A very English obsession: French wining & dining
There is a tradition (of sorts) of some sections of English society being rude about the French dating back at least to the Napoleonic Wars and before that 1789.
Yet there is another tradition to be found in ruling circles of seeing French food and wine as the best available. Of course there is excellent French food and wine.
Churchill’s cookbook, a volume of recipes provided for him by his cook in the 1940s and 1950s focuses a lot on French food, although his favourite cheese was the Swiss Gruyere.
Partly the reason for this was that English food at the fine dining end of things during this period was not great. One of the reasons Raymond Postgate started the Good Food Guide in the 1950s was to address this.
Things have changed. The Times prints articles most weeks pointing out, for example, that France is one of the biggest consumers of Macdonalds, and recently noting a French trend for fish and chip eating.
The veneration of French wine (which has its own issues) continues. It may explain for example given who owns and edits the main ‘broadsheet’ papers that everyone has a regular wine column but only one, the Sunday Times has a beer column (and that recent, written by Pete Brown)
On 5th March 2025 published a list of world capitals with the most restaurants.
The research was by Knight Frank and headed the Wealth Report. It should clearly not be taken too seriously.
However on a list of restaurants with extensive fine wine list. London is top with 528 and Paris only third. The average London fine dining restaurant has a wine list running to 428 bottles.
Who is drinking it? The Times reports that ‘parts of the capital over the past decade have become to the global rich’. By 2028 London will have a further 20 five star hotels.
Cost of living crisis anyone?
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