Updated 5:59pm 22 May 2013

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Richard McComb

Richard McComb

Mouth-watering festive presents - cookery and recipe books for Christmas

It's been the year of the bake off but there are plenty of other gift ideas among the plethora of books published by food writers. Richard McComb and Sarah Probert choose at some of the best.Read

Richard McComb: Don't fix it for me to have a nutty Christmas

There is a nut mountain inside the entrance to every supermarket at this time of year. We go for months on end without seeing nuts, other than in the crisp aisle, and then suddenly, in December, they appear. Read

Blow away the cobwebs on a beach holiday in south west France

Much has been said about the so-called "hairdryer" treatment used by Sir Alex Ferguson to punish recalcitrant millionaire footballers.Read

Richard McComb: Cynical violation of pop classic makes me see red

That advert. That blasted advert. I will never shop at John Lewis again. Never. Ever.Read

The best regional produce for your Christmas table - Part 1: Bakeries, sweets, chocolate, liqueurs, beers and wine

Part one of Richard McComb's guide to the best regional produce available for the Christmas table. Read

The best regional produce for your Christmas table - Part 2: Fish, meat, cheese, soft drinks, ice cream, preserves

Part two of Richard McComb's guide to the best regional produce available for the Christmas table. Read

Michelin star chef to open new restaurant in Birmingham

One of the UK’s most exciting young chefs is to open a new restaurant in Birmingham in a move that will cement the city’s reputation for high-end dining.Read

Restaurant review: The Stagg Inn, Titley, Kington, Herefordshire, H5 3RL

The Stagg does what many places could do if only they had the skill and commitment. There is no boundary pushing here just superb ingredients, coaxed into dishes of deceptive simplicity. Read

Richard McComb: New street lamps in Birmingham are a blinding nuisance

The light given off by the new LED lampposts in our street is akin to the explosive power of a dying star. Read

Warwickshire butcher crowned top of the chops

An award-winning family butcher, renowned for its A-list clientele, has been crowned the UK’s top Butcher’s Shop of the Year 2012.Read

Birmingham chef heads for world's biggest culinary contest

The plate of food being dressed in front of me contains beef. This much I can say.Read

Restaurant Review: Le Truc in The Arcadian, Birmingham

In essence, the question boils down to this: does Birmingham need another mediocre, not-really-a-bistro and not-really-a-brasserie?Read

The Queens

Restaurant Review: The Queens in Worcestershire

Birmingham lost one of its most talented and likeable chefs (the two aren’t always mutually exclusive) when Andy Waters shipped out of the city in the spring.Read

Richard McComb: I just can't bring myself to ditch George Michael

Now that a few days have elapsed, I have reflected on my behaviour and concluded that I may have been intemperate, verging on diva-ish.Read

Birmingham lecturer develops phone app for matching wine with food

What’s the best wine to pair with furred game? An app developed by a Birmingham food lecturer will tell you in an instant, writes Food Critic Richard McCombRead

Hotels see an upturn in the British afternoon tea

The economy may be ploughing through choppy waters but it’s a storm in a tea cup for a sweet-toothed British institution.Read

Richard McComb: Exercise in discrimination

It was with a wry smile bordering on utter disbelief that I read how Birmingham City Council is extending its “free” gym and swim scheme to take account of the post-Olympics stampede for fitness sessions.Read

Minmin Noodle Bar. Picture by Polly McComb

Restaurant Review: Minmin Noodle Bar

It’s not often I go to a restaurant only to return a couple of days later – just to be on the safe side.Read

No 9 Church Street

Restaurant Review: No 9 Church Street in Stratford-upon-Avon

One of the biggest gaps in Birmingham’s dining scene remains the dearth of good – as in “good enough to go back every week without being bored out of your mind” – neighbourhood restaurants.Read

Dave Hodgson

My life with and after Dave Hodgson, by his wife Natalie

Six months ago Dave Hodgson died of skin cancer aged 41. In a frank interview, his wife Natalie tells Richard McComb how she and daughter Olivia are coping and how Dave’s wish to help other patients is being fulfilled.Read

Author Profile

Richard McComb is a columnist, writer and restaurant critic for The Birmingham Post. Likes: Stevie Wonder (1963-1982 output); taking the long view; beaches; jumpers for goalposts. Dislikes: (Amongst others) enablement; spitting; the short straw; double maths.