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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 transatlantic confusion.
News of the week
Collaborations between chefs and restaurants are a rare example of a genuine win-win in a climate that’s been at best tricky in recent months. The cooks get to have fun, and share ideas with their peers; punters, meanwhile, generally love the end result — and, it goes without saying, the bragging rights that come with attending a one-off event. This week saw one high-powered get-together announced, and another one delivered to a host of very happy customers, precisely none of whom seem to be observing ‘Veganuary.’
Flex of the week
Not content with doing some of the best pies in London, Calum Franklin has also pivoted to wedding cakes. £10 says the layers are actually different types of terrine.
Would you rather of the week
The correct answer: “both.”
Celebrity endorsement of the week
Coming soon to Gizzi Erskine and Rosemary Ferguson’s plant-based Shoreditch residency, Filth: the David Beck-no-ham burger?
Celebrity cameo of the week
“I am Jack’s” order of padrón peppers, tortilla, and croquetas.
Creative distances of the week
On Instagram, as in life, everyone has an angle. Users divide into informal schools of food photography — intentionally or not — diverging not by subject matter, but by how shots are framed. There are the ellipticals, the symmetricals, the centrists, the top-downers and the bottoms-up. With no many competing schools, the close-up photo feels almost transgressive in its disregard for negative space. But as these examples show, it’s also… Kind of awesome?
Video of the week
Footage from the new series of The Flash seems pretty underwhelming, with the CGI villain in particular looking surprisingly low-budget.
Recipe of the week
Yes, this looks like it might be worth giving a go. No one is saying the results will be healthy.
Dish of the week
This’ll do nicely, too.
Shot of the week
A.K.A.: how to make a colour ‘pop.’