Food & Drink notes

Just the tonic; froth 'n' Go; a fair assumption; the local store for local people

Just the tonic

Diet tonic water is a crime against nature, and even those with sugar rather than sweeteners may have unnatural ingredients that mess with your gin. As the spirit enjoys a revival, at last somebody's turned their attention to mixers. Fever-Tree Indian Tonic Water uses natural quinine harvested from a fever-tree plantation in east Africa. All the other ingredients are natural too. Now Oddbins, Waitrose, Fresh & Wild and Harrods stock it. £2.99 for 4x200ml.

Froth 'n' Go

Forget the cappuccino frother - Magic Self-Stirring Mug froths your coffee or hot chocolate without the need for a fiddly accessory. It's stainless steel with a plastic interior. Simply pour your coffee and milk in, then press the button in the handle to whisk it up. £11.75 from www.efx.co.uk, or call 01789 451204 for stockists.

A fair assumption

The country comes to town today and tomorrow, and many thousands of people are expected to visit Henrietta Green's Food Lovers' Fair in Covent Garden to sniff out the breads, cakes and biscuits, chocolates, meat, fish, game and poultry, cheeses, fruit and vegetables. Just as well the 120 stallholders, who include Flying Fish Feasts, with 10 differently flavoured fishcakes, to Café Spice chutneys from London, are spread over all four piazzas. Entry is free so the least you can do is feast your eyes.

The local store for local people

You may have to battle with your conscience before making the trip to Weeton's, a spectacular new food shop in Harrogate. Set up by the 28-year-old City-savvy son of a Yorkshire dairy-farming family, it sells produce from almost 40 Yorkshire farms and producers. And it may look like a modishly metropolitan grocer but it's still a farm shop at heart. Every product is marked with its food miles clocked up from source to the shop. The butcher's counter sells terrific meat that's travelled only across a county. The way round the shopper's ethical dilemma is simply to make fewer trips and buy more while you're there. With so much glorious food in this hall that shouldn't be hard. Weeton's, 23-24 West Park, Harrogate, Yorkshire, 01423 507100 / www.weetons.com