious jamón ibérico bellota, pan con tomate, and a daily special comprising muscles and chorizo in a tomato sauce.

From here it’s a short walk to Fino, a chicly discreet sort of place just off Charlotte Street. Sitting again at the bar, we have a glass of Tio Pepe Fino en Rama (a limited edition unfiltered sherry) and a selection of truly wonderful tapas. Ham croquettes are fried balls of creamy heart-warming goodness; pimientos de Padrón salty, oily and lightly spicy; and clams – served in an appropriate sherry and ham sauce – are rich and juicy. The highlights are a corgette flower, stuffed with ricotta, with delicate tempura and a drizzle of honey, and then rolls of squid, wrapped in pancetta and served with buttery black squid ink.

By this stage we’re a totally full, but our loyal commitment to the greatness of sherry takes us to Pinchito, a friendly, bustling, vibrant little tapas bar, full of young Spanish types enjoying the football. A nice little Oloroso is a terrible match for churros and hot chocolate, but who’s judging? Perhaps the fact that I spill chocolate all over my trousers is some kind of punishment from the sherry gods. I’ll make it up to them next week when I drag my long-suffering friends round every tapas bar in London. I can hardly wait.

The Tio Pepe Tapas Trail takes place between 12th-18th July 2010.
Participating restaurants are: Barrafina, Pinchito, Fino, Barrica, Iberica, Camino, Bar Pepito, Moro
http://www.tiopepe.co.uk/tapas_trail.html

I have a pretty clear check-list – it’s more mental than written down or anything, but it works pretty well. Basically when information about an event pops into my inbox, there are various potential boxes it can tick: three or more and I’m there. This – the Lanson Champagne consumer gala dinner at Searcys St Pancras Grand restaurant – might well be a record-breaker.

Champagne? Tick.
Good champagne? Tick, tick.
Canapés? Tick.
Dinner? Tick.
Exotically named French chap saying interesting things? Why yes, tick.

The evening consists of  canapés followed by a  three course Wimbledon-inspired dinner at Searcys (Lanson are the official champagne suppliers to Wimbledon dontcha know). Each course is accompanied by a specially selected Lanson champagne, and the whole evening is being hosted by champagne connoisseur and heir to the Lanson empire (soooo much better than the British empire) Enguerrand Baijot. Cool name too.

I have to confess that I don’t massively like tennis, but with all this going on, who cares? I can easily pretend that I know all about backhanders, ahem I mean, backhands. Yes, it’s tomorrow night so I’ll have to cancel dinner with my Uncle, but he won’t mind – maybe I could even take him with? He loves the sauce

Wanna come too? It’s £75 and you can book tickets by phoning 0207 923 5454. Ace! Or something…

Photography by Daniel Regan

Ever since Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut film, Whip It, a wave of roller derby love has been sweeping across the US. A full-on all-girl contact sport, all the cool kids are down with it and for the first time in my life I wanted to be one of those cool kids. It took a fateful meeting outside a grotty Bethnal Green pub with one of the London Rockin’ Rollers to change my opinion of sport forever.

At Duke Hall in Bethnal Green there’s a stellar mixture of clientele: forties rockers, family funsters and I’d suspect a healthy portion of first timers, just like us. Opting to sit upstairs, away from the possibility of being accidentally crushed by the high speed roller girls, it’s not long before the venue fills up with this bouts contenders:

The London Rockin’ Rollers vs. Manchester’s Rainy City Roller Girls

Photography by Daniel Regan

In contrasting red and white team uniforms, I’m instantly opting to support the home team, decked out in crimson red, each player’s name emblazoned across the back of their shirts. A quick read of the rules and an explanation from the compère and we’re away with girls whizzing around the track way before we can actually understand what’s happening. All I know is this: I like it. As the girls defend their teams by smacking down their opponents, I feel a surge of competition run through me, beer in hand. These girls are hardcore at smacking each other straight down, often taking down whole groups at a time. Before I know it my voice is hoarse from all the screaming and the match draws to a close, home team winning.

Roller derby is a growing sport in the UK with two major teams competing for London’s top hotspot: The London Rockin’ Rollers and The London Rollergirls, both active touring teams. Forget the football crowds, kick back with a beer and let these tattooed girls provide the full afternoon’s hectic entertainment.

Many moons ago cider was only known as a drink for crusty old blokes. And dirty students. And tramps. And anyone from Somerset.

But in the last few years it’s had something of a revival with the cool festival-going crowd and it’s now acceptable – nay encouraged – for a respectable person to sup on the appley goodness. As this new advert for Kopparberg shows, cider is having a serious moment in the public conciousness – maybe it’s the looming threat of increased tax, or perhaps New Labour’s social mobility policies have worked and now all the tramps work in London’s thriving advertising industry.

Whatever the reason, Kopparberg have come up with a fun new initiative to help fellow cider drinkers find new music, great talent, underground parties or brilliant nights out in their home town. And since this is what Spoonfed is all about – we’re fully on board.

Check out the ad below or visit http://www.findkopparberg.com for more info.

Cheers!

I bloody love boating. Whether it’s a yacht, dingy or punt there’s no greater sense of freedom (or greater chance of bumping into a sailor) than on a floating vehicle. So it was with relish that I accepted the latest Spoonfed assignment to drag an unsuspecting friend along and test out a Thames boat tour.

Kitted out in my best nautical gear, I was ready to set sail on the fastest speed boat on the Thames. Having made a less than graceful entrance by plodding loudly along the dock , sweaty and tried from running our own mini London Marathon to get there on time, the kind staff of the Thames RIB Experience calmly stowed our belongings and fitted us with life jackets.

Settling down in the 12 seater boat as the engine sputtered into life, I watched our vessel jettison from the pier and towards the first attraction. The Thames RIB Experience takes in all the major sites of the Europe’s second largest river; the Houses of Parliament, London Eye, OXO Tower, Globe Theatre all get a mention and there are a few interesting facts that even a seasoned Londoner such as myself will be surprised to hear.

After half an hour of  sight-seeing, our gregarious guide announces the high-speed section of the tour, which attracts an audible gasp from the assembled group. From what I can tell the high-speed portion of the tour has the dual advantage of satisfying the speed junkies on board and skipping past the boring bits between the Tower Bridge and the O2 – I’m looking at you Wapping! Tilting at 45 degree angles, the boat powers through Greenwich and Canary Wharf, stopping briefly to take in some of the breath-taking surroundings, before accelerating back towards central London.

Back on dry land I get a chance to look around the surrounding piers and see that there are a lot of other power boat tours dotted along the embankments. The real draw of this particular tour seems to be the love of the dashing secret agent James Bond. Each tour includes lots of facts on espionage, the Secret Service and plays the Bond theme tune as the boat speeds along the Thames. The guide made much of the infamous scene in World Is Not Enough where Pierce Brosnon crashes through the MI6 building in a similar looking speedboat and, although that is not one of my favourite Bond films, I found my myself struggling to contain an urge to grab the wheel and try my own dare devil stunts.

All in all, the Thames RIB Experience is a great way to get your bearings around London and see a whole host of major attractions. If you’re a James Bond fan, it’s probably an even better thrill ride, but even for those who don’t know their Martinis from their Aston Martins – it’s still a jolly good hoot.

As all proud Englishmen and women know, April 23rd is St George’s Day! Normally this occasion passes by with about as much fuss as National Devilled Egg Day but this year Park Plaza hotels are trying to reclaim the St George’s Cross from the grubby hands of those BNP fellas with an ingenious scheme of free booze.

To celebrate poor old St George (who if anyone cares to know, was tortured and decapitated for his commitment to Christianity) The Park Plaza in London have hit upon the brilliant idea of giving away a free cocktail to all namesakes of England’s beloved patron saint. If your name is George, Georgina – or any variation of the name – you will soon be able to sup on a complimentary cocktail – the aptly named Gorgeous George!

Any time between 23 April and 30 May 2010 you’ll be able to sample this limited edition tasty tipple, which is designed in layers of red and white. A heady concoction of Beefeater 24 gin, elderflower cordial, white cranberry juice, grenadine syrup, the cocktail comes complete with rose petal garnish.

Although this is perhaps one of the most obvious PR gambits we’ve since this year, I’ve already spent a good 20 minutes consulting a list of the 46 valid variants to see if I can sneak in. If you’re lucky enough to have a name like George, then don’t forget to bring a valid photo ID or you’ll be leaving empty handed.

There are 5 Park Plaza properties in London, to find your nearest one visit: www.parkplaza.com

For more info on what to do on St George’s Day in London – have a look on Spoonfed!

So the sun is out and thoughts at Spoonfed Towers are already turning to the summer ahead. Summer, for us, means many things – it means scotch eggs and gingham, sandwiches in the sun (crusts cut off, natch), lunchtime cricket (which Tom always wins) and ice cream making the occasional appearance at the weekly ritual that is Cake Thursday. But summer also means another important thing: namely, booze.

Now, we know what you’re thinking – every season is booze season, right? Well, right. But in order to fully appreciate the delights of summer, one really ought to plan one’s boozing with care. A Red Stripe in some field just won’t cut it this year. Which is why we were delighted to hear about three rather snazzy new summer-time cocktails from the folks at Southern Comfort. So delighted in fact, that we’ve decided to share them with you:

Louisiana Jam

With fruit juice and apricot jam to complement the Southern Comfort, this is a splendidly thirst-quenching little drink, perfect for pre, post, or mid-cricket refreshment. Plus, it’s served in a jam jar!

Mississippi Mule

Lime + Ginger Beer + Angostura Bitters + Southern Comfort = Zing-time! Plus it’s so simple, even us idiots can make it.

Bayou Fruit Cup

Featuring whatever summer berries you fancy and a splash of Martini Rosso (mmmm) this is the Hyacinth Bouquet of Southern Comfort cocktails. Ideal for all those garden parties we’re planning to wear our new cream linen suits to…

Have you ever been to The Garage? It’s a brilliant venue nestled in leafy Highbury. From the early Britpop sounds of Oasis to new Millennium indie darlings Arctic Monkeys, The Garage has hosted all the greats. After a £1 million refurbishment in 2006, The Garage has come back bigger and even better! Since October 09 one of London’s finest promotion teams Bangers & Mash have held a weekly night there which takes advantage of the space and improved sound system.

Not content with dishing up the best Indie, Rock ‘N’ Roll, Electronica, Hiphop, Funk, Ska and Motown beats from world class DJs – there’s plenty of extra curricular fun too. We’re talking free props, live caricature, face painting, games, giveaways & even a photo booth!

If Highbury is a bit out of your neck of the woods, then Bangers & Mash also do a cracking night every other week at Brick Lane staple 93 Feet East. So, what’s not to love? You’ll see the Spoonfed team (and anyone else with a decent pair of dancing shoes) at a Bangers & Mash night very soon.

Have a look at more Things to do in Islington!