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Welcome back to Insta Stories, a column examining the London restaurant scene through the often-problematic medium of Instagram. This week’s filter is formally inventive.
News of the week
Where to start? Pride? The football? Pride in the football? Wimbledon? Independence Day? The occasional opportunistic marketing drive aside, though, none of this really mattered on food Instagram this week — it’s such a well-insulated bubble that the much-loved Xi’an Impression opening a sister restaurant almost entirely on the down-low can legitimately lay claim to being the biggest thing (in and only in this specific context!) that happened in the last seven days. All hail Audrey Gillan (@audreygillan) for the scoop.
Ubiquitous swamp-dwelling crustacean of the week
OK, some of them live in running water, too. Call them what you will — mud bugs, yabbies, crawfish, crayfish — but there’s no denying they were everywhere this week, popping up in a range of regional preparations and, come to that, in a range of mouths. There can only be one winner in the #sopretty stakes, though.
Envy-Inducing Holiday Snap of the Week
No one has really come up with a satisfactory definition for the Portuguese concept of saudade, but looking at this on an empty stomach, Mediterranean sunshine on the brain, surely comes pretty close.
Alt-brunch of the week
If places like Sunday are the mainstream pop chart of brunch, all fluffy pancakes and avo toast and other crowd-pleasing hits, of late there seems to be a counterculture developing for those who want something a little different on a bleary-eyed weekend morn. The approach was arguably pioneered by Black Axe Mangal, where the lust for punchy — at times challenging — flavours showed no sign of abating as it switched from evening to daytime service; now it’s the turn of Eater 38 mainstay DUM Biryani House, where things sound very promising indeed.
#Sando watch of the week
Yep, still a thing.
Not technically a #sando but still, wow, of the week
One teeny-tiny question: how do you actually eat it?
Fruit family of the week
Tough one to call, this. Summer is not just the season when most sweet fruit grows, it’s also the time of year in which — served perfectly ripe, and maybe even tastefully chilled — it is the ideal conclusion to a meal. But what, among the fruits, is the most Insta-friendly of all? Is this the season of the tart, refreshing Hesperidia? The aggregates? No! This summer’s must-have accessory fruit is not, confusingly, an accessory fruit at all: it’s a member of the Cucurbitaceae, AKA the glorious melon. It makes great drinks, it makes great sorbets, a good one is great to eat all on its own. Plus, its flesh comes in an array of beautiful pastel tones, just perfect for the ‘gram.
Lurid beverage hue of the week
Move over, orange.
Ringing endorsement of the week
To recap the first entry of a very welcome column: where should someone on a third anniversary, looking for a tasting menu at £50-100 a head, head? Why, Perilla of course, which looks to be turning out some truly gorgeous food of late. Thanks, Ask Eater!
Dish of the week
*Heart-eyes emoji*
Shot / genuine photographic masterpiece of the week
Enter this for all the awards.