It is 2010 and someone tells me I will get an outstanding lunch if I go to Coventry. And it doesn’t end there. I am informed that the culinary delights will be complemented by wines that would make a Mayfair sommelier weep into his ridiculously oversized decanter. What do I tell this gastronomic soothsayer? I tell him the only thing that …
It is the time of the year, only it’s a bit late, when the most insignificant awards in dining are bestowed. Yes, it’s the MADs, the McComb Awards for Dining. It’s Birmingham’s culinary equivalent of the Oscars, which means they are done on the cheap, aren’t very good but are much …
It puzzles me that Birmingham, the second biggest city in the UK, does not have a bona fide five-star hotel. This, of course, assumes you pay heed to star ratings, the Michelin Guide, the AA, the Caravan Club’s Top B&B Tips For Where To Stay When Your Box Is Off The …
I missed saying “hurrah” when Birmingham won a fifth Michelin star last week as I was eating my way around China. So a belated “hurrah.” Or rather a qualified “hurrah.” Much has been written about the latest Michelin milestone, much of it nonsense. Lots of newly-opened mediocre/poor restaurants have been lumped …
Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone, prevent the critic from barking with a juicy bone… Because I think I’ve already had it: Birmingham’s Lunch of the Year. I know it is only July, but I can’t see how my experience at Purnell’s is going to be topped. It’s poetry on a …
The jolly editorial team at Birmingham Living have a regular feature called “In The City” in which they ask influential movers and shakers for their take on what makes the metropolis tick. Obviously, they asked me. What took so long, guys? Unfortunately, the magazine missed the opportunity to put a huge picture …
It is only half an hour’s drive from the bustle of Birmingham, a city that has taken bustle to another level (and that’s putting it politely) since the council started digging up Paradise Circus. Yet strolling around the grounds of Swinfen Hall, an 18th century pile off the A38 in Staffordshire, feels …
Starter envy, it’s the pits. It is not unusual to grow insanely jealous of a fellow guest’s plate of food at any point during a meal, but when it happens at the get-go it is torture. It usually sets the tone – the “I’ve-screwed-this-up-badly” tone – for the entire dining experience. And that …