Bruce Palling

Bruce Palling writes about food for a diverse number of outlets, ranging from Departures in the US to his own blog, Gastroenophile. His first profound food memory was eating a black olive on the Goldfields of Australia more than 50 years ago. He spent some time as a foreign correspondent in Indochina, southern Africa and the Subcontinent. For several years he wrote a column on European food for the Wall Street Journal Europe and has appeared in India Today, Le Pan magazine in Hong Kong, Gourmet in Sweden and the Daily Telegraph. He has also a passion for fine wine and has recently transferred his allegiance from Cabernet Sauvignon to Pinot Noir. He has a special antipathy for extreme "natural" wines because of their unpredictability and tendency to often taste like flawed sherry. His enthusiasm for haute cuisine can be excessive - on the day of his first holiday with his girlfriend (now wife) they consumed a total of 11 Michelin stars each. Palling's favourite cuisines are French and Italian - haute and bas - plus the more innovative chefs in the "neo-Nordic" style as created by Rene Redzepi and Magnus Nilsson. The chef whose food he enjoys eating the most though, is Brett Graham of the Ledbury in Notting Hill.