COCKTAIL Sleekster

Cocktails and chocolates are two ‘C’ words that I can never say no to. So when Hotel Chocolat asked if I would product review their new COCKTAIL Sleekster range, (yes chocolate cocktails!!), I found it impossible to say no, even if it meant a step back in my attempts to gain a bikini figure.

Before I touch on the chocolates, I have to say that I was pretty impressed with the packaging (no I didn’t eat the box). It’s long and slender, and very glamorous, perfect as a birthday gift. Or if you would rather eat them yourself, then you could do just that, say, by bringing them out and sharing them with girlfriends during a girlie night in over SATC and cosmopolitans.

You need to chill the chocolates for an hour before you can eat them. So if, like me, you have a habit of shoving chocolate into your mouth as soon as you lay your hands on some, this can turn out to be an exercise in patience. The wait is not helped by the fact that you can smell the chocolates through the box, which made them incredibly tempting. But chilled, the chocolate cocktail concoctions of martinis, mojitos, margaritas, cosmopolitans and Indian summers provide a good strong kick of alcohol, soothed by the creaminess of rich smooth chocolate. I won’t allude to my favourite cocktail sleekster – you will probably have your own – but seeing as I’m a bit of a cosmo girl…

This is a paid for product review.

So for a bit of gossip. A little birdie tells me (let’s say someone who is reasonably established in the London restaurant scene) that the name of Heston Blumenthal’s new restaurant will be ‘Dinner’! The restaurant will be housed in the Mandarin Oriental in Knightsbridge. The famous Adam Tihany is designing the interior, and the kitchen will be run by his executive chef at the Fat Duck, Ashley Palmer-Watts.

This is probably the most eagerly anticipated restaurant opening of 2010. The restaurant is currently scheduled to open 1 December.

And following Pierre Koffman’s stint during London Restaurant Week last year with his pop-up restaurant, Restaurant on the Roof, the legendary chef has decided to come out of retirement. He will be opening up a new restaurant called Koffman’s at the site vacated by Boxwood Café in the Berkeley Hotel. Can’t wait to try that pigs’ trotter dish again!

And don’t forget about the San Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants Action Against Hunger charity auction. For your chance to bid for a dinner at one of the 50 Best Restaurants, click here for details.

During the month of March, the Phoenix Bar & Grill in Putney, in association with Action Against Hunger, will be hosting a series of pop-up restaurants to raise money for the victims of the Haiti earthquake. The chefs that will be cooking include Philip Howard from The Square, Rowley Leigh, Rick Stein, Bruce Poole, Helena Puolakka, Atul Kochhar, Patrick Williams, and Jesse Dunford Wood. Meals will be priced at £60.00 and at least 90% of the proceeds will go to charity.

For more details click on Putney Pop-Up.

The owner of the Phoenix Bar & Grill is Rebecca Mascarenhas, who also owns Sonny’s in Barnes and co-owns Kitchen W8 with Philip Howard.

And have you heard? Ferran Adrià plans to close El Bulli for good from December 2011 and replace it with a not-for-profit-academy for advanced cuisine!

Note: This competition has now closed.

This is the third in a series of 3 short films which I have been featuring as part of the Douwe Egberts competition where they chart the fascinating story of coffee and the classic Cappuccino, including how it all began for Douwe Egberts. The final of the three films will take you to the beautiful coffee farms of Colombia, where it all began, and introduce you to the passionate farming families who have been growing the finest beans for generations. Narrated by James Nesbitt, we hope you enjoy the video!

To win the Christmas Hamper prize that I mentioned a couple of weeks ago (6x Etienne Products, Cafetiere, 2x Mugs, 1x Thermos Travel Mug and 1x Douwe Egberts storage tin), share your favourite coffee based recipe or drinking suggestion with us. To enter, simply post your recipe or suggestion in my comments box below by the end of this week and we’ll select the most original or inventive one as our winner. Good luck!

The videos are paid for advertising.

Following on from last week’s post about the Douwe Egberts competition where a Christmas Hamper was up for grabs, here are the details on part two of the competition!

The Netherlands is where it all started for Douwe Egberts, some 250 years ago. They’ve been following the fascinating stories behind coffee ever since and as part of the competition, they’d love hear about your ideal endings to the coffee story – the kind of special coffee moments that you look forward to enjoying. In return for sharing, they’re inviting one lucky winner and their friend to experience where it all began. You’ll enjoy 3 nights of 4* accommodation, flights and transfers, £100 spending money and a whole host of Amsterdam’s cultural and culinary delights.

*The winner will be selected as the most original and humorous entry. Closing date is midnight, December 31st 2009.

For more details on the competition, click here.

And finally, here’s the second installment of the video that I referred to in last week’s post.

Here are the details for the Blaggers’ Banquet Auction as promised!

Each day we are auctioning a new, fabulous food-related item in aid of Action Against Hunger.

On Sunday 15th November the Blaggers’ Banquet was held at Hawksmoor Steakhouse, London. Organised by the London Food and Drink Bloggers Network, the event was generously supported by UK food and drink producers, restaurateurs, kitchenware producers, events organisers and publishers who have also donated some fantastic items to this online auction.

We need your continued support for the online auction. Not only will you be supporting a great charity but you can also bag yourself a bargain!

All proceeds go to Action Against Hunger.

To place a bid simply click on the auction link and check out what’s on offer today.

Competition time!

Douwe Egberts are sponsoring a competition for the UK readers of my blog for a chance to win a christmas hamper (6x Etienne Products, Cafetiere, 2x Mugs, 1x Thermos Travel Mug and 1x Douwe Egberts storage tin). The competition will relate to the three Douwe Egberts videos being posted on my blog over the next 2-3 weeks. Below is the first of the three videos, and there will be a question on each video which I will post with the final video feed. So keeping watching the videos and keep your eye out for the question. I will be letting you know about another Douwe Egberts competition with a fantastic prize next week so watch this space and good luck!

So here’s the official press release for the Blaggers’ Banquet which gives you the details on how you might be able to purchase tickets for the dinner which are now on sale. I will be on kitchen prep for the night, but don’t let that put you off! But first, a word of thanks to those lovely people who I have managed to blag some donations from for the auction. Look out for these listings when the auction goes up on Ebay.

1) The fabulous Junction Tavern for a £50 meal voucher;
2) A dinner for four at The Big Bang Restaurant in Oxford; and
3) A goodie bag featuring Maggie Beer products worth £30 from Of Wine & Yabbies.

And finally, here are the details:

On November 15th, Londons’ Food & Drink Bloggers will be taking over Hawksmoor, the revered steakhouse in Liverpool St, for the Blaggers’ Banquet.

There will also be a blaggers’ auction, where we will be auctioning exciting items we’ve blagged. This auction will be two fold, a portion of it on the night, and the rest in the weeks following. Tickets are on sale now in pairs for £150 and one table of 5 for £375. 5 pairs of tickets will be auctioned started from £75. Tickets are available on ebay: