Food & Drink notes

Eat all about it

With no capitals and a lot of attitude, n'joi has been launched in the slippery and competitive arena of olive oils. Talent-spotted by Belazu, who've already proved they know their olives, n'joi is an Australian blend of a mainly Spanish olive, picual, with Italian and Greek ones to produce a lighter and herbier oil than usual. n'joi is £7.99 500ml from Sainsbury's.

It's prim up north, they could have said of Harrogate once. Not any more, since they started shaking cocktails at the new Hotel du Vin. The hotel group's beds are famous. So are the bars. The town now has a great place to drink, with leathery cubes and sofas to lounge on, 40 champagnes and an astonishing wine list (16 wines by the glass).

Hotel du Vin, Prospect Place, Harrogate (01423 856800).

Bone up on sodium. Cooking with any old salt (isn't it all old - who knows how long its been hanging around in the sea or as part of some rock?) is rather negligent. Salt is the latest designer ingredient, didn't you know, and now it comes with a heart-warming story. Yes, The Rain Tree Fleur de Sel is very, very old; skimmed by hand from the surface of 2,000-year-old salt ponds in the Algarve for a flavour stronger than free-flowing table salt. The family who have harvested the salt from the pond for generations, their community and environment have been saved by the introduction of their salt to Waitrose. The Rain Tree Fleur de Sel is £2.19 for 200g.

Cook'n'bake from Le Creuset, maker of heavyweight pots and pans, looks as if it would melt like butter. But the twelve shapes can be used for roasting, baking, freezing, and microwaving. The bendy, non-stick orange bakeware is easy to pick out in those cupboards of brown and grey pans, and doesn't make a noisy clatter, either. Most are £15 from independent cookshops (0800 373792 for stockists).

Here's to the Time Out guide to Eating & Drinking in Great Britain and Ireland. Its colourful pages offer platefuls of great food, gulps of thirst-quenching drink, and a blast of fresh air that will blow away stale restaurant guides - and stuffy restaurants. Joining the annual and always refreshing Time Out Eating & Drinking in London Guide after 21 years, it's £12.99 from bookshops and larger newsagents. Read it and eat - the best food in the country.