Peel’s Restaurant: Majestic Manor with a Michelin Star

In the Forests of Arden, lies the magnificent Hampton Manor

Next up in the UK Foodie’s Restaurant Tour is the Michelin-starred Peel’s Restaurant. Located in Hampton Manor, in Hampton-in-Arden, this restaurant is probably one of the most beautiful settings you can imagine. (Full Disclosure: Hampton Manor was my wedding venue!)

About a 5-10 minute drive from Birmingham international airport, this is a beautifully restored manor house. The gardens, the house itself, everything feels like Downton Abbey (which also happens to be my favorite show)! The current owners took over operations a few years ago and have worked wonders with their renovations. A family story that began in a 400 year old pub, three generations of the Hill family have been shaping this estate’s future since 1986.

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Dinner by Heston Blumenthal: Brilliant Historic British Gastronomy

Next up on my UK Restaurant Hit List is Dinner by Heston Blumenthal.

Heston is the legend behind The Fat Duck, which was crowned the #1 restaurant in the world in 2005. Dinner by Heston is part of his growing empire and is based in the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Knightsbridge, just down the road from the famous Harrods luxury department store.

The concept behind Dinner is one that Heston came up with because of the notorious reputation of English cuisine. He decided that it was an undue reputation and went back into old English recipe books set to prove that British gastronomy could compete with the best of them.

Opened in 2011, Dinner gained its first Michelin star within a year, with the second star in 2014. The restaurant is now headed by the former head chef of The Fat Duck, Ashley Palmer-Watts. Heston was the 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award recipient from the World’s 50 Best Restaurants.

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St. John Restaurant (London, UK): Nose to Tail Eating

Specializing in Nose to Tail Eating with a Devotion to Offal

Over the holidays, I made my way to the UK and while I know LDS is mainly focused on Beijing, I wanted to highlight a couple of restaurants I went to that I think are worth going to if you find yourself in London.

Number 1 on my list for London is St. John Restaurant & Bar. 

Opened in 1994 on St John Street in Smithfield, London by Fergus Henderson, this down-to-earth English restaurant gets credit for bringing back the popularity of offal dishes, making this gem one of the most important British restaurants of its generation. This is one to remember if you ever hear a Chinese colleague tell you that Westerners don’t eat organ meat/other weird bits of animals because the whole ethic behind St. John is nose to tail dining!

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UK’s Pizza Express Opens 500th Branch in Beijing

Beijing Welcomes its First Branch of the UK’s Pizza Express

The Beijing branch of trusted UK brand Pizza Express marked its 500th store! Sure, Shanghai may already have 9 branches and another dozen in Hong Kong (majority remain in the UK with a sprinkling in the Middle East, India and Southeast Asia), but with a lucky number like 500, Beijing’s first branch is destined for success (especially if you’re superstitious and believe in the power of numbers). Joking aside, the real question is whether or not the 500th’s Beijing branch of Pizza Express good enough for Beijingers to change loyalties from our city’s tried and tested Annie’s or the beloved Gung Ho! Gourmet Pizza brand or the irresistible thick-crust Detroit-style pizza of Pie Squared?

A down-to-earth pizzeria that is frequented and loved by Brits all over the UK, the story of Pizza Express begins with its founder Peter Boizot-

“It all started with Peter. Gloriously unique. Proud to be different. Peter Boizot didn’t just break the mould. He knocked down entire walls. He brought great pizza to Great Britain. And a great deal more besides. So he’s much, much more than our founder back then. He’s still our inspiration today.”

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