The finest pubs from across Northern Ireland gathered at Belfast City Hall on 16th November to toast the best the industry has to offer as the search to find our top pubs came to a dramatic conclusion at the annual Pub of the Year Awards 2011.
This superb sémillon reminds me of dried limes on a sand dune. There’s also a hint of new leather and sweet hay. Textbook stuff from an excellent producer. One for the hot smoked salmon with horseradish.
Very stylish white Burgundy from the underrated Pernand Vergelesses (the most northerly appellation of Burgundy’s Cote de Beaune). This has some new oak, which gives a sensation of careful, neat, tailoring, and really opens out, like vivid yellow sunlight, once decanted.
Riesling offers a sprightly change of pace at this time of year. This perennial favourite smells of petrol and lilac, an odd-sounding combination but it works for me. It’s off-dry, succulent, juicy and has the tang of sweet stewed apples and tangerine.
a bone-dry white underneath a gently floral nose. Viognier can be oily and cloying. This one isn’t.
This Christmas carol of a wine is all you need for mulling, cooking and drinking out of tumblers on sausage and mash evenings.
Dark, imposing syrah from the on-song Cave de Tain co-operative. About a fifth of the blend is aged in oak. This would be great with a dense casserole – say venison or beef with chestnuts.
This great big Down Under version of a Rhône blend is wonderfully luxuriant. It has layer upon layer of flavour, from powdery drinking chocolate to raspberry, all underpinned with a savoury, spicy note.
Sumptuous right bank claret. Think crushed crimson velvet and 40-year-old vines. This is merlot-based but there’s also about a third cabernet franc, which contributes an aerating, leafy, redcurrant freshness and scent.
the building makes a material contribution to the character of the conservation area and should be defended vigorously by the Department charged with protecting the environment. Belfast Planning Division's own Conservation Officer also concluded that replacement of the building would result in harm to the conservation area.
the scum who failed to win power [in Europe] over us through force of arms are now leading us by the nose through stealth and the EU Trojan Horse. Somebody wake up Mr Cameron.Quite.
"We could have gone for one of the thousands of recipes that Mrs Beeton employed, most of them being table-groaning creations full of meats.
"But, given the stern days we are yet to experience, we decided to go for an unknown dish that requires little money and little time, and which she devised to cater for less well-off people.
"You simply put a piece of dry toast between two slices of bread and butter, with salt and pepper to taste. I've tried it and it's surprisingly nice to eat and quite filling.
"I would emphasise that toast sandwiches are also good at saving you calories as well as money, provided you only have one toast sandwich for lunch and nothing else.
"The RSC decided to promote Mrs Beeton's toast sandwich because it might just be what we need to get us through the harsh economic times that are forecast.
"Nor need you use butter; margarine will do just as well. That option was not open to Mrs Beeton because she was writing a few years before margarine was invented. That was first produced in France in 1869.
"Of course, when we finally emerge from these dark days we will seek something more celebratory from Mrs Beeton's pantheon of rich recipes to welcome back the good times."
"I'm more than delighted to be reprising my role as Poirot. It's been my life's ambition to bring this amazing canon of works to completion. Poirot is a brilliant, yet profoundly complicated character and I've always loved playing him. He's considerate, with a love of elegance and precision, but he is also so maddeningly frustrating to play as he's so vain and pedantic! For all his faults he is one of the greatest listeners in literature. I've been so fortunate to play him."
"It is tremendous to renew our partnership with ITV and David Suchet as Poirot, and these five films will be a magnificent climax to over 20 years of David's portrayal of Hercule Poirot."ITV's Michele Buck added:
"We can promise the final five Poirot films will be a fitting tribute to a much-loved literary character. When the ending comes it'll be very dramatic and incredibly emotional. We've been on a remarkable journey with Poirot."Clocks, the most recent Poirot film to be made, will be broadcast on ITV this Christmas and features Phil Daniels, Jaime Winstone and Lesley Sharp among the supporting cast.
“When I think of Keith, what shines out was that he was a loving husband, an adoring father, a kindly uncle and a devoted son.”
“He was enormously proud of his girls, Laura-Jane and Katherine, just as he was of his nephews, David and Andrew.”
“Keith was a quintessential family man, through and through - always protective, loving and supportive of Pauline."
“He loved the church, and was a member of the Select Vestry and served on the Church Hall committee. He always pumped energy into raising money for the church and the community as a whole.”
“He was knowledgeable and served through difficult times in the UDR. He loved to do his annual fly-ins as Father Christmas (to the local primary school on Lord Caledon's helicopter), and there was no better man for the job."
"Renovating their new home will be a massive job and the Duchess [of Cambridge] will likely approach it as she did their wedding – taking advice where needed but ultimately making the decisions herself. The couple looked quite seriously at another apartment in St James's Palace, but decided on Kensington Palace as it meant they could stay together with Prince Harry. The accommodation also provides the right level of privacy for them and is sizeable enough for them to start a family and entertain both privately and in an official capacity. While [TRH] remain very close to the Prince of Wales, the move away was part of a natural evolution for them as a newly married couple."
"We've got this fantastic new bus which, amidst many other features, we've got the open platform back," Mr Johnson said.Mr Johnson launched the competition for a replacement for the old Routemaster three years ago. On Friday he came to Ballymena to drive the first prototype of its replacement off the production line.
"We're going to bring that back to the streets of London - it was wrongly taken away. This is a world-class piece of technology built here in Ballymena. It's the most amazing futuristic design, but it's also the cleanest, greenest bus that will ply the streets of London, indeed any city in the UK."
"When a note is tilted from side to side, the images move up and down. And when the note is tilted up and down, the images move from side to side and the number 50 and £ symbol switch.
"The thread, in combination with the other security features, reflects our intention to design a secure note. I would encourage everyone to take the time to examine this new security feature, whether seeing it for the first time next week or when receiving a note in five years’ time."
"Unfortunately no matter how well we design our notes, whatever their quality, and however well educated the public are about authentication, there will be some level of counterfeiting."
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