Food Lifestyle’s junior writer Wiki Jazwinska reveals three of her favourite discoveries from 2025
For my birthday in September, we visited Stage, a culinary gem on indie-filled Magdalen Road in Exeter. We arrived blissfully unaware of what the menu might hold, ordered a house-brewed hoppy pint and, on recommendation, the non-negotiable cloud bread.
Head chef Felix Craft and team have been cooking together since their Taco Boys days. Now, they serve a sustainable, hyper-local menu shaped by what’s growing in their market garden. They also handle their own butchery and work nose-to-tail in line with their sustainability creds.
On Paris Street, meanwhile, Cuckoo Taproom and Bottleshop is a dreamy destination for craft beer lovers. The team behind the bar are always happy to offer tasters and talk through each seasonal draught. Whether you’re craving a classic IPA or a banana stout, there’s something for everyone. The crew seeks out the funkiest, most delicious pours, so keep an eye on what’s coming up. And don’t leave without a couple of cans from the retail fridge.
A special mention goes to the Coffee Lemonade sour from Edinburgh’s Vault City that I sipped in November. This modern sour, made with the brewery’s own culture and infused with Coffee Collective Kenyan beans, delivers a fruit-forward, zingy hit balanced by deeper coffee notes. Utterly delicious.
Onto my favourite podcast, Off Menu. Perhaps a bit of a cheat, as this one’s less of a discovery and more of a rediscovery. If you’re new to it, the show is hosted by comedians and self-proclaimed foodies James Acaster and Ed Gamble. Each week, they invite a celebrity guest into their ‘dream restaurant’ to share a dream three-course menu.
Some guests – the food-obsessed types – conjure up intricate dishes inspired by restaurants they’ve visited or meals that hold a special place in their hearts (Elle Fanning springs to mind, with her nostalgic main of chicken divan: a casserole with boiled chicken, cream of mushroom soup, mayo and broccoli). Others – the fussy or culinary unbothered – choose ridiculous combinations that will make you chuckle out loud.
