Despite the ominous warnings of doom and gloom from the financial sector, 2008 was a big year for restaurants with loads of new openings over the course of the year. It seems like everywhere I looked a new one was cropping up. And granted, I figure that most of these venues (especially the very posh ones) were probably planned well before the phrase credit crunch was even a glimmer in the eyes of City bigwigs. But crunch or not, it seems like next year is set to follow in the same footsteps, with loads of 2009 restaurant openings to look forward to.

Canary Wharf continues its quest to one up Central London (first the banks, then the restaurants!) with plenty of 2009 restaurant openings, including a new Roka, …

The government’s recent decision to reduce the VAT by 2.5 percent may seem like a drop in the bucket, when it comes to eating out, the 2.5 percent VAT cuts at London restaurants can add up to at least a coffee or two. But is it all a lot of fuss over nothing, and should restaurants even bother?

If you look at it from the restaurant’s point of view, this is the busiest period of the year, with loads of Christmas bookings and parties already well underway, and trying to change all the prices on the menus and in the programming on the tills will only drive staff up the wall. One manager I spoke to has dreaded the new VAT cuts at London restaurants, saying that people who don’t quite understand the change tend to be the ones that raise havoc when …

Gordon Ramsay’s certainly been popping up in the news recently, but his Taste of Christmas festival is coming up which should hopefully provide some distraction from the torrential tabloid stories. If you’d like to see the celebrity chef in action (cooking action, get your minds out of the gutter!) you can catch Gordon Ramsay at Taste of Christmas when it starts on 4th December.

Taste of Christmas is Ramsay’s version of …

I’m pretty thankful for a lot of things, but around this time of year I very much appreciate the spread of the popularity of Thanksgiving in London. It’s my favourite American holiday, mostly because it involves an orgy of gluttony topped off with zoning out on the sofa whilst someone else does the washing up. Think of it as Christmas, but without having to shop for your entire family beforehand. And no bearded fat man stuck in the chimney.

After various Thanksgivings spent sitting around the table (and a few stuck in the kitchen) there are a couple of things I’ve picked up over the years, which I’ve used – to varying effectiveness – in my celebrations of Thanksgiving in London. Freshly made cranberry sauce is infinitely better than canned. Pumpkin …

Unless you’ve been living under a rock lately you might have noticed that there’s a credit crunch well and truly underway. Personally I’ve noticed the price of food inching up slowly – sneaky, sneaky supermarkets! One of my favourite alternatives for food shopping is heading to food markets in London. Although big ones like Borough Market might be a bit pricier than normal when it comes to shopping for certain items, but there are loads of markets where you’ll spend less than certain supermarkets. Plus you can feel smug in knowing that you’ve supported local farmers and traders instead of a giant, faceless mega-supermarket. It always makes me feel a bit better, anyway. 

But if you’re not quite as convinced as I am about the virtues …