With budgets running low and credit card bills running high if they haven't already been made we're all forced to think about changes in lifestyle. So no more eating out five times a week, now is the time to dust off those cookery books and exercise some lost culinary skills. But spend to accumulate we must and that means a well kitted kitchen. There are plenty kitchen shops in town to make your heart and wallets go giddy up, Divertimenti in Marylebone and David Mellor off Sloan Square are two of my favourites but for something a little more credit crunch friendly we've got to think commercial and head to shops like Mistral in Stoke Newington. I salivate just looking in the window at all those stainless steel goodies and dream of the amazing kitchen I could have if only I didn't live in a shoe box. But settling for a ladle or a mammoth sieve will have to do for now. read more