Recently I was lucky enough to be treated to an afternoon with Le Rustique (they of the French cheese in the boxes with the gingham checks) who were keen to showcase their wares in the sumptuous surroundings of The Soho Hotel's penthouse suite. After trying the various brie and camembert at different ages and stages I was presented with an excellent feast of cheesy canapes prepared by the Le Rustique chef, including Camembert, Green Apple & Spiced Pecan Salad, Rosemary Baked

New pasta bar Padella opened at the end of March to rapturous applause - unsurprisingly so, as it's the offspring of the INCREDIBLE Trullo in Islington - so I knew I had to get along sharpish; reservations or no reservations. Of course, it's no reservations but for once it almost doesn't matter. It's not big, but there's about 20 covers worth of bar seating at the entrance level and I think some more space downstairs. You'll queue, but go in no more than pairs and it won't be

Guess what, it's another PR based 'week' and this time it's National Vegetarian Week's turn. Should you wish to get on board and have a meat-free dinner or two in honour of it - and why not, it's good for you, good for the animals and good for the planet etc. - then you could always give these a go. The great thing about being meat-free from time to time is that there tends to be a few more calories to play around with, should you care about such things. I mostly do, but this