A dash of hot sauce gives a handsome kick to this floral pear aperitif If you like, add a subtle kick to this refreshing cocktail with a few dashes of your favourite hot sauce – a touch of peri-peri spice complements its floral and fruity flavours brilliantly. Our favourite is Quinta d’Avó’s Piri-Piri Extra Forte. Michela Castiglioni, bar manager, Fino at Fazenda Rodizio Bar & Grill, London EC2 ..read more

Who is buying the more obscure wines, and where can you get them? These days, it seems, the more obscure and unpronounceable a wine is, the better. True, this is a trend that’s been going on for a while, with both Marks & Spencer and Waitrose in competition with their spookily similar Found and Loved & Found ranges, and they’ve now been joined by Sainsbury’s Discovery and Aldi’s Unearthed. So who is buying these bottles, and why are the supermarkets doing them? Because the other concurrent trend seems to be to give the customer more of the same, whatever it is – sauvignon blanc, malbec ..read more

Courage of celebrities called into question as key fashion event passes devoid of political statement As pro-Palestinian protests unfolded blocks away and Israel carried out airstrikes on Rafah, the Met Gala took place in New York on Monday evening devoid of political statement. Attenders wore dramatic dresses made of sand or tens of thousands of crystals, had teams of helpers lug heavy trains and wore suits akin to three-seater sofas. Yet any sartorial statement about what was happening beyond the red carpet was absent. The nearby chants of protesters did nothing to pierce the vacuum ..read more

One way to mitigate the eco-guilt of a to-go habit is to choose restaurants that serve food in sustainable containers Getting restaurant meals to go often comes with a side of guilt: “Did I need to supersize? I should have saved the money and cooked at home.” And the final sting, perhaps muttered while hovering over the trash and recycling bins deciding where to toss the empty boxes: “Oh, the waste.” Dietary and budgeting concerns notwithstanding, one way to mitigate the environmental impact (or the eco-guilt) of a takeout habit is to choose restaurants that serve their food in more sustainabl ..read more

Historic alehouse frequented by a Manic Street Preacher and All Black rugby players reconstructed on edge of Welsh capital For more than a century and a half, the Vulcan Hotel served dockers, railway workers, artists, sports stars, gamblers and dreamers and the demolition in 2012 of this beloved, spit-and-sawdust Cardiff pub felt like a bereavement. Twelve years on, the pints are about to flow and the pickled eggs served again after a painstaking project to move the old alehouse brick by brick to a new site and reopen it as a working pub ..read more

In this week’s newsletter: Celebs at this year’s spectacle appeared to reject standardised versions of beauty – mirroring a wider shift to experimentation. So is this the end of fake, filtered perfection? • Don’t get Fashion Statement delivered to your inbox? Sign up to get the full article here When Doja Cat arrived at the Met Gala on Monday night, you’d be forgiven for thinking she had been caught in a downpour. Her dress was soaked and streaks of mascara streamed down her face. The look, which turned out to be the work of makeup artist Pat McGrath, has since gone viral. The American rapper ..read more

When the world isn’t particularly sweet, sometimes we all need a sharp blast of teeth-chattering, sugary goo … Apple Butter Cafe, which recently opened a second branch at the top of London’s Regent Street, is very much a cafe of its time. Today’s young may be eschewing the vices of yesteryear – booze, ciggies, drugs, etc – but their Achilles heel is sugar. Build a cafe that serves short stacks of chunky, fat pancakes smothered in banoffee syrup and topped with mini meringues, shards of tempered chocolate, quenelles of thick cream and microplaned lemon zest, and they will come. Post a video on ..read more

Candles in jars, night-scented plants and a stash of blankets make for magical, unfussy dinners with friends One warm mid-spring weekend is all it takes for me to start conjuring up evenings dining in the garden. Not the usual solitary potter around with a drink in one hand and a pair of secateurs in the other (we are on the cusp of deadheading season, when the best ornamentals will produce another flush if the spent flowers are removed). This is very pleasant, but I’m talking about those longer soirees that unfurl from glorious afternoons into alfresco cosiness. I love entertaining outsi ..read more

From a dog with kung-fu moves to a headless horse, the Comedy Pet Photo awards choose the finalists. Winners announced on 6 June ..read more

The baggier leg shape is essential, so that the top and bottom halves mirror each other It is useful to have a few tried-and-tested formulas you can rely on for those times when you need an outfit that just works. Think of them like the wardrobe equivalent of your go-to recipes. When you get home from work hungry, you need a few quick and easy dinner ideas in your back pocket so that when you open the fridge you don’t need to think too hard. Same goes for clothes. Don’t get me wrong. I love to open my wardrobe with no preconceived idea of what I am going to wear and put an outfi ..read more