Debbie does Dining

Du pain, du vin, du St John Bread and Wine

There are many words for it: serendipity, deus ex machina, simple good luck. That moment where, just when you are wringing your hands and composing a strongly worded letter to your mother complaining of your existence, something great happens.

 

Air on the G string: Sala Thong, Cambridge

This converted terrace house is one of a tiny cluster at the elbow of two of Cambridge’s most dreamy vistas. I imagine most of their clientele is punters (sic) who have taken a wander down the Backs or from The Mill pub, got distracted by their poetry book stained with the butter drips from crumpets and overshot their mark. My party went deliberately, and I’m still trying to work out why.

Debbie does Dammit Let's Eat!

This week, Debbie has very excitingly been guesting on one of her favourite podcasts, Dammit Let's Eat, with lovely foodies Chris, Peter and Chuti. Thanks for having me, mes amis Americains!

On the show, we discuss service, I explain what brown sauce is, and Chris has been foraging for mushrooms.

By the way, if anyone can tell me in all sincerity that I don't sound like that in real life, they get a free pie.

Venison: Four ways

Mr DDD has useful hobbies of the catching, shooting and bagging kind. For this I am eternally grateful - any activity which puts meat, or fish, on the table is quite alright with me. The other day, he went traipsing around Hampshire and came home with 2 hind legs of roe deer. Fresh, organic, sustainable, utterly free range. Fantastico! So, what can you do with this?

The brunch files: The Wolseley, Piccadilly

I love to try new restaurants. Like a birthday present, there is the excitement of examining the outside, and exploring what shiny novelties lie within. But sometimes, like dear old Proust, I yearn to return to the places I have known and loved. To recapture the experience and understand it in a new way – and because being away for too long makes me a little bit sad.

Sweet Sicily: Mennula, Charlotte St

Mennula is a new Sicilian place on the Charlotte St gastrostrip in borderline fashionable Noho. Amongst so many restaurants, it stands out by excelling in the holy trinity of quality, authenticity and specificity. No generic Italianorama here. Sicilian is a colourful cuisine, which melds an Italian base with Arab and Greek influences. Sounds delicious? I agree.

The brunch files: The Brass Rail, Selfridges

This place is recommended as a salt beef mecca but I couldn't find many reviews or any photos on the internet. I hereby plug this gap.

The Brass Rail is the main in-house cafe bit in the food hall of Selfridges, taking up a larger space than alien concessions of the ghastly Yo! Sushi and meh Dunkin Donuts, and occupying a prime spot next to the side doors. The only hot things it serves are salt beef and tongue, served on rye, bagel or several more types of bread. It's been there for, like, ever.

The best of luck: Bocca di Lupo, Soho

Regional, Italian, flexible, fresh, unusual, central, exciting, swish, comfortable and friendly. Serves pig's blood for pudding. Is there anything this restaurant doesn't do right?