The Blue Stoops, London: ‘It’s all about the details’ – restaurant review

Kensington’s Blue Stoops looks like a pub and thinks like a pub – so it must be a pub

Fonda, London: ‘An exuberantly good meal’: restaurant review

This new Mexican restaurant serves up regional dishes so well crafted that conversation stops

Lucky Yu, Edinburgh: ‘An amiable, relaxed kind of chaos’ – restaurant review

On a dark winter’s night this place glows a deep and welcoming pink

2024 restaurant roundup: looking back on the year’s culinary highs

There are deep wells of culinary talent across the UK, ably battling the challenging economics facing the sector

The Don, London: ‘The expectation was for something warmer’ – restaurant review

The menu here was overseen by Rowley Leigh, but his generous touch in the kitchen is missing

Claro, London: Many of the dishes are wonderful, but the endless emails are a real pain – restaurant review

When you start shouting ‘encore’ at your emptied plate, you know something serious has happened

Harrods adding £1 ‘cover charge’ to every diner on top of 12.5% service fee

Workers fear cover charge will prompt diners to cancel paying optional service charge, hitting their income

Mulled cherry cheesecake and chestnut ice-cream roll: Helen Goh’s showstopping Christmas pudding recipes

Take the pressure off over the festive season with these luxurious make-ahead puddings, including a twist on a retro classic and a citrussy afternoon treat

My nightmare before Christmas dinner: top chefs and cooks reveal how they turned fiasco into feast

Turkey troubles, thieving pets, fire drills – all manner of things can jeopardise the most important meal of the year

From Caribbean favourites to everyday vegetarian recipes: Observer Food Monthly’s best food books of 2024

Essential reading for would-be top chefs, stocking fillers for the fermentation curious and odes to the simple pleasures of the kitchen. Ask Santa for the set

Tim Minchin: ‘Maybe scrolling the traumas of the world is not in itself a moral act’

The comedian, actor and Matilda songwriter on the benefits of quitting social media and why happiness is like an orgasm

Edd Kimber’s secret ingredient: cardamom

The baker and food writer on the bold spice that ‘goes with just about everything’

Christmas cheese, chutney and mince pies – tested by Cynthia Shanmugalingam

The chef and owner of Rambutan restaurant gives her verdict on maple and pecan pastries, fiery chilli jam and a remarkable limoncello stilton

Christmas biscuits, cakes and crisps – tested by Ravneet Gill

The chef, author and TV presenter rates snowman cupcakes, sticky toffee cookies and turkey tortilla chips in our blind taste test

Christmas chocolates and drinks – tested by Georgina Hayden

The food writer, cook and presenter samples liqueurs and no-alcohol punch, luxurious winter truffles and a dairy-free chocolate gonk