Braise @braise.substack.com · 3hI was told this wine would pair well with grilled sardines and lemon juice, and who am I to disagree? 000
Braise @braise.substack.com · 27/09/2026New(ish) for paid subscribers this week: a reminder of my favourite taco spots in London to visit once Sonora is gone for goodbraise.substack.comMy favourite London tacos in 2026RIP Sonora 121
Braise @braise.substack.com · 25/09/2026I don't think I ever shared this pretty pecan pie at Cambridge's Cherry Pit from a couple weeks back. They do big American pies by the slice, and while the autumnal pumpkin did tempt me, I've never been able to resist pecan. Plus it doubles as a record store, for a double dose of retro Americana. 000
Braise @braise.substack.com · 23/09/2026I ended up in Escocesa by chance, after taco plans went awry, but what a happy accident it was: great tapas, with some September specials from the Canary Islands on when we went, in a lively, vibrant dining roombraise.substack.comEscocesa, N16Spanish seafood in Stoke Newington 152
Braise @braise.substack.com · 20/09/2026Is it terribly basic that Antepliler might be my favourite spot along the main stretch of Green Lanes? I know it's the obvious one, but it hits all highlights well. Great cold mezze, solid meat coming off the grill, and good lahmacun too, though they've never been a regular part of my order 100
Braise @braise.substack.com · 19/09/2026A lovely, sweaty time slurping down noodles at Lanzhou Lamian last weekend. It was hot, and humid, and I was just a little hungover still, so a hot tea and a steaming bowl of beef noodles were enough to create a sauna-esque microclimate in their pokey little basement. Very purifying for it though. 030
Braise @braise.substack.com · 17/09/2026Pretty croissant from the new(ish) Authentique in Angel. Buttery without weighing you down, and excellent lamination inside 020
Braise @braise.substack.com · 16/09/2026Allow me to sing the praises of Otto, a Berlin restaurant I have fallen deeply forbraise.substack.comOtto, BerlinA new Berlin favourite 161
Braise @braise.substack.com · 14/09/2026I’ve spent a decade visiting Berlin almost annually; here are the restaurants, bars, and coffee shops I go back to time and time againbraise.substack.comMy favourite places to eat and drink in Berlin in 2026From a decade’s worth of work trips 131
Braise @braise.substack.com · 09/09/2026I’ve got no real point of reference for Yunnanese food, but I really enjoyed the unexpected — and at moments fiercely fiery — cooking at Cloud Landbraise.substack.comCloud Land, EC3Sky high 231
Braise @braise.substack.com · 09/09/2026Fun read from a colleague on what it is that AI image generators find so tricky about pictures of food, and why the slop looks quite so sloppytheverge.comWhy AI food looks like thatWorms, holes, and cracks reveal the technical weaknesses of image generators. 010
Reposted by BraiseDominic Preston @dompreston.com · 08/09/2026Ah, I'm afraid I want absolutely all of ittheverge.comTo boldly go into the kitchen cabinet.On sale today to mark Star Trek’s 60th anniversary (though it’s not live on their US store just yet), Le Creuset’s Star Fleet-inspired set is a joyous celebration of the original series that follows s... 021
Braise @braise.substack.com · 06/09/2026Napoli on the Road's reputation precedes it, so I was relieved that it mostly lives up to the hype. One of the best bases I've had from Neapolitan pizza in London: flavourful, soft, and just firm enough to hold up to the toppings — even a saucy Ragu — without ever getting soupy 100
Braise @braise.substack.com · 02/09/2026I wrote about Brutto, a restaurant I have accidentally only ever eaten at in August. I have no idea how it is the other 11 months of the year, but for those few weeks it's certainly pretty greatbraise.substack.comBrutto, EC1An august restaurant 372
Braise @braise.substack.com · 30/08/2026Out this week, Five Tastes by Fuchsia Dunlop is more than a cookbook: it’s an introduction to the first principles of Chinese cuisine, from cooking a dish to designing a menu. I can’t remember the last cookbook I’ve learnt quite so much from.braise.substack.comFive Tastes, by Fuchsia DunlopThe fundamentals of Chinese cooking 131
Braise @braise.substack.com · 26/08/2026Fun visit to Rambutan, as I continue my quest to eat at more of this city’s best (or at least bougiest) south Asian spots. Lots of good dishes, but the hot butter squid bun was extraordinary. braise.substack.com/p/rambutan-se1braise.substack.comRambutan, SE1Worth braving Borough Market 141
Braise @braise.substack.com · 21/08/2026Good cheeseboard at The Racketeer, especially for the chilli jam 010
Braise @braise.substack.com · 19/08/2026My last from San Sebastian: a birthday dinner at Manojo, a natural wine bar that’s nothing like the city’s tourist-heavy hot spotsbraise.substack.comManojo, San SebastianAnd now for something completely different 151
Braise @braise.substack.com · 17/08/2026I may have done La Cuchara entirely wrong, but I did get better at the pintxos crawl — here are my favourites across San Sebastian and Hondarribia braise.substack.com/p/my-favouri...braise.substack.comMy favourite pintxos in San Sebastian in 2026And Hondarribia too 142
Braise @braise.substack.com · 15/08/2026First visit to The Camberwell Arms the other night; long overdue 010
Braise @braise.substack.com · 13/08/2026In retrospect, we probably could have seen the KFC x Chicken Wine collab coming 120
Braise @braise.substack.com · 12/08/2026Here’s how not to order pintxos in San Sebastianbraise.substack.comLa Cuchara de San Telmo, San SebastianPiles of pintxos 121
Braise @braise.substack.com · 05/08/2026Johnny Boy’s is a diner, but it’s more than that too. It’s a Los Angeles diner, for one, and a very modern one at that, and it retains that sense of place and time even when transplanted to a quiet Stoke Newington corner.braise.substack.comJohnny Boy's, N16Not just another diner 051
Braise @braise.substack.com · 02/08/2026I'm on holiday right now in San Sebastian, picking my way through pintxos. So it feels like a good time to share everything I ate through my last holiday, on the comparatively blustery north Norfolk coastbraise.substack.comIn search of seafood on the north Norfolk coastI didn't have to look very hard 110
Braise @braise.substack.com · 29/07/2026There's a certain sort of British restaurant — often a gastropub these days — with an all-too familiar menu of meat and veg. The Grain Store, in north Norfolk, fits that to a tee, but by leaning into excellent local produce it still just about stands outbraise.substack.comThe Grain Store, WeybourneMade in Norfolk 141
Braise @braise.substack.com · 25/07/2026Very kind of @marinaoloughlin.bsky.social to write this just a few days before I head to the Basque country, staying in French Hendaye just across the water from Hondarribia. This should sort at least one pintxos crawl!ft.comSkip San Sebastián — its Basque neighbour is an under-the-radar treat for foodies[FREE TO READ] The pintxos are just as good in low-key, laid-back Hondarribia 031
Braise @braise.substack.com · 23/07/2026I always thought cutting business rates made more sense than reducing hospitality VAT, but why does this cover pubs and not restaurants?theguardian.comBusiness rates to be cut by 20% for pubs, clubs and music venues in EnglandBurnham says relief for vape shops and other ‘non-positive’ businesses to be reviewed as part of £100m plan to fund cut 010
Braise @braise.substack.com · 22/07/2026Go to Sentosa, eat the Singaporean chilli crab, and don’t wear white. Just trust me.braise.substack.comSentosa, SE1Carcinisation 131
Braise @braise.substack.com · 21/07/2026Good read on the absolute mess of ownership behind most American cookware brands, and the almost inevitable drop in quality that follows sale after sale after saleworseonpurpose.comYour Cookware Got Worse On PurposeOne buyout firm quietly collected Pyrex, Corelle, Instant Pot, and Oneida. Farberware is a name on a 200-year lease. And the pans still worth buying. 130
Braise @braise.substack.com · 19/07/2026My latest cookbook review is La Trattoria, a collection of Italian creature comforts from Tiella chef Dara Kleinbraise.substack.comLa Trattoria, by Dara KleinComfortable cooking 221
Braise @braise.substack.com · 15/07/2026After all the hype I really wanted to love Impala, a restaurant which it turns out is simply Quite Good. Bemused why everyone decided it was doing something London had never seen before.braise.substack.comImpala, W1Lower your expectations 231
Braise @braise.substack.com · 08/07/20262210 by NattyCanCook’s plating is picture-perfect and Michelin-ready. The food itself sometimes meets the same bar — the pimento duck breast is glorious — but too often it feels like form triumphs over functionbraise.substack.com2210 by NattyCanCook, SE24Caribbean food, but make it Michelin 252
Braise @braise.substack.com · 06/07/2026I’ve made no secret of loving a great many of my local restaurants, bars, and bakeries in Islington, so for this weekend’s newsletter for paid subscribers I finally listed my favouritesbraise.substack.comMy favourite places to eat and drink in Islington in 2026North London forever 141
Reposted by BraiseDominic Preston @dompreston.com · 06/07/2026Last week I reviewed the Sourdough Sidekick, a starter maintenance gadget I sort of understand the thinking behind, though I think the target audience is someone who bakes rather more than metheverge.comThe Sourdough Sidekick automates the boring bit of bakingBut I’d only recommend it if you bake at least a loaf a week, and ideally more. 131
Braise @braise.substack.com · 04/07/2026Back at Lucky Yu for the first time in far too long. Obviously started with my staple fuyu swirl, but my favourite today was actually the red bean custard bun, which I absolutely devoured — too fast to even remember to take a photo of its innards 141
Reposted by BraiseJay Rayner @jayrayner1.bsky.social · 04/07/2026For today’s @ftweekend.com, marking the US 250th, I’m at Appalachia, a new counter restaurant in London’s Shoreditch which is less mountain country restaurant than Brooklyn hipster outfit, in a good way. (The forth pic is a magnificent crab and ginger omelette) www.ft.com/content/a2de... 2110110
Braise @braise.substack.com · 01/07/2026Angel Dabang is a place to go when what you really need from the world is something that's been deep-fried. It's a need it meets with aplomb.braise.substack.comAngel Dabang, N1A banging dabang 221
Braise @braise.substack.com · 30/06/2026They're really making a feature-length ad for the worst chocolate you've had in your lifeyoutube.comHERSHEY | Official Trailer | In Theaters Nov 25 | Alexandra Daddario, Finn Wittrock | AngelYouTube video by Angel 000
Braise @braise.substack.com · 27/06/2026Finally tried the sandwiches from Logma. Both good, but I don't get the hype. Good bread, and the aubergine has a lovely tangy quality. But the kofte are a bit eh. Two good sandwiches, but (inevitably) neither worth excessive queuing 121
Braise @braise.substack.com · 24/06/2026Cornelius is one of the weirder restaurants / wedding venues I’ve eaten in for some time, but don’t hold that against itbraise.substack.comCornelius, N8My big fat Romanian wedding venue 121
Braise @braise.substack.com · 24/06/2026According to Google's new search statistics, this is the summer of spam hot dogs, froyo, and figuring out how to make a Hugo spritz at home trends.withgoogle.com/trends/summe...trends.withgoogle.comSummergeist — Google Trends 000
Braise @braise.substack.com · 21/06/2026I know less about wine than I’d probably like, as someone who writes about restaurants on the regular — here’s why I think that might be just fine, and why food critics need not be wine expertsbraise.substack.comI'm a food critic, but a wine philistineI like chicken wine, and I think that's fine 182
Braise @braise.substack.com · 20/06/2026A pretty pint at The Pocket, which it's taken me an embarrassingly long time to get to. Clearly an excellent pub for a pint and a book. 010
Braise @braise.substack.com · 19/06/2026Two ways with stale bread and tomatoes: panzanella and pappa al pomodoro. Soggy bread and tomato salad, soggy bread and tomato soup. God bless the Italians. 151
Braise @braise.substack.com · 17/06/2026London doesn’t have a whole lot of Appalachian food, but the best move new Shoreditch opening Appalachia pulls is resting the urge to aim for pure authenticitybraise.substack.comAppalachia, N1Country cooking with city style 141
Braise @braise.substack.com · 10/06/2026On opening night, Jackson Boxer’s new restaurant Vesper showed great promise with a few rough edges, then stopped me in my tracks with the best dessert I’ve eaten all yearbraise.substack.comVesper, EC1A strong start 110
Braise @braise.substack.com · 07/06/2026The Americans are going mad for British food right now, just as the Brits are slowly beginning to see another side of American cuisine. Why have we fallen for each other’s food all of a sudden?braise.substack.comThe special relationshipCooking with a transatlantic accent 051