List of All Articles with Tag 'lifestyle'

In the UK, we all love a good takeaway, but thanks to the cost-of-living crisis, many now see this as a luxury and are swapping going out with staying in and saving their pennies. To help recreate your top takeaway dishes, the pioneers at meat alternative brand Planted have pulled together three delicious fakeaway favourites that you can make with ease at home. From aromatic butter chicken to sumptuous satay kebabs and tender BBQ burgers, there’s something for everyone. Butter chicken Serves: 4 Ingredients: 2 tsp vegetable oil 1 onion, chopped 1 tsp garlic, chopped 1 tsp ginger, chopped 1½ tsp garam masala 1½ tsp ground cumin 1 tsp ground coriander 1 tomato, chopped 1 tsp chili powder 1 tsp salt 250ml coconut milk 1 tsp sugar For the marinade: 350g planted.chicken original ½ cup unflavoured yoghurt or vegetable yoghurt (optional) 1 tbsp minced garlic 1 tbsp finely chopped ginger 1½ tsp garam masala 1 tsp ground cumin 1 tsp turmeric 1 tsp chili powder 1 tsp salt Method: Mix the ingredients for the marinade well with the planted.chicken and marinate for at least 1 hour. Heat vegetable oil in a large pot and sauté onions until soft, then add garlic and ginger and sauté for 1 more minute. Add the garam masala, cumin and coriander and cook for 20 seconds, stirring regularly. Add the tomatoes, chili and salt and simmer for 15 minutes until the sauce thickens Put the sauce in a blender and mix until it has a creamy consistency, then put it back into the pot. Add the coconut milk and sugar to the sauce and bring to the boil. Allow liquid to cool, remove blender cap and firmly press a towel over the top. Fry the marinated planted.chicken in a pan until golden brown (approx 5 minutes), then add to the sauce and mix well. Serve with cooked rice. BBQ burger Ingredients: 4 pretzel buns 320g planted.pulled BBQ 1 tbsp rapeseed oil 150g sauerkraut 8 pickled cucumbers 4 onions 1 tbsp brown sugar 1 tsp tomato paste Salt and pepper 2 tbsp vegan butter 4 lettuce leaves 60g sweet mustard 60g BBQ sauce 1 tsp apple cider vinegar 1 tsp maple syrup Method: Cut the pretzel buns in half and toast the insides. Cut the pickled cucumbers into slices. Peel the onions and cut into rings. Then melt the vegan butter in a pan over medium heat, briefly fry the tomato paste in it and then add the onions and sugar and leave to brown for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add salt and pepper if necessary. Mix the sweet mustard, BBQ sauce, apple cider vinegar and maple syrup to a sauce. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Heat the rapeseed oil in a pan and fry the planted.pulled BBQ in it for 3 minutes. Spread the sauce on the inside of the buns, top the burgers with sauerkraut, planted.pulled BBQ, lettuce leaves, pickles and the caramelised onions. Satay kebab Ingredients: 600g planted.chicken original 4 tbsp soy sauce 2 tbsp peanut butter 2 tbsp red curry paste 2 tbsp brown sugar/maple syrup 2 tsp garlic powder Salt and pepper Sesame oil for frying Skewers (wood or metal) For the peanut sauce: 1 small onion, chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced or crushed in garlic press 2 tsp sesame oil 2 tsp red curry paste 2 tbsp light soy sauce 2 tsp tamarind paste 2 tbsp brown sugar 240ml coconut milk 160g peanut butter Juice of one lime Method: For the marinade, mix all ingredients in a small bowl to form a paste. Put the planted.chicken on skewers and brush with marinade. Tip: arrange lengthwise so that a larger surface can be fried. For the peanut sauce, mince the onion while heating the sesame oil in a pot. Fry the chopped onions in the pot at medium heat until they are translucent. Add garlic and curry paste to the onions, mix and fry briefly. Reduce heat and then add the soy sauce, tamarind paste, sugar and coconut milk and mix well. Add the peanut butter, stir until smooth and mix in the juice of one lime. Keep the peanut sauce warm on low heat while the skewers are frying. Heat the sesame oil in a frying pan and fry the skewers over medium-high heat until golden brown. Serve planted.chicken skewers with the peanut sauce. Read More The Union Rye, review: Finally, a decent restaurant in this charming East Sussex town Missing Glastonbury? Here’s how to have a festival feast at home Four berry sweet recipes that go beyond strawberries and cream Can you whip up the perfect burger in just five minutes? These are the viral TikTok recipes you have to make this Father’s Day Eddie Huang: ‘I’ll never eat at BAO London – I know mine’s better’

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A celebrity chef has “banned” vegans from his restaurant after reportedly receiving a negative review from a customer who criticised the lack of plant-based options. On Tuesday, Chef John Mountain revealed on the Facebook page for his restaurant Fyre that the eatery would no longer be catering to vegan diners. According to Mountain, the decision to ban vegans from the Perth, Australia, restaurant was due to “mental health reasons”. “Sadly all vegans are now banned from Fyre (for mental health reasons),” the post on the restaurant’s Facebook reads. “We thank you for your understanding. Xx.” The post also included the caption: “Yep. I’m done.” and the hashtags #vegan, #not, #pleasegoelsewhere, #veganfreezone, and #nomorevegans. The decision allegedly stemmed from a bad review posted by a vegan customer, with Chef Mountain telling PerthNow that a customer had reached out to him to ask if there were any vegan options at the restaurant, and that he’d promised he would accommodate her. “A young girl reached out to me and said she was coming to the restaurant… and asked if there were vegan options,” he said. “It was my only shortfall… I said I would accommodate her, I said we had gnocchi, vegetables… and that was that.” However, according to Mountain, who previously starred on the BBC show Great British Menu, he’d forgotten about the woman’s request when she came to dine on Saturday, as he’d been busy catering a private party. “Saturday came around and sadly I’d forgotten… I had a private party I had to cater for,” he told the outlet, adding that his sous chef had reportedly reprimanded him for “not telling them about the vegan customer”. According to the UK-born chef, the woman wrote a complaint to the restaurant on Facebook the following day, in which she’d criticised the $32 vegetable dish that had been her “only option”. The woman’s message also reportedly read: “I think it’s incredibly important nowadays that restaurants can accommodate everyone and to not be able to have actual plant-based meals shows your shortcomings as a chef. “I hope to see some improvements in your menu as I have lived in Connolly for quite some time and have seen many restaurants come and go from that building and none of them last. If you don’t get with the times, I don’t hold out faith that your restaurant will be the one that does.” The restaurant reportedly addressed the woman’s complaint in a response of its own, in which it noted that it tried to “accommodate everyone” before encouraging the customer to “feel free to share your sh**ty experience”. “Thanks for your negative review… please feel free to share your sh***y experience and I look forward to not seeing you again. How very childish. You and all your vegan mates can all go and enjoy your dishes in another venue, you are now banned,” the restaurant’s response read, according to PerthNow. Although Chef Mountain admitted he’d said he would accommodate the woman and then “didn’t,” she’d made the complaint “personal”. The chef also claimed that, as a result of the woman’s complaint, his restaurant was flooded with negative one-star reviews on Google, which he said “really hurts the business”. “F*** vegans seriously… I’m done. At the end of the day, it’s not what I want to do, they can f*** off,” he added. Mountain reiterated the sentiment while speaking to 7News, with the chef telling the outlet: “F*** vegans, I’m done with them.” Mountain also claimed that customers should “know what they’re getting from me,” as he has previously written a cookbook titled Pig. “I once wrote and sold a book called Pig which had pork recipes. People know what they’re getting from me,” he said. “I understand where vegans are coming from but my job is to make food taste as good as I can and I can’t always cater to everybody’s dietary requirements.” On social media, the chef’s ban on vegans has sparked an intense debate among customers, with some praising Mountain and Fyre, while others have condemned the decision. “Bravo! Good on you mate, great stance. It’s nowhere near where I live but I will definitely come to your restaurant now,” one comment under the Facebook post reads, while another person wrote: “Can’t wait to try this place, just booked a table! Looking forward to a nice piece of rare steak.” The restaurant has also received a flood of positive reviews on its Facebook, where many have praised both the food and the staff, while others have applauded the restaurant’s “principles” and “ethics”. “Outstanding chef. Great rules and ethics,” one review reads, while another recent review states: “Great staff, great food and a chef with principles.” However, the restaurant has also continued to face criticism over Mountain’s “ban” on vegans, with one recent review reading: “You can’t call yourself a chef if you can’t even cook veggies. Owner is very arrogant and can’t take criticism.” “Discriminating and refusing vegans into his venue, all for a complaint for not following an agreed vegan option. How disgusting,” someone else wrote. The restaurant’s alleged ban on vegans comes after a vegan landlord in New York City recently went viral after requesting that only tenants who follow a plant-based diet live in the building. The Independent has contacted Chef Mountain for comment. Read More Vegan landlord seeks tenants for $5,750 New York apartment with period features. Meat eaters need not apply Vegan family asks neighbours to close their windows when cooking meat Former vegan says meat ‘saved her life’ after diet ‘made hair fall out’ Celebrity chef bans vegans from his restaurant ‘for mental health reasons’ The Union Rye, review: Finally, a decent restaurant in East Sussex ‘As long as it tastes good’: People react to US approval to sell ‘lab-grown’ chicken

The town of Rye is one of my happy places. I go there at least once or twice a year to visit in-laws and its charm never fails to make me smile. It’s all twisting alleys and cobblestone and centuries-old houses. Retail and restaurant chains haven’t got the same hold here as they do in every other town in the UK – there’s a Boots and a Waterstones, but no Primark, H&M, Pret or Caffé Nero. There isn’t even a Costa. It’s a place that takes pride in its independent shops and restaurants. Some are quirky – a shop that sells antique French confit pots for hundreds of pounds, for example, or a pub called the Waterworks that renovated and refurbished the old, unused public toilets and now sells local beers and ciders. It’s very historic, too; the oldest hotel, The Mermaid Inn, was built in 1156 and is said to be haunted. I’m inclined to agree as my partner and I received a phone call just after falling asleep during our one night there, but no one was on the other side. Spooky indeed. But I’ve always thought there was one thing that the town desperately needed: a Nice Restaurant. Before Covid brought the restaurant industry to its knees, there used to be a family-owned Italian, Tuscan Kitchen. I never got the chance to visit for one reason or another, but my in-laws sang its praises all the time. But a couple of years ago, it closed when the family packed up and went back to Italy, understandably tired of life in the UK. Since then, the only other place to go if you didn’t want to cook and you didn’t want fish and chips has been Mahdi Lounge. It’s good, but the town has been gasping for something different. Then came The Union Rye. Previously The Union Steakhouse, the restaurant was taken over by Rajh Siva, who also runs The Plough, located closer to Winchelsea, and has since overhauled the menu to focus on modern British cuisine. The building was built in 1401 and is a rustic, relaxed space with cosy open fireplaces, exposed brick and wooden furniture. The warm and welcoming restaurant is headed by chef Ben Dafforn, previously of J Sheekey and Simpsons on the Strand in London. I visited The Union Rye recently while on a weekend away with friends, excited at the prospect of trying a new Nice Restaurant in my favourite small British town. I was first alerted to its existence by Marina O’Loughlin, former restaurant critic for The Times, and had been keen to try it for months. The four of us swept in on a Sunday night, and while it was rather empty, we hardly minded – it almost felt like having the entire restaurant to ourselves. Though I hope being empty at dinnertime won’t be an issue for it for much longer, as it truly deserves a visit. Resisting the urge to order the entire menu, we opted for lots of dishes to share. The seasonal menu changes on a daily basis as the chefs work with whatever fresh local produce is available, but this is exciting for me as it means trying new dishes and flavours each time I go. We started with marinated anchovies with caper berries that were simultaneously fresh, sweet and tart, and got very into a plate of ham knuckle croquettes that were fatty and rich, accompanied by a creamy aioli. We also had a rather unusual sweet and savoury granola dish, which comprised of cottage cheese-like curds with granola flavoured with fennel seeds and a jam to cut through the almost bitter, herby flavours. It was imaginative and surprising, which I took great pleasure in. Large fried sardines arrived with their heads still intact, opaque eyes and all, to be covered in burnt lemon. Fat, juicy scallops and their bright orange tongues with samphire on toast. Fried, caramelised mushrooms with hazelnuts and plenty of butter. A succulent pork chop with syrupy charred fruit. A burnt basque cheesecake to share among friends. Oh, how we feasted. The Union Rye is the Nice Restaurant that the town deserves. The dishes are bright and refreshing, but comforting at the same time. I highly recommend going with a group of family or friends so you can order plenty of dishes. It was certainly a night to remember, and I’ll be back there soon, I’m sure. The Union Rye, 8 East Street Rye, East Sussex, TN31 7JY | 01797 229289 | www.theunionrye.co.uk Read More Forest Side: Heavenly Cumbrian produce elevated to Michelin-starred proportions Papi: Pandemic troublemakers’ restaurant is a fun, flirty hit I tried the food at Idris Elba’s restaurant – he should stick to wine

Crop tops. Denim cut-offs. Someone else’s wellies. In 2023, festival fashion has officially become a tired sport. Even the words themselves carry connotations that seem to have fallen far out of sync with the sartorial zeitgeist. Is anyone still slathering themselves in glitter? Do we still care about sequins and novelty sunglasses? And surely we’ve all long-tired of neon by now? With Glastonbury Festival underway this weekend, all of this begs one crucial, singular question: Does festival fashion still exist? The fashion industry’s growing environmental conscience might provide an answer. Today, it’s much cooler to source your wardrobe from the likes of Depop and your local charity shop than Asos or Big Topshop (RIP). We fell out of love with fast fashion some time ago and, as a result, generally far more considerate consumers when it comes to our clothing. This is, of course, a very good thing. But it’s also completely at odds with the concept of festival fashion. Few modes of dressing revolve around disposability quite like it. Think about it. A typical festival lasts one weekend, during which time you will inevitably be camping in a wide range of weather scenarios, sweating and dancing for hours on end without access to showers. You’ll also be surrounded by scores of people who may or may not raid your tent for all of your belongings. In short, you don’t exactly want to bring items you care about. Hence why fast fashion and festivals made so much sense; flimsy, cheap, tacky garments comprised the optimum capsule wardrobe. At least they did, anyway – until everyone wised up to the environmental consequences. Nonetheless, if you’re going to a festival this summer, it’s a universally accepted truth that you will probably have to wear some clothes. Where, then, does that leave you? And what of festival fashion trends? Is there space to tap into the latest cool, new thing when you’re trying to shop sustainably and save money? Can we still have a hot girl (festival) summer? “The cost of living crisis is having a huge impact on young peoples’ purchasing patterns, particularly when it comes to ad hoc events, so second-hand buys are proving a big hit for festival season,” says Emily Gordon-Smith, content director and sustainability lead at the trend and insights forecaster Stylus. “This means tapping into more personalised looks, not straight off the high street, and often with a nod to iconic festival-ready styling that definitely includes Kate Moss in her Glasto heyday.” As any seasoned festival-goer will know, few outfits have stood the test of time quite like Moss’s from the early Noughties. One quick Google search will bring up hundreds of infamous shots of the model stomping through the muddy fields in micro-shorts, leather trousers, waistcoats, belted mini dresses, and other understated, utilitarian looks that couldn’t be further from the festival fashion aesthetic du jour. Other style mavens for the era? Alexa Chung in a silver mini dress with a jumper tied loosely around her waist. Sienna Miller in yellow sunglasses and a studded belt. And so on. They weren’t so much dressing for festivals as they were just dressing for a day of drinking beer and watching live music. Yes, they looked amazing, but it wasn’t because they were soaking themselves in lame co-ords. It was because they weren’t trying very hard, and it’s this modus operandi that has established itself at the centre of festival fashion now. Kate’s festival looks are still being recreated on the runways, with key items like the waistcoats and flat knee boots appearing in many collections Emily Gordon-Smith It’s also at the root of the Y2K trends reigning supreme on catwalks across the globe for the last year. “The Nineties and Noughties continue to be eras of stylistic fascination for those not even old enough to remember them, so of course style icons like Kate Moss are a major reference point,” adds Gordon-Smith. “Her festival looks are still being recreated on the runways, with key items like the waistcoats and flat knee boots appearing in many collections including those from Celine and Stella McCartney.” As for how to incorporate all this into your own festival wardrobe, it’s obviously not as easy as popping into a high-end luxury store and snapping up a £700 waistcoat. But if you want to follow in Moss and Co’s footsteps, the way to do it is to actually do the exact opposite and try and find something unique. It might sound counterintuitive but, ultimately, that’s what made their outfits so memorable in the first place; you couldn’t easily replicate them. That’s not to say you can’t look for key items, like tinted sunglasses and mini dresses, but you can find standout ones by taking your search onto secondhand shopping platforms, where you’ll find limitless options and one-off pieces. On Depop, some of the most searched-for items reflect a wide range of trends for festival season, spanning from “silver” (21 per cent increase in searches) and “lace cami” (37 per cent) to “mirror” (65 per cent) and “parachute pants” (1,200 per cent). If you do find yourself wanting to follow the crowd, though, the leading trend of the season is “Western”. According to money-saving platform WeThrift, searches for the “cowboy aesthetic” have increased by 40 per cent on Pinterest in the last 90 days. Meanwhile, over on TikTok, the #cowboyaesthetic hashtag has surpassed more than 4.3 million views. The hashtag #cowboyboots has more than 920.9 million views. Similar data has been found by retailers, with Pretty Little Thing reporting a 57 per cent increase in searches for cowboy boots in the last month, while “Western” searches have surged by 49 per cent. So long as you wear it right, it’s a look that reflects the boho chic image of the early Noughties Glastonbury set. Our suggestion is to pair some brightly coloured boots (we love these ones) with a secondhand slip dress and a pair of yellow-tinted shades. Throw on an oversized cargo jacket and you’re all set. Alternatively, if the sun is shining you might find yourself wanting to opt for a pair of statement trainers (these ones are very Nineties), which would work well with some classic Adidas tracksuit bottoms, a lace cami and some tiny sunglasses, amounting to a very Bella Hadid look. If you must do the crop top and denim cut-offs combo, there are ways to reinvent it a little. Try a knitted option from sustainable Australian brand MNK, for example, and there are plenty of secondhand denim shorts available across the web. All of it is easy to do – and far more comfortable than the festival outfits of yore – if you know what you’re doing. Just remember, though, that if you’re channelling Moss, less is always more. Don’t be afraid to take risks. And stay very far away from the glitter. Read More Glastonbury 2023 – live: Immigration enforcement officers spotted near festival site at Castle Cary station Flip-flops, nudity and ‘up the vajayjay!’: How the red carpet became a platform for protest Subversive? Dangerous? Boring?: How the red carpet became a barometer for modern masculinity

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