Eat with Ellen's January Food News

Happy New Year one and all. I know I’m a bit late but there’s no ‘new year, new me’ here I’m afraid – just the same food-loving, occasionally-late glutton. Like most of us, I have spent the past few weeks (who am I kidding, it’s been going on for months thanks to the, ‘hey, it’s nearly Christmas’ excuse) eating and drinking everything in sight. And what good fun it was!

Now a distant memory, I’m trying to rein it in like the rest of the nation, though I have to admit there’s no ‘Veganuary’ or ‘Dry January’ here, just a bit of moderation. That said, I can substitute shovelling it in my mouth with drooling over pictures and finding you guys some fun foodie events to keep you busy in January. And if you, unlike me, are going all out and going vegan, there is plenty around to keep you busy.

Fear not, if you’re not, I’ve found the indulgent stuff too, in case you need to beat the January blues.

Wishing you all a fabulous 2019, and here’s to as many eating experiences as we can find!

Plant-based junk food at Filth

The brainchild of Gizzi Erskine and nutritionist Rosemary Ferguson, Filth is all about fast food without the junk. It opened on January 4 in Shoreditch where it will stay for three months, giving you plenty of opportunity to try things like black bean, black lentil and soy burgers in a beetroot and black sesame bun, complete with a ‘secret umami paste’, lettuce, gherkins, beetroot ketchup, and roasted garlic aioli, along with sweet potato fries. Fast food without the guilt apparently – who wouldn’t want that?

Filth, on the former Dirty Burger site, Bethnal Green Road, Shoreditch, London E1 6LA. Nearest station – Shoreditch High Street

Sipsmith And Ham Yard Hotel Presents Hot Gin Roof: The Chronicles

Fancy hot gin on a candlelit roof terrace? Thought you might. Ham Yard Hotel and Sipsmith have reunited for Hot Gin Roof – The Chronicles. From Thursday, January 17 to Sunday, February 17 you can join them on the hotel’s roof for a celebration of all things gin. You’ll learn all about hot gin serves including the famous Hot G&Ts and Steaming Juleps. On top of that, there’s also the chance to meet Sipsmith’s Master Distiller Jared Brown who will host two Hot Gin experience masterclasses on Wednesday, January 30 and Wednesday, February 6 from 6-7.30pm or 8-9.30pm. Masterclass tickets are £40 and include a welcome Hot G&T plus three further cocktails.

Hot Gin Roof tickets are £18 per person, and include a complimentary welcome Hot G&T, followed by a cocktail of your choice. For more information and to book tickets visit https://www.designmynight.com/london/whats-on/date-night/sipsmith-and-ham-yard-hotel-presents-hot-gin-roof-the-chronicles

Ham Yard Hotel, 1 Ham Yard, W1D 7DT. Nearest station – Piccadilly Circus

Hip Hop Brunch

Feeling the need to party? Hip Hop Brunch LDN is back on Saturdays throughout January. Bottomless brunch and a bucket load of hip hop throwbacks. That’ll get rid of the January blues.

The parties include an introductory bottomless cocktails hour, followed by two or three-course lunch meals. You then get entertainment including magicians, DJs, dancers, roller-skaters and much more.

Hip Hop Brunch LDN takes place every Saturday between 12pm-5pm in constantly-changing, secret locations. Apparently it sells out weeks in advance, so you should book early. Once you’ve booked, you get told the location the Tuesday before the event. More information here.

Vegan Afternoon Tea at OXO Tower Restaurant

If you’re in the Veganuary gang, this might be one for you. OXO Tower Restaurant has a vegan afternoon tea available until January 31, including a completely homemade, plant-based, yet apparently still indulgent, offering of treats including sage and onion stuffing sandwiches, chestnut and mushroom ‘sausage’ rolls and coconut and pineapple cakes. All, of course, in the lovely setting of the restaurant on the eighth floor of the OXO Tower on London’s South Bank.

Vegan Afternoon Tea is available from January 2-31, Monday to Friday 3pm-4.30pm, Saturday 3pm-4pm and Sunday 3.45pm-4.45pm for £35 per person or £45 with a glass of Prosecco. More information here.

OXO Tower, Barge House St, South Bank, London SE1 9PH. Nearest stations – Blackfriars, Waterloo, Southwark

Burns Night

From vegan to, well, not vegan. It’s Burns Night on January 25 and even if you aren’t too fussed about the poet himself, you might just like going all Scottish and eating haggis and ‘neeps and tatties and swilling down some whisky. There’s tonnes going on in London and everywhere else to celebrate Burns Night – far too much for me to write here. But here’s one idea.

Boisdale, which calls itself Scotland’s unofficial embassy in London, is doing Burns feasts towards the end of the month, complete with haggis and beef and appearances from its pipers. For more information visit https://www.boisdale.co.uk/

Ellen Manning

Ellen started as a news reporter on her local paper straight out of university, working her way up to become the chief reporter at national news agency the Press Association. There she spent six years gallivanting around the country - and the world - reporting on everything from troops in Afghanistan to the Olympics. After a stint writing telecoms news, she's now freelance and indulges in general wordsmithery for a variety of publications. Her real passion is food, whether it's talking about, thinking about, or eating it. She's got her own blog Eat with Ellen (www.eatwithellen.com) and you'll most likely find her dragging her husband on a food-filled mission, either at home or further afield. Ellen's on board as Belle's resident food expert, giving you a monthly lowdown on upcoming events and openings, trends, issues, and what's hot and what's not in the world of food.

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