:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/66143431/rhubarb_blood_orange.001.0.jpeg)
Welcome back to Insta Stories, a column examining the London restaurant scene through the often-problematic medium of Instagram. This week’s filter is edible ASMR.
News of the week
It is said that when Alexander the Great beheld the breadth of his empire, he wept, because there were no worlds left to conquer. Perhaps a similar sentiment has inspired the team at Bao to compete not against other operators, but themselves, after the best part of a decade bossing the innovative street-food-inspired small plates game. That could explain launching the Battle of the Bao at the Soho location; perhaps it’s just a really nice way of allowing every member of a growing team to feel invested in the business’ ongoing success. Either way, hungry Londoners are the undisputed winners.
Old news of the week
More like enforced rhubarb! Folks? Folks?!!
New rhubarb of the week
Also pretty, also tart, also so winter it hurts: Welcome to blood orange season.
Showstopper of the week
Some issues with the scale here, although in fairness goals the width of most of the pitch would at least reduce the risk of Monday night football ending up with a drizzly nil-nil draw away at Stoke.
Cursed image of the week
Three lads, three pints — sure. But one cod and chips between them is distinctly fishy, as is the presence of definitely contextually inappropriate condiment Tabasco. Where are the mushy peas, too? If they’re going for a ‘British classic’ #lewk, why are they drinking lager? Come to think of it, why are they all wearing variations on exactly the same outfit? And, holy shit, why is the sign in the wall written SDRAWKCAB? The Mayfair Chippy: you can get the bill whenever you like, but you can never leave.
Storm-proofing of the week
Bring it, Bernard.
Innovation of the week
Britain’s fancy sandwich renaissance is now the matter of public record, so it’s high time that things moved on again before stagnation sets in. Might inspiration come next from across the Atlantic, in the form of the mighty French dip? Just imagine the stuff a British kitchen could do with any number of its ambrosial native liquids — dripping, Welsh rarebit topping, et al. Does dipping a sandwich into a bowl of bread sauce sound dangerously like overkill? That might just mean it’s exactly what London needs.
Factoid of the week
No, really: did anyone know that beetroot is one of the most popular vegetable ingredients?
Dish of the week
This is your brain on mushrooms.
Shot of the week
Hang it up in the Tate.