Foodie thoughts

FINE DINING WITH A F E W O L D FAV O U R I T E S

I’ve been banging on about missing my favourite restaurants, then up pops chef Jono Hawthorne, at Vice & Virtue in Leeds, posting his take-out home finedining menu.

So if pig’s cheek bonbon, pine salt and curried popcorn floats your boat, get on the blower pronto.

There are seven courses for the knock-down price of £35, which I’d easily spaff in Sainsbury’s on a couple of good bottles of wine and a chunk of sirloin. Then I’d have to cook the flipping thing.

“We’ve done the hard work. All you have to do is turn your oven on and lay the table. Fridays and Saturdays just got a whole lot better,” says Thomas Samworth, from Sheffield’s No Name, another place I’m pining for.

Thomas is cooking up the likes of Moss Valley pork belly, ginger beer carrots and crushed spuds, with vanilla cheesecake ice cream for afters (oh man, I remember this when I went last year: mind blown.) Just phone your order through and pick up a day or two later.

At Elder in the Piece Hall, Justin Thomas is doing Halifax proud with a three-course feast: lovage and potato soup, with herb oil and homemade soda bread; roast and griddled courgettes, peperonata with sorrel sauce; followed by caramelised apple tart – all for under £20. For a proper treat, how about Saturday brunch? “We’ll provide the rarebit, bubble and squeak cakes – you put the coffee on”. Everything’s prepared, delivered chilled and ready to reheat at home – and the menu changes weekly.

They’re all at it: Tommy Banks at the Black Swan, Ben Cox at the Star at Sancton, Josh Overington at Le Cochon Aveugle and that clever lot at Skosh. So treat yourselves in these tricky times; staying in is the new going out until we get to the other side. You’ll be channelling your inner Michelin – and helping restaurants like these survive.