London pizzerias — not a pineapple in sight
‘Young businesses are going back to the street-food roots of the pizza and rediscovering its unpretentious delight’
Som Saa, London — the spicier route to Thailand
‘Once again, it’s the fresh pounded aromatics that lift everything to a higher plane’
The Pig on the Beach, Dorset — a ‘hip’ country-house setting
‘The Bath Chap is probably one of the most truly unnerving plates of food I’ve ever had laid in front of me’
Padella, London
‘At Padella, they “get” pepper. Their “cacio e pepe” reminds you that this was a spice men once travelled the world for’
The Riverside, Woodbridge, Suffolk
‘I always hope for good fish treated simply when eating close to the sea: this was not a disappointment’
Randall & Aubin, London
‘The spaghettini marinara was stupendous — bound together with a cooked-down tomato sauce’
The Ninth, London
‘The cubes of feta were creamy, smooth, ambrosial curd from celestial goats’
The Market Bistro, King’s Lynn, Norfolk
‘This might be the most authentic expression of hospitality I’ve experienced in long, jaded years’
The Guinea Grill, Mayfair, London
‘You know that not only will a mixed grill be on the menu, but that it will be impressive’
Why the BBC’s cookery website is not a recipe for disaster
‘Though Britain is up in arms at the news the BBC is to archive 11,000 free online recipes, there may be cause to quietly cheer the move’
Sartoria, Savile Row, London
‘Though I love a well-rolled lapel as much as I love a decent meal, I could never quite fit the two into the same evening’
Recipe: Beef soup rice and cabbage roll
Its ‘bao’ bun recipe may be a secret, but the restaurant is not. The trio behind Bao talk about their expansion
Hang Fire Southern Kitchen, Barry
‘The barbecue food they’re turning out in Wales is some of the best I’ve encountered outside the Deep South’
Pidgin, London
‘The brown butter cream shouldn’t be on the same plate as celeriac in any sane frame of reference. But it is, and it’s perfect’
Ognisko, London
‘I get through a great deal of meat and this piece, pig-redolent, grill-marked and juicy as all hell, was definitely the best of the year’
The steak-and-chips straitjacket
‘Chefs are tired of explaining the pork and periwinkle foam to customers who listen politely and then order the grilled meat’
Hoppers, London
‘Chicken-heart chukka presents the adorable little organs grilled and bathed in sauce: a tour de force in red-hot offal’
Oklava, London
‘There’s potential here to do for Turkish-Cypriot food what Nieves Barragán Mohacho has done for Spanish at Barrafina’
‘Pasta carries stories’
A cooks’ tour of Tuscany uncovers some of the secrets of making ‘proper’ pici, orecchiette, tortelli and capelli d’angelo
Black Axe Mangal, London
‘The bread has been laid down, smeared with a bass of gutty earthiness and then topped with a screaming solo’
Lurra, London
‘The slow roasting retains every millilitre of juice. One mouthful of lamb had the texture of a poached oyster’
Trend that strikes at the heart of the restaurant whole business
Chefs who drop à la carte rebrand themselves as artist-performers whose work we pay to experience
Bellanger, London
‘Alsace, Austria and Switzerland might once have been home to this kind of grand restaurant but they also had some bloody awful food’
The hard sell
‘We’re used to seeing chefs posing arrogantly, arms crossed, but they’re not really as tough as they look’
