Charles Campion is The Smart Shopper

The second Waterloo Food Festival is underway, the Pitkeathly biscuit is back and Mark Hix is a hit at Selfridges...

Waterloo Sunset
The second Waterloo Food Festival starts today with an evening food fair (5 to 7pm, Emma Cons Gardens, opposite the Old Vic theatre) and runs until July 30. Tonight there will be plenty of food stalls to browse, a hog roast and live music. For the rest of the festival there's an eclectic mix with a cheese tasting on July 8; a Cuban barbecue on July 9; local beers July 15 and jazz on July 22.
For more information and details of the "Gastro Passport" listing all the events and offers, visit waterlooquarter.org

Bygone-era biscuits
While we have all been entranced by fashionable indulgences such as cupcakes and whoopee pies, the humble biscuit has been somewhat overlooked. When it comes to biscuits, "old-fashioned" is the ultimate compliment so it's no surprise that M&S has just launched an Old-Fashioned Biscuits range. The Pitkeathly biscuit is a classic Scottish shortbread enlivened with orange peel and flaked almonds; the Inverness Ginger biscuit teams ginger with dark treacle. There is also a classic Fruit Shrewsbury biscuit made with lemon peel and currants. Available from Marks and Spencer food halls — £1.59, 140g.

Smoking at Selfridges
Mark Hix's "De Beauvoir" smoked salmon has a cult following. Using a Bradley smoker in the garden of his London home and Freedom Food- approved salmon from Loch Duart, he has been hard put to keep up with demand from his own restaurants. Things should get easier now as he has opened a second smokery on the roof of Selfridges, Oxford Street. The secret recipe for his "dry cure" is the same, but now the salmon can be transported by lift down to the Hix Restaurant and Champagne Bar at Selfridges and to the food hall, where it is on sale for £7.50 per 100g.
Selfridges, 400 Oxford Street, W1 (0800 123400, selfridges.com)