The Restaurant Stories of the Week, According to Instagram

Welcome back to Insta Stories, a new column examining the London restaurant scene through the often-problematic medium of Instagram. This week’s filter is Hudson, at about 70%, with a smidge of tilt shift.

News of the week

For the second week running, another slam-dunk in this category, as half of London seems to have made its way over to Sabor following its much-hyped launch. Some were probably there on the PR dime, some were emphatically not, but the consensus seems to be that this was one new opening emphatically worth the wait.

Feed-clogging event / thirsty brand of the week

Can someone please bake a loaf of bread and monogram it FOMO? For a single delirious morning after the night before, shot after shot after shot after shot appeared, all with suspiciously similar caption copy underneath. The cause was an undeniably noble one: the launch of the 2018 YBFs. But the presence of tastefully-branded Harrods wrapping paper and tote bags raised a slightly more complex question about the sponsors that get involved with events like these – it’s the sort of synergy that looks like a win-win on paper, but how much sourdough can someone really eat before they start to feel a little queasy?

Dubious influencer activity of the week

A solid week for famous people plugging things they may or may not have financial interests in: first up, Giles Coren’s was going all in on Pasta Evangelists via both Insta and Tweet in inimitable style (“Pasta Evangelists… it’s better than bad cocaine”©); days later, very nice football man — and member of Coren’s lunch posse — Gary Lineker was raving at length in Foodism about Dinerama. Unfortunately, despite their broader fame, neither of them are technically *Instagram* influencers, so this will be going to one of the usual #squad. And look, someone’s at Café Boheme, seconds after its relaunch, enjoying all the foods. The usual hashtags, including #flatlay, but no mention of a #invite? Bingo!

Dish of the week: so pretty edition

Post dry-Jan flirtation with cuisine minceur, it’s nice to see Noble Rot’s account getting back to doing what it does best: posting jealous-making photos of impossibly luxe wines and groan-inducing photos of winningly old-school food. And what better than this oh-so-2018-via-1918 Pâté en Croute?

Dish of the week: holy sh*t edition

Crikey.

Shot of the week

Ooooh, natural purple foods.