The SLMan Food & Drink List

THE TOUR:

Salcombe Rum School

Salcombe Distilling Co. has launched the Salcombe Rum School experience. At its waterside distillery on Island Street in Salcombe – one of the world’s only distilleries directly accessible by boat – the school allows enthusiasts to learn about the art of rum distillation and cask ageing. With the guidance of expert distillers, each student gets creative and formulates their own rum recipe picking from the range of botanicals supplied, or they can bring their own if they wish. They’ll also have the chance to name and create a personalised label for their finished rum and be given a white wooden presentation box for their 700ml bottle. Two rum cocktails will be served during the session. The experience costs £110 for one person or £160 for two.

Visit SalcombeGin.com

THE MEAL DELIVERY:

Detox Kitchen X Jackson Boxer

Looking to maintain any healthy January habits you might have picked up? Meal delivery service Detox Kitchen has created a three-meal range with cool London chef Jackson Boxer, based on how he eats at home. Putting plant-based, seasonal produce at the forefront and celebrating vegetables on a whole new level, Jackson has taken his trademark elegant cooking style and turned it into something that is not only delicious but nourishing and comforting. His three dishes on offer are a kale and delica squash salad, a beetroot soup with black beans, and a roasted carrot, quinoa and hazelnut salad.

Visit DetoxKitchen.co.uk

THE LIQUEUR:

Jumping Goat

Jumping Goat’s coffee liqueurs have won multiple international awards including Double Gold at the San Francisco Spirits Awards – and now they’re available to buy in the UK. Produced in Tauranga, New Zealand, its vodka and coffee liqueur is packed full of 100% organic batch-roasted coffee beans from Papua New Guinea and spices, then infused with a high-quality, redistilled New Zealand whey vodka. Available to buy at Master of Malt and The Whisky Exchange, we hear it’s excellent in espresso martinis.

Visit JumpingGoatLiquor.com

THE TASTING MENU:

Humble Chicken

Angelo Sato is taking his excellent Soho restaurant Humble Chicken to new levels this year, launching a Japanese-led, eight-course tasting menu with a European accent. The menu is inspired by Sato’s East Asian roots, along with his time spent working in some of the greatest European kitchens. Priced at £95pp, the dinner menu will be available every Wednesday to Saturday. Highlight dishes include mussel, citrus kosho ponzu and nanbanzuke winter vegetables; shime saba, shiso kosho, turnip, ginger and shiso dashi; crispy head and trotter, den dashi, karashi and quail egg; and wasanbon ice-cream, almond brittle and shaved miso-cured foie.

Visit HumbleChickenUK.com

THE BOTTLED COCKTAIL:

Pisco

Restaurant group Coya has created the world’s first bottled, passionfruit-flavoured pisco, crafted in collaboration with its long-time distillery partner, Pisco 1615. The high-quality blend uses real passionfruit pulp to guarantee freshness and full flavour in every bottle. Inspired by a recent trip to Peru, Coya’s bar managers and mixologists were able to participate in the yearly harvest, the Vendimia, where ripe grapes are picked for pisco production. The team also took part in numerous tasting sessions with 1615’s master distiller to ensure they created the perfectly balanced macerado. We can’t wait to try it when it lands on Coya’s site in spring.

Visit CoyaRestaurant.com

THE BOOK:

Behind The Pass

Behind the Pass is a new cookbook curated by chef Luke French and restaurateur Stacey Sherwood-French (both of GQ restaurant of the year JÖRO). With recipes and in-depth interviews, it showcases the very best chefs across the UK, offering readers an unprecedented insight into the minds of seasoned professionals and rising stars within the culinary world. From Scotland to Cornwall, the reader will be taken on a journey through the buzz and clamour of restaurant kitchens up and down the country. The recipes cover achievable home cooking and weekend projects for adventurous cooks.

Visit Amazon.co.uk

THE LUNCH BOOST:

Dishoom Lunch Pots

Dishoom has launched a limited-edition collection of lunch pots. The ideal time-saving substitute for weekday lunches, at home or in the office, the pots are available to order every weekday from 12-3pm. Each is served with basmati rice and flavours on offer include Chicken Ruby (tender chicken in a rich, silky makhani sauce), Mattar Paneer (a vegetarian curry, beloved of Bombay families) and Mushroom Pepper Fry (made with red chilli, ginger-garlic, whole spices and black peppercorns).

Visit Dishoom.com

THE FUN ALCOHOL-FREE LAUNCH:

Black Lines Shirley Temple

Black Lines has launched its first non-alcoholic serve. The original mocktail, the effervescent Shirley Temple combines grenadine, ginger ale, raspberry soda, fresh lemon, blood orange and a dash of bitters. To distinguish this new take on a classic serve, Black Lines turned to artist Alex Khabbazi, who combined textural printing techniques and fun colours to create a cheeky maraschino cherry character for the label.

Visit BlackLinesDrinks.com

THE POP-UP:

Osip at 180 Corner

From Tuesday 7th to Friday 10th February, Merlin Labron-Johnson of Michelin-starred Osip and wine bar-bistro The Old Pharmacy in Bruton, Somerset, will be returning to London to take over the kitchen at 180 Corner on the Strand for four nights only. Having left the city to go back to his West Country roots in 2019 and open Osip to critical acclaim, Merlin’s cooking celebrates the bounty of the countryside. Influenced by the flavours of southern France and northern Italy, Merlin has created a set menu that includes bruschetta of eel and candy, root vegetable tea with burnt garlic oil, buckwheat salad with champignon de Paris, scallops with Jerusalem artichoke, potato and egg yolk ravioli, duck served with a winter mole rojo and chocolate and sourdough millefeuille.

Visit 180TheStrand.com

THE SUNDAY LUNCH:

Maison François

Maison François, the modern French brasserie and wine bar in St James’s, is one of our favourite restaurants to open in the last few years. Now the team has launched ‘Dimanche à la Maison’, a Sunday lunch celebrating the very best of regional French cuisine. Dishes could include traditional cassoulet and plates of Ossau Iraty cheese – an ideal spread to share on long, lazy Sundays. Diners can also enjoy an optional wine pairing from Maison François’s wine director Daniel Illsley, which could include sparkling Mauzac, peppery Marcillac and lively Jurançon. Whenever you go, make sure to kick things off with a ‘Maison Mary’.

Visit MaisonFrancois.London

STEVEN JOYCE

THE SUPERMARKET LAUNCH:

Charlie Bigham’s Pies

Cooked from scratch in small batches, Charlie Bigham’s has long been a supermarket go-to for anyone wanting to take a night off cooking. For 2023, the high-end, pre-prepped brand has launched a collection of wholesome dishes, including chicken and ham en croute, steak and ale pie, chicken satay curry with fragrant rice, mushroom risotto and smoked haddock gratin. We’ve got our eye on the sharing steak pie.

Visit Waitrose.com

THE WHISKY:

Dewar’s Double Double Series

This month saw the UK launch of a blended scotch whisky range from Dewar's: the Double Double Series. Using a four-step ageing process, the collection is refined, with extra smoothness across the three expressions: 21-year-old, 27-year-old and a 32-year-old (which won Whisky of the Year in 2020 at the International Whisky Competition). The Dewar's Double Double collection is finished in sherry casks, including Oloroso, Palo Cortado and Pedro Ximenez, elevating each whisky’s final flavour profile. Mirroring the four-stage ageing process, it comes bottled in a striking, four-sided trapezoid shape.

Visit HarveyNichols.com