dines at Alimentum...

Based in Cambridge, Alimentum joins the small but growing band of fine dining restaurants in the city.  Mark Poynton, the Chef Patron, came from Cambridge's Michelin starred Midsummer House, before moving to Alimentum as Head Chef in 2008, and becoming the Chef Patron in 2010.

Alyn WIliams, April tasting menu in pictures...

Whipped caraway butter and bread

Alyn has quickly become one of my favourite chefs, but sometimes there isn't sufficient opportunity to record each dish in great depth - in this instance we had hot-footed our way from the Gaucho Polo Tournament at the O2, and arrived at the Westbury after 10pm, with guests in tow. Alyn had very kindly put together a number of dishes for us, and they were so delicious that I want to record them here, if only visually.  For the full Alyn Williams experience you need to head to the Westbury Hotel for yourself, for what I still think is one of the best-valued menus in town at just £55.

dines at Roux at Parliament Square...

We all know the Roux family - you'd have to be living in a culinary vacuum not to have heard of Le Gavroche and the Waterside Inn - but how often do you hear people talking about Roux at Parliament Square?  Unlike Le Gavroche, which I find far too twee, in terms of decor, Parliament Square has a clean, modern interior, and the food is a balance of fine French cooking and modern molecular techniques.  The Head Chef, Toby Stuart, has worked in some great kitchens, including Cliveden, Orrery, The Square, Richard Neat (in Cannes), and Galvin at Windows.  Toby is joined by Steve Groves, the winner of Masterchef: The Professionals in 2009.  I'd originally booked a table for two, but at the last minute we were joined by Kristen and Alan who live in New York and are very keen diners themselves.

dines at the Alan Murchison pop-up in Terravina...

I'm fortunate to live part of the week in the New Forest, with its outstanding produce, gorgeous landscape and free roaming pigs, ponies and cattle.  There's an increasingly significant food and wine scene developing here, with a notable number of fine hotels and food festivals.

Mr R.E. breakfasts at Browns Hotel...

Today the Breakfast venue is Browns. Arguably, the first hotel in London, established in 1837, the website says that this five star establishment welcomes guests that are 'in the know'.   I have no idea what that means, so I must be completely clueless. Armed with that knowledge, I'm expecting to be greeted by a doorman extending a hand for some secret handshake, or worse expecting me to deliver a password, the failure to deliver either resulting in me being thrown out onto the street. Disappointingly, I'm asked for neither, and am shown to the Hix restaurant.

dines at the Mark Lloyd pop-up at Ben's Canteen...

Ben's Canteen sits on St John's Hill, one of the busiest restaurant streets running between Wandsworth and Clapham.  Alongside The Ship down the road, the Canteen is a regular favourite of SW cooks, bloggers and foodies - I'd been hearing lots of good things about it. I'm not generally a burger and scotch egg kind of girl, not a surprise to my regular readers I'm sure, but when we heard that Ben was hosting a Mark Lloyd pop-up featuring game, our interest was definitely piqued.