Of Course Donald Trump’s U.K. Visit Prompted a Milkshaking

Donald Trump was always going to cause some milkshaking

Donald Trump’s U.K. state visit: banquet with the Queen and royal family; lunch with Theresa May from celebrity chef Jason Atherton; burrata and beef for Prince Charles. Not on the menu: milkshake, the sweet, creamy protest drink of 2019, weaponised against far-right figures Tommy Robinson — twice — Carl Benjamin — thrice — and then Nigel Farage — sadly, once. Milkshaking landed in America this week, and a milkshake landed in London this week, too — on a supporter of Donald Trump during protests against the president’s visit in London. The man in question — gamely, foolishly — caught the beverage and threw it back; it was not one of London’s best milk-based drinks, but a McDonald’s shake. It marks a moment in the evolution of the milkshake as a tool of political protest: no longer a direct projectile against individual politicians, but a symbol of a broader movement. No news on the flavour as yet.

And in other food news...

• Join Eater London for a discussion of how natural wine is changing the restaurant industry — and why some critics get really, really mad about it. Buy tickets for ‘How natural wine changed the restaurant industry’ here.
• Fresh from cooking for Donald Trump, top chef Jason Atherton has closed another restaurant as he trims his empire to size.
• Angela Hartnett wants to bring London more of her outstanding Italian cooking with a new restaurant in Bermondsey.
• Mammoth Italian chain Bella Italia has gone all-in with a celebration of Leonardo da Vinci’s life. Its recreation of his self-portrait features Italian foods like pasta, Parma ham, mozzarella, and ... Chicken wings? [Laughing Squid]
• Fake meat titans Beyond Meat and Impossible Burger are finding it impossible to go beyond demand for bleeding burgers in the US. U.K. expansion looks evermore inevitable, and evermore difficult. [CNBC]
• Sainsbury’s have introduced — wait for it — Katsu Vegbabs for the summer, because supermarket food development teams just won’t quit. [Twitter]

• U.K. food exports have hit their biggest first quarter on record, but the Food and Drink Federation predicts a slowdown thanks to Brexit uncertainty. Maybe it... Shouldn’t happen? [Harpers]

Good tweet: