Eat With Ellen’s Festive Food Round Up For December!
Less than four weeks to go people. This is not a drill. It feels like people have already been talking about Christmas for quite some time but I refuse to get excited until at least December 1st. Well, we’re here, and it’s time to get festive!
As with most parts of my life, I’m pretty disorganised, so despite talking about getting ready, I’ll inevitably be late with present-buying, wrapping and general planning. However, I have already planned many of the food aspects and, of course, the party opportunities. While Christmas Day itself is great fun, much of the beauty of the festive season lies in the run-up to it. Christmas parties, Christmas lights and the general excuse to eat, drink and be merry on school nights and weekends alike for a whole month.
To that end, I’ve compiled a lovely little list of things you can try this month in the name of festive fun, not to mention a few little things that I know I certainly want to add to my Christmas shopping list. So sit back, peruse this month’s food and drink news and have a wonderful Christmas and New Year. Don’t forget, plenty of last month’s suggestions are continuing throughout December and there’s lots more to do, both food-related and just good old partying over on Belle’s Essential Guide to Christmas 2018.
Either way, hope you find plenty of fun to have in the festive season and have enjoyed your monthly food and drink fun with me. See you in 2019!
MUST GO
Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory at the Sanderson
Continuing with the indulgent theme that occupies this month, Fitzrovia’s Sanderson hotel is welcoming a Willy Wonka-inspired takeover, transforming the hotel into the stuff of sweet dreams. The pop-up, which is in place until the new year, will see the famed Long Bar adorned with overflowing vintage sweet jars and psychedelic swirls and its ceiling decked out with giant candy canes and colourful ribbons. Wonka-style factory gates will lead out to the Courtyard garden and visitors will be welcomed into the bar by a pair of giant lips decked with real bubblegum balls.
A bespoke cocktail menu will feature the likes of the Wonka’s Martini, Glop Glop and The Blue Meadow Star. On top of that, there will be two-metre-high edible tower in the lobby made from stacked vintage sweet jars full of goodies and topped with a giant rainbow lollipop.
Sanderson’s chocolate factory is open until January 4. You can also get a ‘Golden Ticket’ room package which includes a standard room and choice golden ticket when you check in. Your ticket could open the door to a whole host of treats, from complimentary breakfast or bottle of champagne to a Mad Hatters Afternoon Tea for two, Champagne flight & canapes in the Purple Bar for two, or a complimentary night’s stay.
Sanderson London, 50 Berners St, Fitzrovia, London W1T 3NG. Nearest stations – Tottenham Court Road, Goodge Street
Anthracite opens at the Great Northern Hotel
Great Northern Hotel in King’s Cross has now officially opened the area’s first martini lounge. Anthracite is on the hotel’s first floor with views of George Gilbert Scott’s St Pancras clock tower and includes floor-to-ceiling windows and a bespoke selection of portraits by Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year 2017, Gareth Reid.
Martinis are the name of the game, and there’s an extensive selection of vodkas, gins and vermouths for guests to create a bespoke martini, expertly mixed by head bartender Balazs Nagy and team. You can get martini cocktails like the Espresso and Breakfast Martini as well as Anthracite’s own twists like the Coastal Martini featuring Samphire-infused gin. And if martinis aren’t your thing, there’s a selection of classic and more unusual cocktails as well as gin and tonics.
The food sounds as sophisticated as the drinks, with a selection of caviar, a range of charcuterie and cheese boards feature luxury products such as Jamon Iberico Bellota and salamis from neighbouring Islington producer, Cobble Lane Cured, as well as dishes like Dorset crab and saffron arancini; Duck bon bons with Korean BBQ sauce and Courgette fries with parmesan and truffle oil.
Anthracite, Great Northern Hotel, King’s Cross St Pancras Station, Pancras Road, London, N1C 4TB. Nearest station – King’s Cross
Magic Michael’s XXL Brunch
I’m sorry, I just can’t help myself. A Magic Mike themed bottomless brunch. Does it get much better than that? I’m going to the stage show myself just before Christmas, but this possibly sounds EVEN better. It launched at the weekend at FEST Camden and features a troupe of male dancers entertaining you with acrobatics, pole, fire and dance routines, all while you enjoy a feast including Eggs Benedict, smashed avocado, guacamole and bacon and salmon and cream cheese. Add bottomless Prosecco for the first hour and you’ve got it made! There’s another one on Saturday December 15th so get yourself down there. Tickets start at £24.99 and are available at festcamden.com
FEST Camden, Stables Market, London NW1 8AH. Nearest stations – Chalk Farm, Camden Road
Celebrate the festive season with ULI
Notting Hill’s ULI is joining the ranks of the places going all out for the festive season, transforming into a winter wonderland in the run-up to Christmas. You can still feast on its Chinese, Thai, Malay and Singaporean cuisine, but you’ll be in a fully-enclosed, heated terrace decorated with a ceiling of fresh foliage and hundreds of hanging baubles, or in a dining room adorned with glittering stars. The setting sounds just right for anything from a get-together with your pals to a work party. ULI’s set party menu, priced £35 for lunch or £45 for dinner, includes a glass of Prosecco and favourites like Pacific Five Spice Pork Ribs, Spicy Scallops, Sea Bass Fillet Steamed with Ginger & Garlic and Thai Chicken with Basil & Chillies. And don’t worry if you don’t fancy a set menu – groups of six or less can choose from the a-la-carte menu.
If you fancy Christmas Day with a difference, ULI’s set lunch menu is £65 a head, while its Boxing Day evening and New Year’s Eve party menus are £45 per person.
ULI, 5 Ladbroke Road, London, W11 3PA. Nearest station – Notting Hill Gate
MUST TRY
Pimp your drinks with Smith & Sinclair
They’re the people behind Alcoholic Cocktail Gummies and now Smith & Sinclair have come up with a new way to pimp your drinks. They’ve just released F.I.Z.Z – an effervescent tablet that will apparently transform the flavour and look of your drink, whether it’s bubby or a mezcal and soda. Think Berocca for your drink.
There are different flavours so you could try Rhubarb F.I.Z.Z with your Prosecco or your gin and tonic, or maybe Tropical Passion Fruit with a rum and soda. They’re also completely vegan so everyone can enjoy them.
You can find them at select John Lewis stores or on www.smithandsinclair.com. RRP £5.99 for a pack of 10 tablets.
Dreaming of a blue Christmas with Saint Agur
Yes, I’ll confess, I nicked this title from Saint Agur themselves because I couldn’t beat it. Who else is a glutton for blue cheese, especially at Christmas? To be honest, I love all cheese, but I am a bit of a sucker for the blue stuff. Saint Agur are on a mission this Christmas to remind us that it doesn’t just have to be on the cheeseboard but can be incorporated into pretty much every course of your festive food. Good news for all of us, I reckon!
From creamy desserts to an alternative stuffing, they want to see us putting Saint Agur – which you can get in a wedge or a ‘creme’ – in all sorts of things and reckon it’s perfect because it’s not quite as strong or bitter as some other blues out there. I don’t know about you, but I’m game!
Glen Moray Fired Oak
Another confession, I’m not a massive whisky drinker, but I recently tried Glen Moray Fired Oak and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. Glen Moray’s master distiller Graham Coull was inspired to create it by the increase in popularity of American Bourbon and the success of the sweeter flavour in the drinks market.
Glen Moray Fired Oak is a Single Malt Whisky matured for 10 years in ex-Bourbon casks and finished in heavily-charred American Oak casks, which makes it smooth with a spicy, toasted vanilla flavour. Might be one for a post-Christmas dinner tipple?
