Comfort and joy
properly the fantastically autumnal, musty musk of in-season black truffles. At Puglian restaurant Ostuni there’s a heady truffle menu in which to bury your nose, like the very pigs who snuffled them out. There’s truffled-up braised ox cheek, and buttery olive-leaf pasta scattered wantonly with black Puglian tartufo and dollops of melty burrata. It’s like someone’s cuddling you from the inside.
While you’re truffling, head to Le Bun’s residency at Birthdays — specifically for a Le Mac, its nostalgic take on a Big Mac, “the godfather of all burgers”, according to co-founder Andy Taylor. “[Those] flavours of acidic pickle, beef, creamy burger sauce, cheap US cheese and sweet bun… they stay with you,” he enthuses. “It’s one of the ultimate tastes of childhood.” And whether or not a cheeky Maccy D’s is your Proustian madeleine, a Le Bun will bring you out in the meat sweats, no matter how chilly it is outside. It’s a burger of two rare-breed patties, soaked in black-truffle burger sauce, smoked pickles, American cheese, truffle beurre noisette glaze and veal jus. At brunch, try the Truffles ’n’ Waffles (waffles with truffled beurre noisette and confit chicken).
Putting slow-cooked beef stew and gooey raclette in a bun — and adding a dollop of Béarnaise sauce — is what The Patate do best. It’s a newcomer to KERB’s Camden Market — and the sloppy deliciousness makes icy winds blowing off Camden Lock bearable.
Then there’s new Italian market, Mercato Metropolitano, home to the focaccia col formaggio di Recco: a thin, crispy melting stracciatella cheese pie. Pizza writer Daniel Young, aka Young and Foodish, says that it “elicits uncontrollable cravings even before you’ve taken a bite”.
The Poutinerie is another cheesefest — its chips weighed down with curd and gravy are sure to warm you up. Over in Borough Market, people brave long queues for cheese toasties from Kappacasein Dairy, while The Lodge in Clapham is transforming into an Alpine Lodge for Jimmy Garcia’s Apres Ski pop-up. It starts on Friday and will be on until February. Expect fondue and hot cocktails. You’ll need them — winter’s coming.
@franklymccoy