Rocket & Squash

Rocket & Squash is a journal of food related experiences. It has a great collection of reviews and recipes and a really great and easy to navigate layout. Its author after starting it in 2010 has become so enamoured by the industry that he has quit his 9-5 and is actively training to become a chef.
You can find his reviews and recipes at www.rocketandsquash.com and also at twitter @rocketandsquash
We caught up with Rocket & Squash to find out a little more about them.
What got you into food writing?
I’m not sure I’m fully in to food writing yet – it’s still just a hobby. But I originally started the blog for two reasons: the first was to prompt me to cook new food and visit the restaurants that I’d been meaning to go to but never got round to; and the second was that the act of writing provided me with a creative outlet from my (then) job as a City lawyer.
How do you choose a restaurant to review?
I try not to go to places just to review them. I like to eat out with friends and if I feel like writing about the experience I do. The places we end up going to are often influenced by things I read in newspaper reviews, blogs and restaurant sites.
Who is your current favourite chef?
I really admire what Sat Bains does.
Most underrated Local Restaurant? (and maybe most overrated!)
Manson in Fulham, Odette’s in Primrose Hill and the Canton Arms near Brixton are all good.
How has blogging in general changed your outlook on food/restaurants?
Both because I have a blog and because I read other people’s, I’m more aware than I was two years ago about what’s happening and what’s new. But I try and remember that established places and chefs are good too.
What’s the biggest mistake a restaurant can make in your opinion?
Forgetting about service and atmosphere. If the kitchen and front of house aren’t aligned in what they do, then the result is never as good as it could be.
What do you think the London food scene is missing?
If I knew then I’d be doing it!
Who’s your favourite food writer/critic?
Giles Coren
and……
What has been your all-time favourite restaurant experience to date?
A full on taster menu with matching wine at the Ledbury was fantastic. But I’m a huge fan of what James Lowe and Isaac Mchale did as the ‘Young Turks’. I ate at their Ten Bells venture quite a lot and at their other pop-ups. One of their first events – at the Loft Project (www.rocketandsquash.com/the-young-turks-at-the-loft/) – is definitely up there with my favourite restaurant experiences. Brilliant food, great atmosphere, incredible value and mostly unexpected.