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It’s………Green Citrus Season

Orange oranges are so last summer

Green citrus fruits on a black background Natoora

Welcome back to Insta Stories, a column examining the London restaurant scene through the often-problematic medium of Instagram. This week’s filter is a bit of a spill.

News of the week

Suppliers are the unspoken heroes of the London restaurant scene — good cooking starts far earlier than a chef firing up a burner or sharpening a knife. Suppliers are also among the most influential figures in the London restaurant scene, setting the agenda for what food appears on which menus and, consequently, on Instagram. All of which is to say, if suppliers declare it Green Citrus Season, it’s Green Citrus Season motherf------.

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Green tasting Orange

A post shared by Kitty Travers (@lagrottaices) on

Collab of the week

When plans were announced for a [checks notes] cheese conveyor belt within Covent Garden’s new Seven Dials Market, it was easy to write the idea off as another Hip Chips or Cereal Killer — a flash-in-the-pan shot at short-lived social media virality. And yet … Announcing a series of belt takeovers featuring some of the most renowned cheesemongers and affineurs in the country suggests that Pick & Cheese may actually be more legit than many might have thought. Unbrielievable.

Decisions, decisions of the week

It’s both, duh.

Rival rockpools of the week

Yup, still a thing.

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Baller ingredient of the week

It started, perhaps, with the minimalist Sicilians at Quality Wines. It gained mainstream traction at Flor, where a two-step serving codified the joys of head-sucking. Now, can a statement 2019 London restaurant call itself a statement 2019 London restaurant if there’s no fancy prawn dish on the menu?

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Torbay prawns, chilli & garlic butter

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Influencer of the week

The past month or so has seen chefs take to Instagram singing the praises of Josh Niland’s The Whole Fish Cookbook — a tome that does for piscine friends what the St. John cookbook did for our animal ones. Tom Brown at Cornerstone is one obvious acolyte — but expect to see more Niland-influenced dishes and techniques filtering through into the mainstream over the coming weeks and months. Nose-to-tail? Over it. Root-to-shoot? So 2018. 2020 is all about fin to gill, baby.

Lewk of the week

Iconic.

Constructive criticism of the week

Just riffing on this — perhaps the only way to improve on Sons and Daughters’ monstrous miso egg mayo is indeed to add a little bit more flexibility to the crisp choice. But why stop with the Torres range? A black pepper Kettle chip might go down very nicely — ditto a humble Quaver. Or why not open it out even wider, and provide a BYOC service, allowing practically infinite customisation? Give the people what they want!

Absolute unit of the week

Wait… Viennetta is technically a liquid?

Winter warmers of the week

Even dedicated mope-merchants Travis couldn’t fail to be cheered up by these.

Dish of the week
AKA un trompe-l’oyster

Shot of the week

A big winter mood.

St. John

26 Saint John Street, , England EC1M 4AY 020 7251 0848 Visit Website

Sons and Daughters

The Pavilion, Lower Stable Street, Coal Drops Yard, Kings Cross, London, N1C 4DQ Visit Website

Cornerstone

3 Prince Edward Road, London, Greater London E9 5LX +44 20 8986 3922 Visit Website

Flor

1 Bedale Street, , England SE1 9AL 020 3967 5418 Visit Website

Quality Wines

88 Farringdon Road, , England EC1R 3EA Visit Website