She took on the Devastator Challenge at the Red Dog Saloon and won!

She came, she saw, she conquered. Well almost. The Start Up Engine table on 6 November saw 3 entrants to the renowned ‘Devastator Challenge’ at Red Dog Saloon (Hoxton Square) - two of them willing and then me. I boldly laid out the gauntlet that “I’d definitely take on the Hot Wings Challenge” (6 hot wings in the hottest of hot naja chilli sauce) if they took on the ‘Devastator Challenge’. ...

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Dining Differently In London

Thanks for the mention Here Is The City. Our love of food and dining dates back to Ancient Rome. This important aspect of human social interaction has, consequently, had an age to develop, mature, and become a way of life. It brings us together like nothing else: sitting around the table talking and chewing! In London we are privileged to enjoy a plethora of places to dine. Why not explore a ...

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DSTRKT – 6th Sept 2012

Last week, we ran a table at the very new and very cool, DSTRKT. The venue is divided into a downstairs area with a restaurants and accompanying lounge bar and upstairs which holds a night club. The restaurant food is tapas style, and when we ordered, we were encouraged by the waiter to try the ‘taster menu’, a 12 mini-course banquet at £55 per head. Our group passed on that offer ...

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6 Ladies & 6 Gentlemen Go For Dinner – 23 August 2012

There were actually 11 of us not 12, and a more apt name for this table could have been called ‘cosmopolitan dining’ (the adjective not the cocktail, although quite a few of the latter were ordered). I shared the table with one fellow Brit, a French-Canadian lady, a guy from the Netherlands and also fellow diners originally from India, Hong Kong, New Zealand (whose avatar / caricature on TableCrowd was ...

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Girly Gossip & Wine – 21 August 2012

And gossip there was! Not so much wine however, as Chico Bandito offered happy hour cocktails all night for the senioritis, so Cosmo's and bellini's were a-flowing! There were a couple of no shows, but c'est la vie (and their loss) but a top crowd of girls did show. One lady worked in a boutique hotel (no shortage of gossip there, with stories of guests and fellow workers). Fresh off the ...

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Why Bother Decorating, It’s “Cooler” Not To

Restaurateurs must be rubbing their hands together with glee that understated decor has become ‘cool’. It must have slashed the cost of opening a restaurant leaving them quids in!  Instead of putting the perfect finishing touches and creating a welcoming homely feel the trend is for industrial unplastered walls, unpainted ceilings and rough wooden floors. You are half expecting to see a cement mixer doing it’s thing out the corner ...

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