Fury: ‘Most of the time Gladiators have to drink water – but I love Yorkshire tea’
Former professional rugby player Jodie Ounsley, now best known as Fury on Gladiators, talks sports fuel, air fryers, and her mum’s ‘top-tier’ cooking
It’s time to declutter my chaotic spice cupboard. Luckily, I have a secret weapon
A new bit of kit gave me a chance for a kitchen declutter, and revealed my most used spices
The Blue Stoops, London: ‘It’s all about the details’ – restaurant review
Kensington’s Blue Stoops looks like a pub and thinks like a pub – so it must be a pub
Fonda, London: ‘An exuberantly good meal’: restaurant review
This new Mexican restaurant serves up regional dishes so well crafted that conversation stops
Lucky Yu, Edinburgh: ‘An amiable, relaxed kind of chaos’ – restaurant review
On a dark winter’s night this place glows a deep and welcoming pink
2024 restaurant roundup: looking back on the year’s culinary highs
There are deep wells of culinary talent across the UK, ably battling the challenging economics facing the sector
The Don, London: ‘The expectation was for something warmer’ – restaurant review
The menu here was overseen by Rowley Leigh, but his generous touch in the kitchen is missing
Claro, London: Many of the dishes are wonderful, but the endless emails are a real pain – restaurant review
When you start shouting ‘encore’ at your emptied plate, you know something serious has happened
Harrods adding £1 ‘cover charge’ to every diner on top of 12.5% service fee
Workers fear cover charge will prompt diners to cancel paying optional service charge, hitting their income
Mulled cherry cheesecake and chestnut ice-cream roll: Helen Goh’s showstopping Christmas pudding recipes
Take the pressure off over the festive season with these luxurious make-ahead puddings, including a twist on a retro classic and a citrussy afternoon treat
My nightmare before Christmas dinner: top chefs and cooks reveal how they turned fiasco into feast
Turkey troubles, thieving pets, fire drills – all manner of things can jeopardise the most important meal of the year
From Caribbean favourites to everyday vegetarian recipes: Observer Food Monthly’s best food books of 2024
Essential reading for would-be top chefs, stocking fillers for the fermentation curious and odes to the simple pleasures of the kitchen. Ask Santa for the set
Tim Minchin: ‘Maybe scrolling the traumas of the world is not in itself a moral act’
The comedian, actor and Matilda songwriter on the benefits of quitting social media and why happiness is like an orgasm
Edd Kimber’s secret ingredient: cardamom
The baker and food writer on the bold spice that ‘goes with just about everything’
Christmas biscuits, cakes and crisps – tested by Ravneet Gill
The chef, author and TV presenter rates snowman cupcakes, sticky toffee cookies and turkey tortilla chips in our blind taste test