It was great then to learn of Pom Pom Takoyaki, a new venture founded by two Japanese women living in London - Hana and Tomo.  Hana has been living in the UK for over 20 years working as an interior designer while Tomo only arrived in London in 2009 after a 3 year stint at the Ritz Hotel restaurant in Paris. Pom Pom Ladies at Work In addition to Pom Pom Takoyaki with the traditional octopus filling, they also offer a sticky teriyaki chicken-filled Pom Pom served with sweet teriyaki sauce, a Frankfurter and bacon version with crispy onion topping aka Pom Pom Hot Dog, and also Pom Pom Potato made with curried potato, peas and cheese with curried mayonnaise. I was so impressed by the quality and flavours of Hana and Tomo's Pom Poms that I decided to start serving them as canapés at my own Japanese Supper Club events. Unsurprisingly the feedback from diners has been fantastic, and I am really pleased to see one of my favourite Japanese dishes, and a relatively unknown one, become more popular in the UK.

For more information about Pom Pom Takoyaki, prices and how to order click here. /food/ or on 30th March at Brixton Sundowner Night Market. Learn more about Pom Pom Takoyaki on Twitter, follow them at @pompomtakoyaki. Japanese Supper Club at my home in Islington on 23rd, 24th, 30th and 31st March 2012. This is a small piece I wrote about Pancake Tuesday for Time Out London. Click here to learn more.rudia curtains The good people from Theatre Breaks have given me a couple of tickets to give away for The Wizard of Oz musical this Thursday, 23rd February 2012 at 7:30pm. croydex bendy shower curtain rail whiteThis is an Andrew Lloyd Weber's production at the London Palladium in the West End. second hand curtains rogate

For more information about this musical click here. by midday on Wednesday 22nd February 2012@thelondonfoodie Years of wine tasting and a recent WSET advanced certificate have opened my eyes to this complex area. As with many food and wine related topics, it is also a rather subjective matter. There are however a few principles one should bear in mind. One of the greatest misconceptions is that fish and chicken should always be served with white wines while red meats, particularly beef, should be paired with red wines.  siesta blackout eyelet ready made curtains blueThe main issue is not the colour but the body of the wine. hana dijon curtainsWhether light, medium or full, the body or weight of both food and wine should be carefully matched. faux silk mira curtain panels with grommets

So a Provençal chicken stew could go nicely with a bottle of red Grenache, much as a lightly chilled Pinot Noir might go with a seafood platter. To  help us with this task, Richard Corrigan's Mayfair has teamed up with Les Caves de Pyrènes for a series of tutored masterclasses in which some of his signature dishes are matched with accompanying wines. At £120 per person, a fine glass of Grand Cru Champagne is offered, with canapés followed by a tutored four-course tasting menu.  For most courses, two different wines are matched and thoroughly discussed. I was fortunate to attend one of these tutored meals recently, at Richard Corrigan's private dining room in Mayfair. The restaurant feels plush, with a grand piano dominating the entrance, and a restful colour scheme of beige, brown, red and gold.  The bar is marble-topped, with large flower displays, leather armchairs, and the whole feel is discreetly elegant and expensive. The lunch was tutored by Les Caves de Pyrènes, an independent wine importer based in Guildford, Surrey which is a supporter of wines that are hand-made and naturally expressive of their origins.

On this occasion, the tasting was about natural wines from the New World.  Natural wines are made with minimal chemical and technological intervention in growing the grapes and turning them into wine. They can be organically or biodynamically grown, are hand-picked, and have no added sugars, foreign yeasts or adjustments for acidity. They have minimal  or no fining and filtration or added sulphites.  My experience of natural wines has been mixed, and some have not been successes. At Corrigan's Mayfair, we kicked off with a delectable platter of canapés served with a glass of Paul Dethune Grand Cru Champagne - a fine biscuit nose making for a very good start indeed. This was followed by an excellent starter of lobster raviolo with shellfish broth, served with sea purslane. The broth was intensely flavoured yet delicate, and the pasta generously filled with chunks of lobster that were well matched with the salty, crunchy sea purslane. 2009 Pyramid Valley, Fields of Fire, Chardonnay from New Zealand

red wine braised brill served with confit cabbage, celeriac & razor clam 2010 Pinot Noir from Louis-Antoine Luyt, Maule, Chile Goosnargh chicken with wild mushrooms and English leeks2010 Burnt Cottage Pinot Noir from Central Otago, New Zealand rhubarb crumble soufflé, served with a delicious stem-ginger ice cream 2010 Framingham Noble Riesling from Marlborough, New Zealand If you would like to learn more about the subject of matching food and wine, Corrigan's Mayfair will be holding further masterclasses on this theme on Friday 2nd March (dinner), Saturday 21st April (lunch), and Friday 4th May (dinner).   Verdict: Top notch food matched with excellent natural wines, in very elegant surroundings.  Although at £120 per person it cannot be regarded as inexpensive, for cutting edge wine and food with an expert to teach about natural wines and how to partner them with food, I think this is excellent value. **THIS RESTAURANT HAS CLOSED DOWN** Verdict: At £50 per person for this menu, I struggle to think of many restaurants in London that can offer such great quality and cooking skill at so reasonable a price.