Norway 22/7

A boom of thunder woke me with a jolt from a broken slumber this morning. It was exactly the same sort of noise I heard yesterday afternoon, the kind that shook the house. Except what I had initially assumed to be thunder yesterday would turn out to be the result of something truly horrific.

Next (Tour of Thailand), Chicago – Restaurant Review

In case anyone was still wondering, Next is the latest venture from chef Grant Achatz and Nick Kokonas, the team behind Alinea, one of the great restaurants of this world (stay tuned for a review of my latest visit). In the last few months there have probably been more column inches written about Next than perhaps any other restaurant on the planet. On my final night in Chicago I was lucky enough to bag one of Next's "golden tickets" and see for myself what all the fervent hype was about.

A New Dawn for Norwegian Food: Interview with Maaemo's Esben Holmboe Bang and Pontus Dahlström

Maaemo's Esben Holmboe Bang (l) and Pontus Dahlström (r) 

When fellow food blogger Greg Henry, who writes the SippitySup blog, announced he'd be visiting Norway at the request of the Norwegian Tourist Board, and asked if I'd be interested in writing a guest post for his blog I jumped at the chance. I had mentioned a new Oslo gourmet restaurant to him that I had been to a couple of times. The restaurant had opened a few months previously and serves only organic produce that originates almost exclusively from Norway, something that has never been attempted before. I had been utterly wowed by the food I tasted there, so we struck upon the idea of me interviewing some of the people behind it to hear their story of how this restaurant came to be and a bit about their philosophy on food. This article also appears on Greg's SippitySup blog here.

Gone fishin' in Chi-Town

Well it's that time of year again and our summer holiday is beckoning. Like last year, the Nibbler family will be in magnificent Chicago. We had a blast last summer and can't wait to return. The Windy City is rapidly establishing itself as one of America's great culinary hotspots so I'm sure there'll be lots of good eating ahead.

Trattoria Popolare, Oslo – Restaurant Review

Trattoria Popolare opened in Oslo's hip Grünerlokka neighbourhood in March 2011 and, as its name suggests, Italian food is the order of the day here. This is the latest project from Oslo restaurateur Nevzat Arikan, whose other ventures include Olympen, Arakataka, and Ylajali. I've eaten at all three of Arikan's other restaurants and, although very different from each other, all impressed me immensely, so I was more than excited to try out his latest offering.

Bubbleology, London – Review

I'm a relative newcomer to the delights of bubble tea, having only first tasted it last year. However, I love the stuff and I've certainly been making up for lost time. Bubble tea originated in Taiwan in the 1980's and is essentially tea that contains large tapioca pearls. The sweet tea is served with a wide straw that allows you to suck up the moreish gelatinous pearls – a sort of drink/snack hybrid. Typically bubble tea is served cold, but you can also have it hot too.

Breakfast at The Riding House Café, London – Restaurant Review

Since moving to Norway, one of the quintessentially British things I've missed most is a proper fry-up. The full English breakfast done well is truly a thing a beauty on the plate; fried eggs quivering, sausages steaming, bacon glistening ... arteries hardening. It's certainly (and literally) not for the faint-hearted but, oh my, what a way to start the day! And it is a singular treat that I save only for those occasions when I am back in dear old Blighty.

NOPI, London – Restaurant Review

I’ve always loved going to Ottolenghi. When I lived in London it seemed no Sunday would be complete without a stroll up to Upper Street for a spot of lunch at their Islington branch. There by the window would be the most beautiful array of dishes from their unique menu of Mediterranean/Middle Eastern/Asian fusion dishes. I loved the food, the simplicity of the design, and the communal tables. And I always, but always made sure I left room for cake (see here for my favourite).

Spuntino, London – Restaurant Review

Spuntino is the third act in restaurateurs Russell Norman and Richard Beatty's burgeoning London restaurant empire. Their first two restaurants, Polpo and Polpetto, met with almost universal acclaim. Indeed, I had a wonderful lunch at Polpetto a few months back and loved the intimate and quirkily styled setting, as well as the wonderful small plates of homely Italian food. Norman and Beatty clearly understood they were onto a good thing, and Spuntino is created from a similar mould.

Maaemo, Oslo (Revisited) – Restaurant Review

(For more recent reviews of Maaemo see my blog posts here, here and here).

Spring is definitely in the air here in Oslo; the flowers are blossoming, the days are longer, and everyone seems to have a smile on their faces. But it wasn’t just the weather that was giving me cause to be happy. We recently had some dear friends visiting from London, and when I was tasked with picking a restaurant for us to eat at I instantly knew exactly where we would go. That place would be Maaemo, a new Oslo restaurant that is reinventing the concept of Norwegian cuisine.