If the weather doesn’t scorch, you want to be outside during the year’s hottest months. You also want to be drinking because you are going to need to both stay hydrated and take the edge off. These eight destinations run the spectrum from full-bore bars to semi-restaurants that also do drinking very well. Fun in the sun — or better still, shade — is how to hit the bars this time of year.

Bacchanal Wine, New Orleans

Bacchanal is New Orleans’ worst-kept secret: a top-tier, low-key destination with an enormous patio, far from the scrum of the French Quarter. At its core, “it’s just a really, really cool wine shop, with a great number of bottles prechilled,” said Imbibe magazine. That is merely the opening salvo. You could leave with your bottle, or you could head to the building’s back and share your bottle with a bunch of current — or new — friends while you nod along to the live jazz band.

Bowstring Brewery, Raleigh

If your idea of the ideal outdoor drinking spot involves 10,000 square feet, throngs of people and constant live music, Bowstring Brewery is where to be. There are more than 10 beers available by draft and endless others available in a can. The food menu is designed for people-pleasing, with pizza, wings and cheesesteaks. Sometimes, you want to hide in a bar. Other times, you want to be among loads of other drinkers. Bowstring is all about the latter.

Club Tee Gee, Los Angeles

Los Angeles is a wonderland of outdoor drinking spaces. But good luck finding one that sports the right vibe — cool but not trying too hard. Club Tee Gee nails it. The 75-year-old bar reopened in 2018 after a renovation and now has a “banging roster” of dance parties, karaoke nights and regular live music, said The Infatuation.

Jet Wine Bar, Philadelphia

Sparkling Spanish whites, earthy Georgian oranges, bright Chilean reds — Jet Wine Bar wanders wide for its exciting by-the-glass wine list. Out back on the patio is where you want to be while getting to know your wine. Once a month, there is a wine tasting group, and its leader, Jill Weber, comes at wine from an uncommon angle, taking attendees on “wild side quests through unexpected histories” about the day’s wine-growing regions, said Philadelphia magazine.

Metro, Indianapolis

This “laid-back” bar is the “gathering place for much of Indy’s LGBTQ+ community,” said Do317 of this bi-level institution. Mondays have $5 martinis, mules and margaritas, Fridays and Saturdays are for boogying upstairs and the patio at Metro is an any-day spot for a leisurely drink or three.

Paymaster Lounge, Portland, Oregon

A good dive bar rarely lends itself to outdoor seating. Too much sun and space can burn the allure away. Paymaster Lounge sizes its patio right, with plastic siding functioning as roof material and well-worn communal tables optimal for staying put. Two bonuses: an outdoor pool table, if that is how you want to pass your time, and a drink menu far better than it needs to be.

Strega, Nashville

“Casual but not sloppy,” said Nashville Scene about the admirable vibe of this new Italian-centric bar. On the ample patio are darts, a pool table and a shuffleboard, along with plenty of tables under umbrellas. The drinks at Strega, like the Cucumber Lemon G&T and Italian Margarita, are smart and accessible. From 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. during the week, pizza slices are a mere $1. Come thirsty, come hungry.

Supergeil, Detroit

In some ways, Supergeil, with its dishes that speak to the culinary connections between eastern Europe and northern Africa, can indeed be experienced as a restaurant. But the inspired cocktails, many of which are made with spirits from the local distiller Two James Spirits, demand that attention must be paid. Do so on the patio, and order a doner or lamb meatballs to help you keep drinking.

It is not just that you want to avoid adding additional heat to your home during summer. Skipping the oven and the stove for meals during the dog days also ensures a mere modicum of effort. Because the last thing anyone wants to do during summer is spend unnecessary time feeding themselves.

Bean Salad Marbella

The best bean salads are adventures in contrast. This legume-centric take on chicken Marbella combines prunes, capers and almonds with a plucky vinaigrette of red wine vinegar, maple syrup and Dijon mustard. In the interest of ease, choose whichever canned beans suit your fancy. (Get your recipe)

Everything Bagel Cottage-Cheese Dip

Cottage cheese: very much not just for breakfast! Acquaint your crackers and crudités with the pleasurable versatility of this savory dip. Bring out the premade everything bagel seasoning dip, or make your own. Stir it into cottage cheese, along with capers and scallions. Make the dip a day ahead or so, if you like. (Get the recipe)

Greens-and-Beans Sandwiches

Mashed beans are mixed with a sesame-scallion sauce then stacked with fennel, planks of feta and chile-spiked cucumbers on rye bread. Zip, crunch, salt, lushness — satisfaction in no time. (Get the recipe)

Raw Thai Citrus Crunch Salad

The dressing does the heavy lifting in this vibrant tangle of zucchini, carrots, cabbage and red bell pepper. You whir together soaked cashews, dates, lime juice, chile, ginger and garlic, then toss it with the uncooked vegetables. The result is both light and rich, precisely how you want to be satisfied when the scorching weather heckles. (Get the recipe)

Strawberry Malt Icebox Cake

Seven ingredients and many hours in the fridge are all this no-bake recipe requires. The cake anchor is dozens of vanilla wafer cookies layered with whipped cream laced with malted milk powder and strawberry slices. No muss, no fuss, all summertime deliciousness. (Get the recipe)

Sugared Melon with Cardamom and Mint

A sublime melon needs nothing further than a fork and your mouth. Then you go and toss it with turbinado sugar, salt, and smashed cardamom, let it sit for an hour or so and realize: Oh, now that is a whole other kind of delicious. (Get the recipe)

Tomato Tonnato

No, not toh-may-toh, toh-mah-toh. Toh-may-toh, toh-nah-to. Tonnato being the absurdly delicious — and absurdly simple — sauce of tuna, mayonnaise, capers and anchovies. Tradition dictates, in its birthplace of the Piedmont region of Italy, that tonnato is served with thin pieces of veal. Here, the lush puree is mounded on a plate, then topped with sliced ripe tomatoes, black sesame seeds, basil and flaky salt. (Get the recipe)

Wedge Salad with Tahini Green Goddess Dressing

The “green” comes from a glut of basil, cilantro, dill and parsley. The dressing’s base is mayonnaise and sour cream, along with the traditional addition of tinned anchovies and the untraditional — and inspired — inclusion of tahini. The wedge salad never saw the tahini coming and will never want to bid it goodbye. (Get the recipe)

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Summer is a sleepy season for new cookbooks. Publishers are stacking the deck for the fall, when a glut of books are sent into the world steeled for holiday gifting. But the publishing machine never quite halts, and the coming months do star a (smaller) collection of exciting new releases.

‘Cooking from Scratch: A Careful Selection of Useful Recipes’ by Toya Boudy

New Orleans is forever a keystone of African American culture. Boudy, a native New Orleanian, draws the thread from the Black past to the Black present, using the first known cookbook published by a Black woman, Malinda Russell’s 1866 text, “A Domestic Cook Book,” as a model. The subtitle of “Cooking from Scratch” is “A Careful Selection of Useful Recipes.” Practicality and lineage, with recipes that capture south Louisiana, like mini crawfish pies, and those that honor the homeland, like African spinach stew, anchor Boudy’s story in the now and the omnipresent before. (out now, $33, Countryman Press, Amazon)

‘Great Bakes from the Midwest: Modern Classic Recipes from the Midwest’ by Martin Sorge

The debut cookbook from Sorge, the winner of “The Great American Baking Show” in 2023, sprints across a variety of baking topics. It is a fitting approach, considering the show’s versatility demands. Chapters on cookies, bread and cobblers and their kin cover all the baking essentials.

There is often a Midwestern bent to Sorge’s recipes, proper for someone whose home base is Chicago. Focaccia bursts with the flavors of a Chicago hot dog. A Michigan Forest Cake employs the state’s famed sour cherries. Homey and precise, the book will prime you for baking success.(Aug. 4, $38, Agate, Amazon)

‘Coffee Shop at Home: The Ultimate Guide to Making Your Favorite Coffee Drinks’ by Katerina Diaz

You’ve heard the gripe: Millennials spend all their money on fancy coffee drinks. The bromide has been debunked, but there is power — and delight — in making coffee shop drinks at home. Diaz shows you how, by walking almost-caffeinated readers through how to shop for beans, buy equipment and brew. Plus, there are recipes for the syrups and techniques you crave, including Brown Sugar Oat Milk Shaken Espresso and Honey Lavender Latte. Yes, even pumpkin spice appears, in the form of Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew. (Aug. 11, $25, Clarkson Potter, Amazon)

‘Cooking Thai: Heritage and Modern Recipes from My Kitchen Notebooks’ by Pim Techamuanvivit and Andrea Nguyen

Plenty of chefs have Michelin-starred restaurants across different continents. Less common is a female chef doing so. All the more rare is a Thai American woman juggling that kind of constellation. Techamuanvivit, the Bangkok-born chef of San Francisco’s one-starred Kin Khao and Nari and Bangkok’s one-star Nahm, gets to the bones of Thai food. There are family recipes, alongside modern interpretations of Thai food.

A personal tale that also looks at one of the world’s great cuisines from a bird’s eye view, “Cooking Thai” might overturn your ideas of Thai food. Essential bonus: Techamuanvivit’s co-author, Andrea Nguyen, is one of the States’ premier cookbook authors, a guarantee that this book’s recipes will be clear-eyed and executable. (Aug. 25, $40, Ten Speed Press, Amazon)

‘Foods of La Frontera: Recipes and New Taste Frontiers from Both Sides of the Border’ by Pati Jinich

Jinich is like an ambulatory Benetton ad. She deftly flits between the U.S. and Mexico, aiming to not solely showcase recipes from both sides but to reveal the humanity behind those dishes. In her latest book, the Mexico City-born, Washington, D.C.-based author and television personality wanders the borderlands of the two countries.

Tamales are loaded with bean, chile and cheese. Chocolate deepens tres leches cake. Nachos receive the starry treatment they warrant. Whether you want to cook ideal versions of dishes you already know and love or crave to better understand the exceptional liminality of La Frontera, Jinich’s newest treatise is ready to assist. (Sept. 15, $35, HarperCollins, Amazon)

Visit the “specialist aisle in most British supermarkets” and you’re almost certain to find a “red jar with the kindly face of a middle-aged Chinese woman staring back at you”, said Ammar Kalia in The Guardian.

These are jars of Lao Gan Ma chilli crisp – a “spicy, crunchy and moreish umami condiment” that has made the woman on the label, Tao Huabi, a fortune. Generously dolloped on top of everything from dumplings to fried eggs, chilli crisp has become a “social media sensation” and inspired countless spin-offs from independent producers.

It is usually made by “pouring hot oil over chilli flakes, spice mixes and fresh ingredients such as spring onions, garlic and peanuts”, resulting in a “multi-sensory flavour bomb”.

Both “comforting and punchy”, Lao Gan Ma is “stupendously addictive and can be added to basically anything”, said Dusty Baxter-Wright in Cosmopolitan. “Fiery yet sweet”, it’s “crunchy with soybeans and tingly on your tongue”.

Lao Gan Ma is a “classic for a reason”, said James Park in Eater, but there are other options. As a “self-proclaimed chilli crisp hype man”, I discover “creative” new brands almost “daily”. Momofuku Chilli Crunch is “full of umami with a surprising level of heat”; what “sets it apart” from other jars is the addition of shiitake mushroom powder. Try serving this with baked brie and “you will be hooked”.

Other stand-out jars include Barnacle Foods Kelp Chilli Crisp, which features “salty” Alaska-grown kelp, in addition to spicy chilli flakes, fried onion and garlic. Fermented black beans add an extra “layer of depth” and it goes perfectly into a “light vinaigrette to top off fresh oysters”.

Or you could try making your own. Start by heating a neutral, high-heat oil then add sliced garlic and shallots, and fry “until golden”, said Great British Chefs. Remove the crunchy bits from the oil before mixing in dried chilli flakes and Sichuan peppercorns. Then return the fried garlic and shallots to the oil, “allowing everything to infuse together”.

There are so many dishes a drizzle of chilli crisp can lift to another level. Consider “using it as a topping for pizzas and tacos” or even folding it into bread dough to make a “spicy, aromatic loaf that pairs wonderfully with savoury spreads”.

Summer means it’s probably going to be hot where you are or at least some version of “warmer than it often is.” And with rising temperatures come slipping appetites. You still want to eat, but you want to do so in a different manner. These restaurants across the country specialize, in part, in summer-ready dishes. So bring yourself and your appetite, whatever that happens to look like when the mercury skyrockets.

Handroll Bar Rolling, New York City

It’s all there in the name: This Manhattan restaurant specializes in hand rolls, served from a long bar at which you sit and the rolls are, well, rolled. At Handroll Bar Rolling, choose from a set of four, five, six or seven seafood rolls or four or five vegan rolls. Should you crave a more bespoke meal, choose from one of the 20 a la carte roll options, such as eel with avocado, blue crab, scallop and shiitake. There’s sublime satisfaction in having each step of your meal waved your way in handheld progression.

Honest, Houston

In the proper hands, a chain restaurant is a glorious institution. Honest was born in Ahmedabad, the largest city in the northern Indian state of Gujarat. The restaurant group has since exploded and landed in oodles of states across the U.S., and its menu reads like a greatest-hits compilation from across the subcontinent. This time of year, you likely want chaat, those deliriously snackable nibbles born in Bombay. Whichever you choose — whether its bhel puri with its puffed rice base or dahi puri and its thin, crackling edible cups — the chaat will be a riot of textures, chile heat and sweet chutney lift.

Hue Oi, Fountain Valley, California

The menu at this restaurant in Orange County serves the Vietnamese dishes that Americans know best. You are here, though, for Hue Oi’s dishes from the central region of Vietnam. To skitter among a variety of recipes, order a selection of banh, a genre of savory snacks that includes banh beo chen (tiny saucers of steamed rice cakes topped with ground shrimp and fried shallots) and banh khoai (small crackly crepes stuffed with bean sprouts and two kinds of pork). Because you didn’t really come all this way for egg rolls and pho, did you?

Kokkari Estiatorio, San Francisco

You could order a main course at this nearly 30-year-old restaurant near San Francisco’s downtown. At Kokkari, though, the mezethes (small plates) section is stacked: More than 15 wee dishes cover every craving you might have. Some, like the gigantes (monster-sized white beans with tomato sauce, feta and rivers of olive oil), are evergreen staples. Others are hyperseasonal, such as kalamboki (roasted corn with feta butter) and aginares souvlaki (artichoke skewers with bell pepper, red onion and a yogurt side). Choose your weapon. Then select another, and on you go.

Kunjip, San Jose, California

When the weather scorches, zero in on numbers 6, 7 and 8 at Kunjip. Saucy, spicy sweet-potato-starch noodles served with cucumber, radish, Korean pear, sesame oil and boiled egg are the base for bibim naeng myun (number 6 with sliced beef) and hwe naeng myun (number 8 with marinated raw skate). Or go light and slurpable with mul naeng myun (number 7), in which those same noodles and accompaniments are set in a light beef broth loaded with ice. Soup can indeed be hot-weather refreshment.

Malagón Mercado y Tapería, Charleston, South Carolina

Tortilla española, jamón serrano, queso de Valdeón — you go to a restaurant in the States that claims to traffic in tapas, and you want the classics. Malagón has them. But this small restaurant, with a Michelin star to boot, also knows how to be free-wheeling. There might be fried rabbit on the menu or shrimp skewers with guindilla-pepper vinaigrette. A smashing drink menu loaded with vermouth and endless Spanish wines ensures your food will play so very nicely with its accompanying beverages.

SRV, Boston

“Cicchetti” are the Venetian notion of what we often know as tapas in the U.S.: diminutive bites crafted to be eaten alongside a drink or cocktail. SRV serves delightful pasta, salads and mains in a broad Italian idiom. Wander that way, if you must. But begin with the cicchetti. This time of year you might encounter crostini with duck prosciutto, stracciatella and cherry, fried rice balls with pickled green garlic and a lofty puree of whipped salt cod with black bread. After a couple drinks, you may find you have worked your way through every cicchetti available.

Tanta, Chicago

Oh, the zippy luxury of Peruvian fish dishes. Like your raw seafood in chunks? How about the nikkei ceviche with tuna, tamarind leche de tigre and cucumber, scallions, avocado, daikon, sesame seeds? Prefer your fish sliced? Consider the apaltado, with salmon, tapioca cracker, chile oil, cherry tomatoes and choclo (large kernels of starchy field corn). Tanta is beloved in Chicago. Your meal here will reveal why.

“Tropical fruit and chilli sauce” is a tried-and-tested flavour combination that “works”, said Lucy Knight in The Guardian. The zingy mix of fruity and spicy – “fricy” – flavours has been around in South American cuisine for years. Now, though, it’s being tipped as the food trend of the summer here, with “more fresh, spicy, exciting flavour combinations” appearing on UK menus.

‘Fricy’ may sound like a “silly word” but the demand is real, Holly Thomson, food editor at online food retailer Sous Chef, told the paper. The website has seen a 19% year-on-year increase in sales of the “hero product” of the trend: a Mexican lime, salt and chilli spice blend called Tajín.

“The hashtag #fricy hasn’t quite gone viral” yet, said BBC Bitesize, but there are “plenty” of posts celebrating the flavour combination. The Mexican drink mangonada, more traditionally known as chamoynada, a mix of mango with chamoy, a condiment made from pickled, spiced fruit, has “more than 47k TikTok posts with people trying the fricy taste for themselves”. Spicy fruit bowls that mix “fruit such as pineapple and mango covered in spices like chilli” are also having a moment.

Food trends usually rely on “emotional pull” and “visual appeal”. Just as the “striking purple” hue is responsible for the rise of ube, or purple yam, the “vivid yellows, oranges, reds and browns” of the mangonada makes people “curious” to taste it.

The mangonada has lured many customers into Mango Twist, a London café founded by Peru-born Dominic Vargas, which sells its own version of the drink. The “tangy, spicy, sweet, salty” combination is “something you wouldn’t find in the UK that easily”, Vargas told The Guardian.

But this isn’t the first trend marrying the sweet and savoury. People have been “endlessly seeking umami” flavours in their food, Marks & Spencer food trends lead Annette Peters told The Times. She added that this explained the increasing demand for miso-infused desserts because the “balance of sweet and savoury gives you such a depth of flavour”. As long as the dish doesn’t “tip into cloyingly sweet”, the pairing can be “delicious”.

Though caffeine remains the world’s most widely consumed drug, some people are turning to a smaller dosage to achieve their morning kick. A slew of lower-caffeine drinks are hitting the market as consumers look for ways to shake the negative effects of caffeine, while still having their daily cup of coffee.

‘Experimenting with a new range of options’

Even as millions of Americans consume mass quantities of caffeinated drinks, some question their caffeine intake. Many started “experimenting with a new range of options beyond the traditional cup of hot java, paying heed to caffeine’s impact on their sleep, mood and energy level,” said Bloomberg. Some people still consume multiple caffeinated drinks per day, but others are “becoming more cognizant of ‘energy management’ in their beverage choices,” Daniel Jhung, the president of the coffee and beverage division of Nestlé USA, told Bloomberg.

Many of the options are changing to accommodate shifting preferences. Younger consumers have begun to “embrace cold, canned beverages over hot coffee,” said Bloomberg. The change is not only evident in “rapid growth of energy drinks but also in less-supercharged options.” Sales of ready-to-drink, low-caffeinated bottles of coffee and tea were “up almost 15% in the 52 weeks ending March 22” of this year, while “sales of coffee beans and cocoa fell nearly 10%,” according to data from market research group Spins cited by Bloomberg.

A number of companies are also moving toward this trend. Panera Bread began “rolling out a new line of lightly caffeinated drinks,” said Business Insider, which comes about two years after the company’s discontinued, ultra-caffeinated Charged Lemonade was “linked to two deaths and multiple lawsuits.” While the Charged Lemonade had about 260 milligrams of caffeine, or the equivalent of three Red Bull cans, Panera’s lighter caffeinated drinks “contain about as much caffeine as a can of soda.” There has also been a resurgence in sales of Coca-Cola Zero Zero, which has no sugar or caffeine, said Bloomberg.

‘There are also some concerns about excessive consumption’

Many doctors seem to be happy that caffeine is trending the way it is due to potential health issues. Caffeine can “have positive effects on alertness, cognitive function and athletic function,” but there are also “concerns about excessive consumption and potential health risks,” said the American Medical Association (AMA). “One of the things that people don't realize is, if you think of it as a medicine, then the best way to use it is in small, frequent doses,” Dr. Shannon Kilgore, a neurologist, told the AMA.

Most people, despite the shifting tides, are consuming too much caffeine, which could have negative health effects. About 85% of adults “consume 135 milligrams of caffeine daily in the U.S.,” approximately “equivalent to 12 ounces of coffee, which is the most common source of caffeine for adults,” said the AMA. While drinking up to three cups of coffee per day “can reduce dementia risk and slow cognitive decline,” according to a recent JAMA study, even that would still be over the recommended daily dosage of caffeine.

The shift toward low-caffeine is because “health and wellness trends have persuaded many consumers to scrutinize ingredients more closely, with many trying to cut back on artificial dyes, added sugar, processed food and, in some cases, caffeine,” said Bloomberg. The anxiety of Jeremy Clark, an engineering professor in Montreal, has declined “almost to negligible levels” since he cut back on caffeine, Clark told Bloomberg. “So I think it was worth it.”

It’s the ice, people! Yes, ice is central to the making of any cocktail — unless it’s a hot one. In the playland of frozen drinks, though, ice plays an all-the-more crucial role. It doesn’t simply chill then bolt for the sink. Ice becomes integral to the lush texture of a blended cocktail. These frozen reconsiderations of classic cocktails are summer manna.

Frozen Banana Daiquiri

An instant coconut cordial is made by combining coconut milk and sugar. Then you’re off to the banana-daiquiri races by blending together two kinds of rum (1 part each) with fresh lime juice (¾ part), half a way-ripe banana, that cordial (2 parts) and a load of pebble ice. (Get the recipe)

Frozen Caribbean Coffee

What happens when Irish coffee, tres leches cake and spiced coconut syrup take a trip to the islands? You get a lively, luxurious blended drink that merges a mixture of sweetened condensed milk and whole milk (2 parts) with an egg, coffee liqueur (¾ part), rum (½ part), brandy (½ part) and a heady masala-coconut syrup (¾ part). (Get the recipe)

Frozen Gin & Tonic

In this brain-freeze-y adaptation of a G&T, the tonic water is substituted by a tonic syrup. Because no one wants a watery frozen cocktail. A touch of that syrup (½ part) tangoes with gin (1½ parts), simple syrup (½ part) and lime juice (¾ part). (Get the recipe)

Pink Frozen Margarita

Campari (1 part) provides the pink element in this animated variation on a classic margarita. The tequila (3 parts), triple sec (2 parts), lime juice (2 parts) and agave nectar (2 parts) all play their roles like they typically would. The blender and ice step in for this performance, turning everything the right kind of chill. (Get the recipe)

Frozen Mojito

All that you admire about a mojito is present here. The mint (1 part), the rum (2 parts), the simple syrup (1 part), the fresh lime juice (1¼ parts). Start the four together in a blender so the mint is properly blitzed. Then add ice (8 parts), zap away and pour a few out for your pool mates. (Get the recipe)

Frozen Moscow Mule

You know the quartet — vodka (2 parts), ginger beer (3 parts), lime juice (¾ part), simple syrup (¾ part). Pour the lot into a blender, add ice, and your Moscow mule becomes even more of a warm-weather lounge-fellow. (Get the recipe)

Frozen Negroni

A Negroni is always an appetite-whetter. Come summer, one wants it to do double duty by dragging it into refreshing territory too. Freeze the base combination of gin (4½ parts), Campari (2½ parts) and sweet vermouth (2½ parts) for at least eight hours. Then whir that with ice in a blender. Zip, hunger, poolside nap. (Get the recipe)

Paloma Slushy

A handful of ingredients turn a classic paloma into a summertime icon for you and three pals. Start by freezing together grapefruit juice (2 parts) and lime juice (1 part) for a chunk of time. Toss the frozen juices in a blender along with tequila (1½ parts), sugar (¼ cup) and ice (4 cups). And if you like, line the rims of those glasses with salt. (Get the recipe)

Instead of reaching for biscuits or chocolate to “combat the 4pm slump”, people are turning to a “more natural sweet alternative: dates”, said The Guardian.

The wrinkled fruit has been “thrust into the snacking spotlight” thanks to a slew of viral online recipes and a growing demand for alternatives to ultra-processed foods. Ocado reports that sales of Medjool dates have soared by 100% year-on-year and searches for date butter have shot up by 458% over the same period.

Some fitness experts are suggesting their followers swap “additive-laden” protein bars for energy balls made with a mix of dates, nuts and oats. And TikTok is bursting with ideas for comforting yet nutrient-dense snacks like “sticky fried dates drizzled with olive oil and served with tangy yoghurt”.

First cultivated in the hot, arid climates of the Middle East and North Africa, “dates have had a place in culinary culture for millenniums”, said The New York Times. Traditionally used to break the fast during Ramadan, they are a staple ingredient in everything from tagines to sticky toffee pudding.

With more consumers interested in adding fibre to their diet, dates are “emerging as a simple vehicle for the macronutrient”. One serving of dates (around two to three large Medjools) contains about 5g of fibre – “a helpful step towards the daily recommendation of 25g per day for women and 38g for men”.

Brands like Date Better are opting for “bold flavour choices” to stand out in the crowded market. Varieties include dates stuffed with cashew butter, coated in chocolate infused with lime and dotted with toasted quinoa “for texture”.

But it’s important to “manage your health-related expectations” if you’re reaching for a jazzed-up version of the fruit. “If it’s stuffed with peanut butter and covered in chocolate, enjoy it!” said nutritionist Maya Feller. “But don’t think it’s going to support gut health. Right? That’s a dessert.”

If you don’t want to splash out on pricey on-the-go packaged snacks, consider adding the fruit when baking cakes, said The Times. Dates can be “chopped or blended” and “stirred through the batter instead of sugar, substituting the weights like-for-like”. They also make a delicious caramel sauce: simply soak them in boiling water before “blending them with butter” and “adding enough hot water until you have a smooth sauce”.

Dates aren’t only suitable for sweet treats, though. “I do a simple but brilliant lemon, chickpea, feta and date traybake,” said author and cook Melissa Hemsley. “The sweetness of the roasted dates with the salty feta is amazing. I’ll have that in a wrap or toss it into a warm salad. It’s perfect.”

The possibilities are endless when it comes to tacos. There are so many regional specialties and choices to be made — crunchy shell or soft, what type of filling, which toppings, and what style of salsa to add.

Los Angeles is one place where all this bounty collides. The city is home to thousands of taquerías, taco trucks and stands, many of them owned by immigrants, where hungry diners queue for perfect bites of al pastor, carne asada and carnitas wrapped in freshly made tortillas. These nine spots are just a few of the places Angelenos head to when the mood for a satisfying taco strikes.

Carnitas El Momo

Pork is the star of the show at Carnitas El Momo, where the Michoacán-style carnitas tacos “shine the brightest on the menu,” said The Infatuation. Before you place your order, you’ll be hit by the “intoxicating” scent of “fried pork in bubbling cauldrons,” cooked in lard and seasoned with a “secret blend of spices.” The meat — choose from shoulder, belly, skin or a combination of all three — is so “obscenely rich” that the best way to top your tacos is simply with some pickled jalapeños, lime or “smoky” salsa verde.

El Cocinero

The focus at El Cocinero, the San Fernando Valley’s first Mexican vegan restaurant, is imparting a “rich, soulful flavor” to the soy alternatives used instead of meat, L.A. Taco editor Javier Cabral told Bon Appétit. Each piece undergoes an “intense seasoning” and “heavy fry,” and though all of the plant-based options are “delicious,” the vegan chicharrón taco is the most impressive. Traditional fried pork rinds are replaced with soy curls cooked to have an “amazing crunch” and the same “satisfying, umami-forward flavors” of a traditional chicharrón.

Holbox and Chichen Itza

Holbox serves some of the "highest quality and most beautifully prepared seafood" in all of Los Angeles, said the New York Times. The menu changes based on the season and catch, but expect tacos stuffed with shrimp, Hokkaido diver scallops, vermilion rockfish, octopus and kanpachi.

Holbox is located inside the Mercado La Paloma food hall in South Los Angeles, next to its sister restaurant Chichén Itzá. The seafood game is also strong at this Yucatán-inspired spot, and while the hearty tacos de pescado with flaky fried fish are great, fans love the "succulent" cochinita pibil (achiote-seasoned pork) tacos with pickled red onions, said Condé Nast Traveler.

Mariscos Jalisco

At lunchtime, the crowds head to Mariscos Jalisco, one of the “pioneering” taco trucks that dot Olympic Boulevard in Boyle Heights, said the Los Angeles Times. The taco de camarón is what lures diners and keeps them returning. These “golden” tacos are filled with crispy shrimp that emerge from the fryer “tender at the center and crisped on the edges.” Each one is topped with salsa and avocado, which together add bright creaminess.

Sonoratown

The made-in-house flour tortillas at Sonoratown set this taqueria apart. They are “so paper-thin you can almost see through them,” Cabral told Bon Appétit. Lard makes them chewy, and the “first bite feels different than any other taco in the city.” Everything here is cooked in Sonoran style, that is over a mesquite grill, and the meat has a “slight crisp to it.” The costilla asada taco is a standout, thanks to a “unique” cut of rib meat that’s tender and juicy.

Tacos Don Cuco

With carne asada, pollo asada, chorizo, tripa and al pastor on the menu, it’s “difficult to go wrong” with Tacos Don Cuco’s meat options, said the Los Angeles Times. Tacos are prepared Tijuana-style, and the meat is cooked over mesquite coals before being sliced to order and placed in a fresh corn tortilla. The thick adobada, or marinated pork, does have the edge, as it gets “caramelized and crispy” and “garners even more smokiness off the mesquite grill.”

Tacos Los Guichos

When you walk up to the Tacos Los Guichos taco cart, you’ll be greeted by “glistening” trompos (vertical rotisseries) of the “absolute best al pastor” around, said TimeOut. Expect “sweet, porky nirvana” in the form of “beautifully charred” and “slightly smoky” shaved al pastor, which manages to taste even better when “anointed” by either the “delicious” salsa verde or “subtly fiery” salsa roja. You can only order the al pastor after 5 p.m., but it’s worth fighting traffic to get there on time (it helps that Tacos Los Guichos is at a tire shop right off the 110 freeway).

Tacos y Birria La Unica

You can find a birria truck on “practically every corner of Los Angeles,” but none are like Tacos y Birria La Unica, said Eater. It specializes in shredded goat and shredded beef birria, cooked in a “rich, herbal stew.” The meat is served in a variety of ways, with the quesataco (crunchy taco with cheese) a popular choice. Do not skip the consomé — you will want to dip your tacos in the savory broth.

“Maxed out on matcha lattes?” said the Financial Times. Try swapping the trendy, green-hued drink for its “toasty cousin”.

Hojicha has many of the same benefits as matcha but with much less caffeine. Made from green tea leaves roasted at a high temperature over charcoal, it has a distinctive “nutty” flavour. While it’s not traditionally paired with milk in Japan, in the UK hojicha lattes are starting to appear in cafes up and down the country.

At London matcha chain Jenki, for example, sales of hojicha lattes were 55% higher between January and April than the same period last year, said the BBC. The popularity of hojicha “feels like where matcha was two or three years ago”, Rashique Saddique, director of How Matcha, told the broadcaster. “It’s moving from niche to mainstream quite quickly.”

Less bitter and more earthy than matcha, hojicha also contains “significantly lower” levels of caffeine, with around 7.7mg per cup, compared to matcha’s 70mg, said Country & Town House. But it still boasts a range of health benefits; hojicha is “packed with antioxidants” like catechins and polyphenols which help to protect cells from damage, and the amino acid L-theanine which may help to calm the nervous system and improve sleep quality while enhancing focus.

The roasting process also breaks down the tannins and lowers the acidity, making it perfect for aiding digestion after a meal as it’s “gentler on the stomach than raw green tea”.

Traditional hojicha is “steeped like a loose-leaf tea” but it can also be mixed with milk and served hot or cold in a latte, said Vogue. “Look out for organic, shade-grown hojicha from Japan to avoid contaminants and ensure purity”, nutritionist Rhian Stephenson told the publication. And if you don’t fancy a latte, try adding the powder to smoothies or mix it into cakes, cookies or even ice cream.

The briefest spell of sunshine sends Brits rushing to the park or pub. But if you’re looking for somewhere a bit more special to soak up the rays, try a buzzy terrace with a view. From trendy, canal-side spots to swanky rooftop bars, these are some of the best places to catch up over a cocktail.

The Gun, Docklands, London

The waterfront terrace at the Gun “feels a little like one of many harbourside restaurants in Amsterdam”, said London’s The Standard. Open all year round thanks to the retractable roof and glass walls, the views are “superb”, looking out “where the river bends around the O2 on its way to the Thames Barrier”. Sip a glass of rosé and “feast on oysters” or, come summer, enjoy a pizza from a van in the riverside garden.

Lock 91, Manchester

This “charming canalside garden” is one of the city’s “best-kept secrets”, said Secret Manchester. The fashionable bar is set within a carefully restored 19th-century lock-keeper’s cottage, and you can usually “snag a spot” on the “intimate” outdoor terrace. Once you’ve settled with a drink and begun soaking up the “serene” views, it’s hard to “pull yourself away” from this “addictive little suntrap”.

Blackstock Roof Garden, Liverpool

Set atop the newly revamped Blackstock Market, this “Mediterranean-inspired rooftop brings a slice of coastal Europe to Liverpool”, said Condé Nast Traveller. “Sun-drenched” breaks can be spent here enjoying brunches, afternoon teas and cocktails, while in the evening the terrace transforms into “the perfect place to dance under the stars”. Inside, there’s a “chic” lounge, ensuring the party continues “rain or shine”.

The Raeburn, Edinburgh

This “smart boutique hotel” is “often unknowingly overlooked”, said Condé Nast Traveller. Its “secret rooftop terrace” becomes a “real suntrap” over summer, and there’s also a first-floor mezzanine looking out over the historic Raeburn Place sports grounds for an “out-of-the-city type view that you won’t find anywhere else”.

Rockwater, Hove

“A beach bar with a rooftop terrace, what more could you possibly ask for?” said The Telegraph. Rockwater offers a “huge wine collection, along with cocktails and spritzes”, all with a sea view. And if you’re feeling peckish there’s a great selection of “luxurious seafood dishes” and handmade pizzas. Down at the beach, you’ll find “extra food shacks”, too.

Most standard-size cookbooks showcase between 100 and 150 recipes. In 2008, the author and cooking teacher Raghavan Iyer said “pshaw” and published his magnum opus, “660 Curries.”

“To us Indians, a curry is a sauce-based dish,” said Iyer, meaning “curry” as employed in Western instances like all-purpose “curry powder” is a term so general as to lose all significance. Curry instead is both the alpha and the omega. It’s both a saucy dish across the subcontinent and a hyper-regional way of preparing said saucy dishes.

Name your cooking weapon

Pick a base, and you are nearly guaranteed at least one recipe for it in “660 Curries.” More often, you will be bombarded with an array of options.

Consider the legume. Yellow split peas, horse gram, chickpeas, brown lentils and moth beans — Iyer assembles an armada of more than 15 different types of legumes for the Legume Curries chapter. The hits are present, including a faultless recipe for the restaurant icon, dal makhani, with its whole black lentils opulent with Punjabi garam masala, yogurt and heavy cream.

A behemoth is forever going to do the absolute most, so lesser-known regional specialties are everywhere across the book. Toovar dal (split yellow pigeon peas) is softened in a bath of unripe green mango, green bell pepper and coconut milk in a dish from the southwestern state of Kerala. Stressing the omnipresent influence of the Portuguese colonizers, chorizo cooks with red kidney beans and black-eyed peas in a spunky chile-vinegar tomato sauce in a Goan adaptation of Brazilian feijoada. Here and in the book’s other chapters on vegetables, seafood, poultry and eggs, meat, and paneer, curry is no catch-all. It slips, shifts and adapts.

To the curry-sphere and beyond

Iyer cheated a touch with the book’s title because some chapters exist outside of the sauce world. The opening chapter, Spice Blends and Paste, provides a constellation of building blocks and endless masalas with seven types of garam masala alone.

The final chapter, Curry Cohorts, dabbles in a touch of everything: rice preparations, including a Maharashtrian-style fried rice with peanuts and curry leaves; all manner of breads, such as poori, roti and naan; and even a mango cheesecake and saffron-licked green tea. “660 Curries” is an imposing endeavor. And, oh, how the book’s recipes work.

Iyer died, too young, at 61 in 2023. He was an admired teacher and an indefatigable researcher. And almost 20 years later, “660 Curries” remains as essential as it was when it first appeared. Scratch that. “660 Curries” is all the more pertinent now. The world needed time to embrace its sweeping, detailed grandeur.

“Is it a red wine, or a white?” said The Economist. “It is both.”

Trendy “blouge” wines have started popping up in bars around the world. A mix of white (blanc) and red (rouge) grapes, the resulting tipple is “light and refreshing, like a white, but with the structure and depth of a red”.

Mixing red and white like this is “not a new idea”. Winemakers have long been making champagnes from different coloured grapes. But recently producers have been “breaking new ground” with a growing number of “fresher” blouge wines often with “playful names to emphasise their novelty and expand their appeal”.

While rosé is made from red grapes alone with limited skin contact, and orange wines are made from white grapes in the style of a red with extended contact with the skins, blouge wines are a hybrid made by co-fermenting both red and white grapes. They are targeted at “younger, more adventurous” consumers keen to try something new.

Combining grape varieties gives producers more “flexibility” in the face of climate change. Hotter weather can lead to red grapes accumulating sugar faster, while the “ripening of skins and seeds can lag behind, causing a mismatch”. By adding white grapes to the mix, acidity is boosted while the high alcohol level found in ripe red grapes is diluted.

The pretty colours “tempt the Instagram lens”, said The Telegraph, luring “aperitivo-hour drinkers” on the lookout for wines with the “appeal of a light cocktail; often fruity and chilled, perhaps with a vestige of florality and a tinge of either astringency or sweetness”.

BoogieWoogie from Aubert et Mathieu is due to arrive in the UK this month, said The Guardian. A “light and juicy blend of red and white grenache grapes”, this is the “perfect match for tapas, pizza and picnics”.

Or try Domaine Lucas Madonia: The Blouge 2024, a “high-quality, natural” wine that uses grapes grown at a vineyard nestled on a “steep mountainside in the Swiss Alps of Valais”. Best enjoyed “cold on a sunny day after work”, the “fruity, aromatic blend” of chasselas white and gamay red grapes has a “clean, lively finish” with hints of “juicy strawberries and raspberries”.

Everyone in my family is a fan of bread studded with salty briny olives, and this recipe takes that craving a step further, said Joe Woodhouse. Feel free to add a block of grated halloumi to the mix. You can also cut the flatbreads in half and freeze them. Just put them in the toaster to defrost and crisp from frozen.

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 400g self-raising flour, or plain flour with 1 tbsp baking powder
• 200g wholemeal flour, plus more to dust
• 250g yoghurt, or kefir
• 3 tbsp olive oil, or oil from the sundried tomatoes, plus more (optional) for cooking
• 200g jar of sundried tomatoes in olive oil, drained and sliced
• 50g black olives, pitted and sliced
• 25g basil, stalks finely chopped, leaves chopped
• 3 tbsp drained capers
• 1 tbsp dried oregano

Method

• Put the flours in a mixing bowl. Mix the yoghurt or kefir in a jug with the oil and 200ml water. Add to the flour and knead to combine. Knead in the sundried tomatoes, olives, basil, capers and oregano.
• Divide the dough into 4 and roll out each piece on a floured surface to a diameter of about 20cm.
• Heat a griddle pan over a med-low heat. Add the flatbreads one at a time, brushing with olive oil first to get them extra crispy. Cook for 4-6 mins on each side until puffed and cooked through. To check if they’re ready, break a chunk off one, pull it apart and see if it is fluffy in the middle.
• Serve as is or spread with pesto, harissa or tapenade, or with a bowl of pickled chillies.

Taken from Weeknight Vegetarian by Joe Woodhouse

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Something special happens when cinnamon and puff pastry come together, says Moroccan chef Nargisse Benkabbou; it’s like culinary alchemy. And these knots are extra special because they include amlou, often referred to as “Moroccan Nutella”, a paste traditionally made with roasted almond butter, honey, and argan oil. The amlou in this recipe is slightly thicker than normal, so that it can be used to fill the knots without risk of it running out of the rolls during baking. Eat while warm – but they will keep in a sealed container for up to three days.

Ingredients (makes 12 knots)

For the amlou:

• 120g natural (ideally, roasted) almond butter, or substitute with peanut butter
• 1 1⁄2 tbsp (35g) honey
• 1 tbsp argan oil, or substitute with walnut or groundnut oil
• 1⁄4 tsp fine sea salt

For the knots:

• 2 sheets puff pastry (about 400g each)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 100g granulated sugar
• 3⁄4 tsp ground cinnamon

Method

• Combine the almond (or peanut) butter, honey, argan (or nut) oil and salt in a medium bowl and stir together until smooth and well blended.
• Unfold one of the puff pastry sheets on a lightly floured work surface. Use the back of a large spoon to spread the amlou over the sheet in a thin, even layer, about 3mm thick. The layer shouldn’t be thicker than a coin, as too much amlou will leak out when you slice the filled pastry.
• Place the second puff pastry sheet on top, making sure that the edges are aligned. Use a pizza cutter or sharp knife to cut the pastry rectangle lengthways into 2.5cm-wide strips.
• Line two baking trays with baking paper. Pick up one strip and shape it into a knot: hold the opposite ends of the strip, pull on them slightly, then roll it up into a spiral and tuck the end of the strip into the centre of the knot. Place the knot on a tray and shape the rest, dividing them between the two trays and leaving about 5cm between them.
• Cover the knots and transfer to the fridge. Let them rest for at least 45 mins, and as long as overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 180°C fan, with the racks in the upper and lower thirds. Brush the knots with the beaten egg and transfer to the oven. Bake for 30 to 35 mins, switching the positions of the trays about halfway through, until the knots are puffed up and golden. Meanwhile, combine the sugar and cinnamon in a medium bowl.
• Remove from the oven and let cool on the trays for 1 to 2 mins. Gently transfer each knot to the bowl of cinnamon sugar and turn to coat thoroughly, then transfer to a plate. Serve the knots warm or at room temperature.

Taken from Madaq: Simple Everyday Recipes with the Flavours of Morocco by Nargisse Benkabbou.

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“There are few better ways to immerse yourself in the great outdoors than to forage,” said Connor McGovern in National Geographic. As the countryside springs to life with an abundance of edible plants, now is a great time to start keeping an eye out for ingredients on your next walk.

April is “peak nettle season”. Packed with minerals and vitamins, the herbaceous perennial is surprisingly versatile and can easily be added to soups or used to make tea. Best harvested “sooner rather than later”, make sure you wear gloves to avoid getting stung and only pick the “top few leaves”.

Look out also for wild garlic, which “often grows in dense clusters on the floor of damp woodland and along shaded hedgerows”, said Helen Keating on the Woodland Trust. The leaves and flowers of the native bulb have an “unmistakable” garlicky smell, and can be used to whip up a “wild garlic pesto” or mixed with butter to make a “delicious version of garlic bread”.

Cow parsley, also known as wild chervil, is an “excellent all-round” ingredient. The perennial herb features tiny white flowers in “umbrella-like clusters” and “fern-like” leaves, and can be used in the same way as parsley when cooking. A word of warning: be careful not to mistake it for poison hemlock, which has distinctive purple blotches at the base of its stems, and an unpleasant musty odour.

Now is also the time dandelions “explode across fields, verges, scrubland and any patch of your garden they can set down roots in”, said Carys Matthews on BBC Countryfile. The petals of the bright yellow wildflower can be used to make desserts and “look lovely sprinkled on a cake”.

Be sure to look out for blackcurrant leaves, too, which have palmate lobes and a “serrated margin”. A handful of “fresh, young leaves” from the deciduous shrub can be used to make a “tasty tea with antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory” properties.

And if you’re on a health kick, try swapping out spinach for common mallow leaves or using the edible weed to thicken up soups. Identifiable by its “five-lobed leaves”, it’s rich in vitamins A, B, C and E and come summer its mauve-coloured flowers can be used to garnish cocktails and salads.

You can’t go wrong with a meatball, says chef Georgina Hayden. Light, lemony and spring-like, this brothy meatball recipe is both comforting and fresh – and a gorgeous way of getting greens into your dinner. My kids love it, especially when I roll the meatballs really small.

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 1 bunch spring onions
• 1 garlic clove
• ½ bunch flat-leaf parsley
• a few mint sprigs
• 50g breadcrumbs
• 400g minced meat (beef or pork, or a mixture)
• 1 unwaxed lemon (zest and juice)
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• olive oil
• 1 litre chicken or vegetable stock
• 180g mini pasta shells, or other small pasta shapes
• 150g peas, frozen or freshly podded
• 40g pecorino or parmesan (optional)

Method

• Trim and finely slice the spring onions.
• Peel and finely slice the garlic.
• Finely chop the herb leaves.
• Place half the sliced spring onions in a food processor with the sliced garlic clove, the breadcrumbs, half the chopped herbs and the minced meat.
• Finely grate in the lemon zest, season generously with salt and pepper and blitz until it all comes together. (You can of course do this by hand and mix well in a bowl.)
• Roll the mixture into small meatballs, around 2.5cm wide.
• Set a large casserole over a medium heat, drizzle in 3 tbsp olive oil and fry the meatballs for around ten minutes, turning, until they are browned all over.
• When the meatballs are browned and gnarly, pour the stock into the pan, bring to the boil and then stir in the pasta shells and the peas.
• Return to the boil, and simmer for 5-7 minutes, or until the pasta is tender.
• Remove from the heat and squeeze in the lemon juice.
• Taste the broth and adjust the seasoning as needed.
• Finish by stirring in the remaining herbs and spring onions, and serve in warmed bowls, finely grating over the pecorino or parmesan cheese, if using.

Taken from MEDesque: Everyday Recipes with Mediterranean Roots by Georgina Hayden.

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“It wasn’t long ago that crunchy or smooth was the sum total of our nut butter options,” said Sue Quinn in The Telegraph. But there is now more choice than ever and the “humble peanut is jostling for shelf space with almond, cashew and pistachio” spreads.

Sales of peanut butter overtook jam in the UK for the first time in 2020, and nut butters are “now making a bid to unseat honey from its long-held perch as number one”.

Filled with “fibre and healthy fats, it’s easy to see why nut butters appeal to the health-conscious among us,” said Lauren Shirreff in The Telegraph. They are a fantastic source of protein, “especially for people who are following plant-based or vegan diets”, nutritionist Jenna Hope told the paper.

A 30g serving of peanut butter contains around 8g of protein, which is “roughly the same as that in a large egg”, and a large spoonful “would also contain nearly three whole grams of fibre”.

One of the best alternatives to peanuts is almond butter, said Shirreff. It ticks lots of boxes, having the “most fibre” of any nut butter, and “fewer calories” too. Though it has “marginally” less protein than peanut butter, it’s “packed with magnesium and calcium”.

Pistachios have been all the rage as TikTok-viral sweet treats – think Dubai chocolate – but the best way to unlock their “bold, subtly sweet, roasted-nutty taste” is in savoury dishes, said Autumn Swiers on Tasting Table. A dollop of pistachio butter can be “placed under the skin of a chicken breast pre-roast for extra crispy, sweet-nutty moisture”, or as an “elevated candidate for homemade salad dressings”.

It is important to check the label for additional ingredients, said nutritionist Brianna Sommer on Delish. “I would look for a pure nut butter that has no added anything.” It is much better to add a pinch of salt, or a dollop of honey yourself than relying on whatever the “manufacturer has decided to include”.

The easiest way to eat nut butters is “on a slice of sourdough” or “poured over porridge”, said Stacey Smith in Women’s Health. But we all know they taste just that bit better “sneakily spooned straight from the jar”. For a “treat day” indulgence try Pana Organic Cashew Caramel Spread. “Packed with good stuff”, it includes coconut sugar for a hint of sweetness, while maca and sesame seeds bring “extra oomph”.

And if you’re looking for a classic peanut butter, try the M&S range, said Martha Roberts on Which?. Its smooth version is “rich”, “creamy” and “high-oleic” with the highest fibre content of the 56 items tested. Not only is it "reasonably priced”, it contains high levels of protein, and is “extremely low” in salt. Its crunchy alternative “comes a close second to its smooth sibling” because of its higher calorie and lower fibre content, but it’s “still high-oleic and with the same keen price”.

The best cookbooks feature throughlines. These days, the threads in new cookbooks star the people behind the books, functioning as mirrors that showcase a cook’s technique, their family story or the kind of food the author likes to make. “Hot Sour Salty Sweet,” published in 2000, looks out, not in.

While researching the text, its authors, Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid, traveled along the Mekong River in Southeast Asia over a few decades. The pair visited villages, snapped photos and documented recipes from both sides of the monumental body of water that defines and feeds parts of Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar and China. The book is epic, like the tome’s size, its 330-plus pages loaded into a format that’s far wider than it’s tall. “Hot Sour Salty Sweet” is not easy to hold in one’s hand, much like the region’s diverse grandeur.

Variations of a common theme

The cookbook’s 12 chapters wander from Sauces, Chile Pastes and Salsas to Sweets and Drinks, with moorings at Simple Soups, Salads, Rice and Rice Dishes, Noodles and Noodle Dishes, Mostly Vegetables, Fish and Seafood, Poultry, Beef, Pork, Snacks and Street Food. Each chapter is a head-spinning exercise in dissimilarity, with so many common ingredients treated wildly unalike.

Take the seafood chapter. A recipe from Tonle Sap, Cambodia’s “great inland lake,” melds smoked fish and unripe mangoes with a dressing of vinegar, shallots, galangal and fish sauce — tart, funk, spunk, pop. In tom thit heo, from southern Vietnam, shrimp and thin slices of pork shoulder frolic in a stir-fry heady with lemongrass and black pepper. Simplest of all, salt-grilled catfish has its flesh slashed and loaded with coarse salt before a turn on a grill. Each dish and recipe howls with a common sense of place. Listen closely, and you hear the soft noise of distinguishability.

The personal as point of entry

There’s no foolhardy attempt at comprehensiveness in “Hot Sour Salty Sweet.” An essay about a border town on the edges of Laos, Thailand and Myanmar; a return to the village Sangkhom in northeastern Thailand to visit pals; a profile of a Laotian rice noodle maker working from her home on stilts near the Chinese border — Alford and Duguid covered thousands of miles of territory, but their experiences there are theirs alone.

Decades before the notion of the “exotic” was proscribed, rightfully, and white journalists began learning how to remove themselves from the center of every story, Alford and Duguid, who are both white, liaised with more than 15 Southeast Asian ethnic groups for “Hot Sour Salty Sweet.” They did so with curiosity, capturing their subjects with careful research, stirring photos and clear-eyed writing. This is documentation as honoring.

With its “green, rolling hills” and “patchwork of pinot noir and chardonnay vineyards”, Oregon’s Willamette Valley has been compared to Burgundy, said National Geographic.

The valley is home to 11 designated grape-growing regions with diverse terroirs, spanning all the way from Portland to Eugene. In recent years, the “cool nights and warm summer days” here have provided the perfect conditions for some “top-notch sparkling wines”. Grape varieties used in champagne like pinot meunier have been “thriving” here.

Method Oregon is a non-profit established by a coalition of producers to ensure high standards and help place their wines on the map. Bottles carrying the stamp must be “100% fermented, bottled, riddled, and disgorged in Oregon”, use the traditional method that requires sparkling wines to go through a “natural secondary fermentation in a bottle”, said National Geographic, and be aged for no less than 24 months en tirage (“the crucial stage where wines are aged on yeast”) to develop a complex flavour.

Gran Moraine’s sparkling brut rosé is “exquisite, rich and lovely”, said Clive Pursehouse on Decanter. The delicate wine spent six years en tirage and is bursting with “floral notes of apple blossom, sweet lemon cream, and ripe, fleshy pears”.

But chardonnay remains the “king of Oregon white wines”, said Mike Desimone on Robb Report. For a special occasion, consider splashing out on a bottle from Eyrie Vineyard where winemaker Jim Maresh makes “small-batch, high-quality wines from estate-grown grapes under his family label”.

Or, you can’t go wrong with a Résonance chardonnay, said Vine Pair. When renowned French winemakers come to Oregon “you know to pay attention”. That’s exactly what happened when Thibault Gagey and Jacques Lardière embarked on their “first project outside of Burgundy” in the Willamette Valley – and this bottle is an “excellent example” of how the chardonnay grape variety is flourishing in the cool climate. Expect refreshing mineral notes, hints of “ripe pear and crisp apples”, with a “wonderfully balanced” palate.

Welcome to the icons-only edition of where to drink this spring. Half of the bars in this compilation are the kind of place where the drinking is simply a means to an end. The rest are bars where cocktail-making is revered. All have been around for a spell, achieving venerable notoriety in their respective cities. All hail the longtimers.

Barret Bar & Grill, Louisville

If the Barret Bar “were a person, it would be an old Hollywood character actor with stories about getting drunk with Errol Flynn and Betty Davis,” said the Louisville Courier Journal. Barret began its life as a shotgun bar in 1947 and has since expanded to three times the size with a handful of pool tables. The bar is no frills and all welcoming camaraderie. The “place has a heart and soul of its own,” said a former general manager, John Campbell, to the outlet.

Clermont Lounge, Atlanta

It is unjust to call the Clermont Lounge a strip club. Let’s call it a bar with strippers. Or a lounge, like its name connotes. A “core group of women” have worked there for more than 25 years, said Dana Hazels Seith in The Bitter Southerner. The Clermont, which debuted in 1965, is a rip-roaring good time; it is also a ravishing snapshot of what it means to be alive, to be human. “Every person who spent time there — from bartender to customer to dancer — told me the same thing,” said Seith. “You can be yourself at the Clermont Lounge.”

The Cloak Room, Austin

The Cloak Room’s location within spitting distance of the Texas capitol building might suggest there is some fanciness afoot here. Wrong! The lounge’s “lack of a hoity-toity menu” means that drinking here is “decidedly unfussy,” said Anthony Head at Austin Monthly about the bar that opened in 1979. You might encounter a politician taking a breather, sure. You will also assuredly find an “aged wooden countertop” and a “great neighborhood spot that prefers to fly a little under the radar.”

Cure, New Orleans

Cure, which opened in 2009, is both record-keeper and innovator, an admirable endeavor in a city that is the birthplace of the cocktail. Ask for any classic, and the bar will make it even if the drink is not listed on the regular menu. The bartenders are that adept. They are also ever-forward-thinking: Four times a year, the crew overhauls the seasonal drink menu. Fixed and fresh, Cure does it all.

Julius’, New York City

At once a raunchy dive bar and an LGBTQ+ icon, Julius’ has been open since the 1860s in Manhattan’s West Village neighborhood. And, yes, Julius’ is option D: all of the above. It is a place to meet the man of your dreams for a night, as well as one of the centerpieces of the queer civil rights movement. And as of 2022, Julius’ is an officially designated New York City landmark. For as long as there are people on planet Earth, may Julius’ reign.

The Normandie Club, Los Angeles

Whether you seek an “excellent first stop before a night out in Koreatown” or a “great nightcap destination after a dinner date,” The Normandie Club is an optimal choice, said The Infatuation. The swank, welcoming bar opened in 2015 and covers its bases. Margaritas, palomas and a whiskey-Aperol spritz are on draft for streamlined serving. On the flip side, the bar has reconsidered classic cocktails such as the gimlet and old-fashioned, the latter built with coconut-washed bourbon and spiced almond demerara syrup.

Smuggler’s Cove, San Francisco

The Tiki heyday, the story goes, occurred during the middle of the 20th century, with Americans pining for exotic locales and fruity cocktails. All true. You could instead argue, though, that the finest incarnation of Tiki-dom launched when Smuggler’s Cove opened in San Francisco in 2009. Fresh juices, quality rums, pristine drinkmaking technique — the Cove stupefied with its faultless approach. Yes, a Zombie from the Cove will render you lifeless. But it will taste so good before your demise begins.

Sweet Liberty Drinks & Supply Co., Miami

Sweet Liberty was a hit from the moment it opened in 2015. More than a decade on and endless accolades later, the “bar isn’t letting all that praise go to its head,” said Jennifer M. Wood at Condé Nast Traveler. Situated alongside the Bass Art Museum, Sweet Liberty is both a home base for locals and a destination for tourists. The cocktail list knows its mission: South Miami crowd-pleasers, thoughtfully considered, like a frothy Midori sour with green Chartreuse and an apple martini with apple brandy and dry vermouth.

Hot dogs are quintessentially American. Initially the food of immigrants, the humble combination of a frank wrapped in a bun became part of the country’s cultural fabric, a staple at picnics, baseball stadiums, barbecues and fairs. Regional styles vary — get yours topped with coleslaw in the Carolinas, cream cheese in Seattle and sauerkraut in Birmingham — but they all honor traditions while showcasing local flavors.

A quick history lesson

German immigrants who came to the United States during the mid-19th century brought along a love for sausages. During the 1860s, carts began to pop up in New York City, with peddlers selling bun-wrapped thin sausages that had a “special Old World snap,” said Smithsonian Magazine. They were both “portable and tantalizingly inexpensive,” and it wasn’t long before these “handy treats” made their way to Coney Island, where seaside revelers enjoyed them while strolling the boardwalk.

Millions more were introduced to the dish at the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago, when a pair of “entrepreneurial” Austrian Hungarian immigrants, brothers-in-law Emil Reichel and Samuel Ladany, set up a Vienna sausage stand in the Austrian Village section of the expo, said the Chicago History Museum. Their sausages, topped with mustard and onions, sold for 10 cents each and were such a hit that after the fair the pair opened Vienna Beef Inc., which remains “arguably the hot dog king of Chicago.”

By 1900, vendors were slinging sausages at race tracks and baseball fields, and people began referring to the portable meal as a hot dog. There are a few theories on how the name came to be, with some saying it’s because the meat was often called a “dachshund sausage” and others claiming a connection to the slang term “hot dog,” which meant a “swaggering young man who loitered with other flashy dandies,” said Smithsonian Magazine.

Chicago-style hot dog

What is it? An all-beef frankfurter in a poppy seed bun, topped with yellow mustard, relish, chopped onion, tomato slices, sport peppers, celery salt and a pickle spear.

This hot dog is all about the toppings, and “each component has a specific role to play,” said Mashed. Sport peppers bring the heat, pickles the brine and mustard the tang, which “balance the sweetness of the relish.” Various immigrants are responsible for these flavors, with the poppyseed bun “reflecting Eastern Europe” and the “elements that dragged the hot dog through the garden,” like onions, tomatoes and pickle, courtesy of Greeks and Italians, said WTTW.

There’s one condiment you won’t see on a Chicago-style dog: ketchup. That’s because during the early 1900s, ketchup was “used to cover up the flavor of poor-quality meat,” said NBC 5 Chicago. Not having to squirt any on your hot dog was a “source of pride” and “symbol of higher quality.” All these years later, the tradition still stands.

Where to try it: At Gene & Jude’s, the hot dogs are “expertly prepared” and have an “exceptional snap,” said Serious Eats. The stand, located outside of Chicago in River Grove, is “continuously packed,” but the dogs and “just-fried hand-cut fries” that come on the side are worth the wait.

Detroit-style Coney Dog

What is it? A beef frankfurter in a steamed bun, topped with meat chili, diced white onions and yellow mustard.

The Coney Dog, now ubiquitous in Detroit, was created more than 100 years ago by Greek immigrants. As the story goes, they “ventured first to Coney Island” in New York, where they tried the famous hot dogs at Nathan’s, then decided to sell their own version in the Motor City, said Detroit PBS. The secret ingredient in their chili is Greek spices and is an ode to the immigrants’ homeland.

One of the earliest hot dog joints to open in Detroit was American Coney Island, which brothers Constantine “Gust” Keros and Bill Keros opened in 1917. After a falling out, the two went their separate ways, and Bill opened his own shop, Lafayette Coney, next door. The feud is part of Detroit’s culinary history; both restaurants remain open today.

Where to try it: There is “no better spot to indulge” in a Detroit-style Coney than Duly’s Place, said Eater. Open for more than a century, the diner remains a “go-to” thanks to its “consistency” and “greasy-spoon environment.” The dogs here have a “satisfying snap” and come “slathered” in all the necessary toppings.

New York System hot wiener

What is it? A wiener made of pork, beef and veal in a steamed bun topped with celery salt, mustard, chopped onions and spiced meat sauce.

Rhode Island’s take on the hot dog, introduced in the 1920s, “began as a loose nod” to Coney Island-style, but its “identity” was soon “shaped” by Greek immigrant hands, “local tastes” and a “very specific spice profile” that made it stand on its own, said Tasting Table.

The wieners are “smaller than standard hot dogs,” and the meat sauce does not have the consistency or taste of chili. Rather, it’s a “finely textured, crumble-like mixture” seasoned with cinnamon, paprika, allspice, cumin and Worcestershire sauce.

Where to try it: Olneyville New York System in Providence has been serving hot wieners in the same spot since the early 1950s (there’s a sister location in Cranston). The operation is still family-run, and as such there’s a “‘Cheers’-style vibe where everybody knows your name,” said Tasting Table. Pair your dog with a coffee milk, Rhode Island’s state drink.

Puka dog 

What is it? A Polish sausage (or veggie dog) stuffed inside a Hawaiian sweet bread bun, topped with garlic lemon sauce, tropical fruit relish and Hawaiian mustard.

Poke, loco moco, kalua pig and huli huli chicken are all Hawaiian classics, but ignore the Puka Dog at your gustatory peril. The Hawaiian-style hot dog is a fusion of traditional ingredients with tropical accoutrements that give it a “vibrant flair,” said Chowhound.

These can be customized, with the relish alone covering “kaleidoscopic options, from star fruit to banana, coconut and more.” It was created in the early 2000s at the Puka Dog hut on Kauai, and while “spinoffs are widespread” across the Hawaiian islands, this is where the dish was perfected.

Where to try it: The place where it all began: Puka Dog. Ordering is a four-step process: meat or veggie dog, mild or spicy secret garlic lemon sauce, which tropical relish, and mustard or no mustard. The “patient” Puka Dog crew will help you “tweak” things if you “have any questions at crunch time,” said SF Gate.

Sonoran dog

What is it? A hot dog wrapped in bacon in a bolillo and topped with onion, tomato, mustard, salsa verde, pinto beans and mayonnaise.

The Sonoran dog is Arizona’s “most popular fusion of Mexican and American food” and over the last 30 years has “cemented itself itself as a cherished local tradition,” said the Arizona Republic. Its roots are in Hermosillo, the capital of the Mexican state of Sonora, where legend has it the flavorful dish got its start as a popular snack sold at baseball games during the 1940s. Benjamin Galaz of BK Carne Asada & Hot Dogs is credited as the leader of the pack in Tucson, opening the first Sonoran dog food cart on the city’s South Side in 1993.

Where to try it: Tucson has made it incredibly easy to find the best Sonoran dogs in town. The new Sonoran Dog Trail highlights 15 spots, from street cart vendors to old school establishments, and if you visit them all, you’ll receive a souvenir t-shirt. One of the stops, El Güero Canelo, is the “ultimate Sonoran dog spot,” said the Arizona Daily Star. Its hot dogs are “cooked well” and nestled in “nice and soft” buns, with toppings like cooked onions and mustard that add a “tanginess to all the savory flavors.”

The ingredients themselves are the luminaries of spring. They are often verdant — peas, leeks, asparagus, spinach. A pink (rhubarb) or brown (lamb) jumps in too. These recipes center the season’s finest ingredients, using techniques and sauces to complement, not overwhelm, their pristine gestalt.

Asparagus Pakoras

A tender asparagus stalk is a perfect specimen. It needs little to twinkle. Then you go and coat it in a chile-spiked batter made from chickpea flour, fry it til it shatters, and dust it with salt, and suddenly the spear downright scintillates. Get the recipe.

Braised Leek with Chile Bean Sauce

Searing long leek halves turns them charred, sweet-bitter and melting. Braising then softens them into willing submission. They soon clamor for a finishing complement, which a frisky combination of Sichuan chile bean paste, soy sauce, garlic and black vinegar readily provides. Get the recipe.

Broccoli, Bacon and Boursin Quiche

Quiche is always the right idea. It’s all the better when loaded with smoky bacon, lush Boursin cheese and nubbins of Broccolini. Serve the entire entity for a brunch gathering, or parcel it into meals for days on end. Get the recipe.

Lowland Celery Salad

Celery, please step center stage and into the spotlight. No, more to the right and pick up some dates, toasted walnuts and extra-sharp cheddar. Close, but to the left a touch, that mustardy sherry vinaigrette can join you. There! You made it. Feeling the love and attention you have always merited? Get the recipe.

Rhubarb Crisp

A crumble topping is loaded with oats, pecans and Chinese five-spice powder. Rhubarb done two ways: unadulterated and treated with baking soda to shave away some of the plants’ sharp edge. A rhubarb crisp is classic springtime, and this variation nudges the dessert into the modern age. Get the recipe.

Sabzi

We are just on the other side of the spring equinox, but the hunger for an ongoing, explicit spring jubilee persists. Spinach has the tonic earthiness the season necessitates, and lamb is the holy protein of now. This Afghan braise stars not just spinach as the green blast but also a wallop of green onions and cilantro. Steadying and lush, sabzi is a spring headliner. Get the recipe.

Shakshuka

Shakshuka, that stewy egg dish, is everywhere. You may as well have a baseline recipe for your home kitchen. This one from chef Yotam Ottolenghi is basic with no frippery to speak of — just tomatoes, harissa, red peppers, cumin and final filip of yogurt. It’s an optimal diving board for shakshuka-fiddling. Get the recipe.

Spring Peas with Mint Butter

Nearly every possible kind of pea shows up here. Snow peas, English peas, snap peas have all come to play. That means frolicking, after a quick blanching, in a butter bath loaded with chives and mint. Use the best butter you can find, and finish with chopped toasted hazelnuts and flaky salt, just because. Get the recipe.

Spring is one of the year’s stacked seasons for cookbooks. In 2026, new releases include an homage to a single beloved ingredient, Southern cooking by way of both Emancipation and China, and a regional exploration of Lebanese food. Get excited, get curious, and just get cooking.

‘The Butter Book’

Butter is on the brain here, so much so that this slim tome from Anna Stockwell is even shaped like a stick of golden glory. “Part historical deep dive, part recipe book, part decorative object,” the book does it all, said Vogue. Open it, and you are greeted with a history of butter, plus simple ways to use it to elevate everyday dishes. Your pot of rice will thank you. More complicated recipes appear too, including fancified buttered pasta and butter roast chicken. (out now, $19.95, Chronicle Books, Amazon)

‘Down South + East: A Chinese American Cookbook’

This book “so seamlessly blends Chinese cuisine with classic Southern dishes that they seem almost destined to be paired together,” said The Kitchn. In truth, chef-author Ron Hsu, of Atlanta’s Lazy Betty, stretches the influences across multiple parts of East Asia. Banana pudding wafts with the green vanilla notes of pandan. Soy sauce, Maggi seasoning, daikon and shiitake mushrooms bring the pot roast into new territory. Batons of Chinese eggplant are coated in cornmeal before frying. Romaine is braised, as is common in Hong Kong, but with ham hock potlikker. You get the idea. (out now, $40, Abrams, Amazon)

‘A Feather and a Fork: 125 Intertribal Dishes from an Indigenous Food Warrior’

Crystal Wahpepah, the chef of Wahpepah’s Kitchen in Oakland, California, is an enrolled member of the Kickapoo tribe. With “A Feather and a Fork,” she uses her recipes to tell the story of her displaced family, who were moved from Oklahoma to the San Francisco Bay Area, and to “decolonize nutrition and reclaim sovereignty” over “traditional foodways,” Wahpepah said in her book. Lessons come true and fast in recipes for amaranth salad, wild onion soup and chokecherry pudding. (out now, $35, Rodale, Amazon)

‘Hello, Home Cooking: Do-Able Dishes for Every Day’

Ham El-Waylly’s debut is a “lively book that blends solid technique with a touch of whimsy,” said Library Journal. The chef of the New Orleans-influenced New York City restaurant Strange Delight, El-Waylly brings his fine-dining background and expansive, diverse home cooking skills to vivid life. With El-Waylly’s Bolivian mother, Egyptian father and childhood in Qatar, his recipes string these influences into a very inspired American way of eating. (out now, $35, Clarkson Potter, Amazon)

‘Lebanon: Cooking the Foods of My Homeland’

Anissa Helou, a food-writing legend, was born in Lebanon and focused her first book, “Lebanese Cuisine,” on the dishes her mother cooked. This new publication reaches across the nation to showcase a variety of regional dishes. Helou “came to look at the food of my own country afresh, realizing that it’s far more fascinating to view a cuisine through a regional rather than a national lens,” she said in the book’s introduction. (out now, $40, HarperCollins, Amazon)

‘Party Tricks: Easy, Elegant Recipes for Snacking and Hosting’

Let us be extremely real: Everyone needs at least two handfuls of party tricks. With Anna Hezel’s new book, you will be the indebted recipient of a bookful. She recommends votives instead of candles to prevent flammable accidents, premade snacks set in various parts of the space for easy access, and a variety of corkscrews plopped within reach — “that way, no one has to search when they are ready to open another bottle,” Hezel said to MarthaStewart.com. Of course, “Party Tricks” is loaded with knockout dishes and how to make them, including cured ham with hazelnuts warmed in butter, maple butter togarashi popcorn, and whipped feta with burnt honey. (out now, $24.95, Chronicle Books, Amazon)

‘La Copine: New California Cooking from an Oasis in the Desert’

Joshua Tree National Park, in southeastern California, is a desert stunner. Smaller by far and equally jaw-dropping is La Copine, a sliver of a restaurant in nearby Yucca Valley. The co-owners and couple, Nikki Hill and Claire Wadsworth, have “built what’s become a joyful queer oasis in the high desert,” said Olivia Tarantino at Bon Appétit. That assessment is sound. Open Thursday to Sunday during the day, La Copine is a respite after a long hike or a long night of carousing. The pair’s book, with its mix of hearty and feathery cooking, transports. (April 28, $45, Abrams, Amazon)

‘The Taste of Country Cooking’

It’s the “most beloved Southern cookbook of all time,” said the press materials for this 50th anniversary edition of Edna Lewis’ 1976 classic. There’s not a lick of exaggeration in that statement. Lewis taught Americans not steeped in the traditions of Black Virginian cooking how to prepare green tomato preserves, pan-fried chicken and her style of biscuits. Those in the know have long cherished their copies of “The Taste of Country Cooking.” Now a new generation can cradle their own. (May 5, $40, Knopf, Amazon)

‘Ammazza!: Culinary Adventures from New York to Italy and Back Again’

Hillary Sterling is currently known for the monster-hit Italian restaurant Ci Siamo in New York City. It’s a destination that’s both sophisticated and comforting. “Ammazza!,” Sterling’s debut cookbook, promises a similar endgame. There are recipes for her beloved Ci Siamo dishes, like the braised beans with oil-cured olives and fried sage and rosemary leaves. But Sterling’s resume is long, so her Italian way with Passover is here, as well, and her Mexican take on Thanksgiving, because “​​so many of our team members come from Puebla or other parts of Mexico. And because Mexican food is my second love after Italian,” said Sterling to Total Food Service magazine. (May 12, $40, Simon & Schuster, Amazon)

After the boozy beverages of winter, spring requires, or at least requests, a lighter approach. So the coming months are a period for cocktails in bigger glasses that welcome more liquid for more leisurely sipping. Let’s get tall, baby!

Batanga

Blanco tequila, lime juice, cola and salt — welcome to the Batanga, a low-key icon of La Capilla, the “oldest cantina in the town of Tequila, Mexico,” said Imbibe magazine. There are easy drinks, but the Batanga is so effortless you could make it while horizontal in a hammock.

Caribeño

Take a daiquiri, and make it long and tall, and now you have yourself a Caribeño. The rum, lime juice and simple syrup are there, of course. Coconut water does the heavy work, creating a cocktail that will not knock you on your rear.

Champ-Ale

You can have your cocktail and beer, too. The Champ-Ale has you pour a light cream ale and sparkling wine into a big ol’ glass with ice and then shake it with sweet vermouth, lemon juice and cane syrup in a separate vessel. Pour the second mixture into the glass, stir and embrace the best of two booze worlds.

Earl Grey-Aquavit Spritz

Throw some Earl Grey tea leaves and a chunk of lemon peel in a bottle of aquavit, the caraway-seed-flavored spirit. Let infuse for 20 minutes or so, then combine with honey syrup, lemon juice and sparkling wine. Serve this plucky spritz to a crowd of pals.

Kombucha-Vodka Highball

The best of the basics, this highball combines vodka, ginger-flavored kombucha, lime juice, simple syrup and, oh yes, ice. Garnish with a lime wedge to prove you bothered a little.

Oita Chu-hi

A touch of future-thinking is required for this shochu-based highball. You will need to infuse a bag of barley tea in a bottle of shochu and blend sweet, herbal pandan leaves with coconut water, then carbonate the mix to make yourself a coconut soda. From there, it is all about assembling — a little rigmarole for much rejuvenescence.

Serpent-less Swizzle

A drink with ballast, the Irish whiskey base of the Serpent-less Swizzle is a hearty anchor. Sweet white vermouth, lemon juice and grenadine provide contrast and sharpness. Swizzles, a genre of cocktails served over crushed or pebbled ice, are meant for sipping. You may find yourself guzzling.

Watership Down

The “flavors make me think of fields,” said bartender Jeremy Oertel to Punch magazine about his Watership Down cocktail. Yes, its name is an homage to the classic leporine book, with grassy notes a rabbit might adore. Gin, dry vermouth, celery shrub and ginger syrup guarantee a balanced and refreshing drink.

Eating well is a gift you should give yourself this spring after that doozy of a winter. French cooking through the lens of both the West Coast and the Midwest, Hawaiian on the run in New York City, impeccable Mexican in San Antonio – map your meals now.

Bar Nouveau, Portland, Oregon

Chef Althea Grey Potter cooks French food “without Francophile reserve,” said Jordan Michelman at Portland Monthly about this new-ish restaurant off the well-trod paths of the Rose City. Chicken liver mousse is piped in ruffles on savory sablé cookies, and a thimble-size complimentary cocktail begins the meal for those who drink alcohol. Bar Nouveau is both retro and forward-thinking. The restaurant “reminds me of what it was like to go out to eat in Portland a decade ago, and I mean that as a compliment.”

Creepies, Chicago

Creepies may be Chicago’s “first true neo-bistro,” said John Kessler at Chicago magazine. That means the roast chicken is the “one to beat” in town, the fries “stop conversation,” and a butterscotch custard has a “narrative arc in every bite.” None of this comes as a surprise for those who know Chicago’s dining scene. After all, some of the team behind the stellar Elske are running Creepies.

Huli Huli, New York City

A delicious well-executed takeout joint is forever welcome in Manhattan. Enter Huli Huli, the new rotisserie from the team of the modern-Hawaiian Noreetuh. The menu is tight, just roast chicken with shiitake-ginger rice, and fried chicken with cucumber-radish pickles. Flesh out the bird with sides like steamed bok choy and island-style mac salad, plus a choice of four sauces, including the “zippy, umami scallion sauce,” said The Infatuation. Warm weather has now come to your delivery order.

Leña, Detroit

This restaurant “places an emphasis simply on wood-fired cooking and farm-fresh ingredients,” said Lyndsay C. Green at Detroit Free Press. At Leña, the menu is succinct yet somehow pings across every kind of dish you might crave. Chicories are studded with dates and hazelnuts and rich with the manchego-like cheese Pascualino. A roasted whole fish comes with fried potatoes and mojo verde. Plop yourself at the bar for an impromptu moment, alongside salt cod croquettes, a fried chicken sandwich with Espelette mayonnaise, and a glass of a crisp Spanish white.

Locust, Nashville

Open for lunch and dinner three days a week, Locust is “fully, uncompromisingly and unapologetically itself,” said Khushbu Shah at Food & Wine. The menu changes constantly, and you can be assured that what you read there is a mere suggestion of what will arrive at the table. One example: “crab omelette with curry rice” arrives as a pocket square of thin omelet, wrapped snugly around that curry rice. No messy egg half-moons in sight. Reservations open on the first of the month and tend to go poof quickly. Good things demand a touch of effort sometimes, no?

Mixtli, San Antonio

Great service is akin to interpersonal chemistry: You cannot quite describe it, but you know it when it sparks. There’s an effortlessness to the service at the tasting-menu Mixtli, which rotates its dishes every few months around various Mexico-related themes. (The current theme, through the end of April, is La Vecindad, honoring the grand houses of Mexico City.) Anyone who knows restaurants knows that facile service is a calibrated performance. The ineffability of smooth, clairvoyant service requires endless detail behind the scenes to meet guests’ needs before they themselves know what they want. Mixtli is the rare restaurant where the service is the food’s equal.

Palm & Pine, New Orleans

Spend a fair amount of time in New Orleans, and you will be able to clock a New Orleans restaurant — not simply a restaurant that happens to be located in the Crescent City but one where conviviality flows like a broken water main, and the food is rich, comforting and detonating with flavor. Palm & Pine, on the edge of the French Quarter, hits all the marks. On the regularly changing menu, you might find the restaurant’s take on BBQ shrimp, heady with mesquite-smoked shrimp butter, or chicken-fried quail with smothered Creole tomatoes and snap peas. You will absolutely encounter a gracious staff and the best kind of welcoming vibes.

RT Bistro, San Francisco

The new spot from Sarah and Evan Rich, the owners of the beloved Rich Table, have opened a casual offshoot. RT Bistro is designed for crowd-pleasing, so it, of course, stars a burger with Cheddar, dill-pickled onions and triple-cooked fries. But this being from the Riches, there’s plenty of smart, refined cooking too. The kampachi crudo, with mandarin and chile, for example, embodies the “talent of Sarah and Evan — each ingredient is discernible, no single one dominating the others,” said Nico Madrigal-Yankowski at SFGate.

Long-standing claims of verbal and physical abuse at world-renowned Copenhagen restaurant Noma have finally “come back to haunt” its founding chef, René Redzepi, said The Times.

The “culinary god” has stepped down after shocking details of his “toxic” kitchen culture were revealed by a damning new investigation. “An apology is not enough,” Redzepi said in a statement on Instagram. “I take responsibility for my own actions.”

Empire built on ‘pain’

Redzepi has been “rewriting the rules of fine dining” since Noma opened in 2003, crafting “jewel-like plates” from sustainable and foraged local ingredients, said The New York Times. His innovative approach scooped him three Michelin stars, and Noma has topped the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list on five occasions. He became a revered figure in the culinary world: in 2013, Anthony Bourdain proclaimed he was “without a doubt, the most influential, provocative, and important chef in the world”.

In 2024, Noma transitioned from restaurant to “full-time food laboratory”, developing new dishes and running fine-dining pop-ups in different locations around the world. But an upcoming residency in Los Angeles, with a tasting menu priced at $1,500 (£1,300) a head, “sparked a public conversation” about Redzepi’s treatment of his staff, some of whom came forward to claim his “empire” was built on their “pain”.

Thirty-five former staffers, employed between 2009 and 2017, gave accounts of serious abuse, alleging that Redzepi “punched employees in the face” and “slammed them against walls”. Several claimed he would “crouch under the counters” and “jab them in the legs with his fingers or a nearby utensil, like a barbecue fork”. They also described verbal threats, including to have staff members “blacklisted” from other restaurants or to “have their families deported”. Until 2002, Noma had over 30 unpaid interns, working 16-hour days and covering their own living costs. The restaurant’s “one-woman human resources department” also “happened to be Redzepi’s mother-in-law”.

‘Signs’ were all there

This will come as no surprise to “anyone who has followed modern restaurant culture”, said former restaurateur Richard Crampton-Platt in UnHerd. I visited Noma a decade ago and found it “suffocatingly self-regarding”. It developed a reputation as an “enlightened kitchen” and the “progressive future of fine dining” but the “signs of what was really going on” were all there. Redzepi was filmed “screaming at chefs” in the 2008 documentary “Noma at Boiling Point” and, in 2015, he wrote an article in a food magazine admitting that “I have been a bully for a large part of my career”.

“The backlash was inevitable,” said US chef Andrew Gruel in the New York Post. But it’s “ironic” that a lot of the “outrage is coming from the same elite food world that helped build a culture of abuse”. For years, fine-dining kitchens have been “run like military brigades”, with long hours, unpaid or poorly paid workers and a culture of harassment. The tacit “bargain” aspiring young chefs accept is to “endure the brutality, work the hours, and maybe one day earn your place in the hierarchy”. The price of the excellence that food critics and “elite diners” demand is professional kitchens marred by exploitation, burnout and alcohol and drug abuse.

“It’s dehumanising” and it’s been going on for too long, French food journalist Nora Bouazzouni, author of “Violence in the Kitchen”, told CNN. Her work “exposing the extent of physical, emotional and psychological abuse” in professional kitchens across France “has helped spark a national reckoning” that’s “reached the ears of the country’s lawmakers”. Last year, a motion to create a commission of inquiry into violence in professional kitchens was tabled in the French National Assembly.

Undoing this entrenched “French system” that kitchens around the world have “replicated” won’t be easy. But a 2021 paper which drew on 47 interviews with elite chefs, and was published in the Journal of Management Studies, offers one “compelling, but simple solution: create more open kitchens”. A shift away from the “isolated, closed, hidden spaces” where “regular rules don’t apply” could help to establish a healthier work environment.

Before Redzepi’s resignation, tickets for Noma’s LA pop-up had sold out. This only demonstrates, said The Times, that there are “plenty who can happily separate the art from the artist” as long as “the kitchen is thoroughly soundproofed”.

This fresh and vibrant salad is delicious warm or cold, as a nutritious lunch or shared at a gathering, said Madeleine Olivia. The final touch of pomegranate molasses in the dressing and seeds for topping takes the flavour to another level.

Ingredients (serves 6-8)

• 150g brown, black or wild rice
• 150g whole grains (such as buckwheat, quinoa, barley, amaranth, farro, bulgur wheat)
• 400g tin of beans (such as kidney beans, black beans, chickpeas, black-eyed beans, butter beans, pinto beans), drained and rinsed
• 10 cherry tomatoes, quartered
• 6 radishes, very thinly sliced
• 1 small red onion
• 1 tbsp pumpkin seeds
• handful of lamb’s lettuce (or rocket or young spinach)
• pomegranate seeds, for topping (optional)
• lemon wedges, to serve

For the dressing:

• 1 tbsp finely chopped mint
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp pomegranate molasses
• zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• salt and freshly ground pepper

Method

• Cook the rice and grains according to the packet instructions. Set aside to cool.
• Whisk all the dressing ingredients together in a small bowl. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
• When the rice and whole grains are cool, add to a large bowl with the remaining salad ingredients, adding the lamb’s lettuce (or rocket, or spinach) last, and tossing everything together.
• Pour over the dressing, sprinkle over the pomegranate seeds, if using, and serve with lemon wedges.

Taken from “A Year in a Cottage Kitchen” by Madeleine Olivia

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Diners are spoilt for choice in London. The capital is a delicious melting pot of different cuisines – from flavour-packed Filipino dishes and the finest sushi to classic Greek meze and authentic Indian street food. These are some of our favourite spots.

Kebab Queen, Covent Garden

The kebab, at least in Britain, is not usually considered a worthy rival to a Japanese omakase tasting menu, writes The Week’s Holden Frith. Yet that is the comparison invited by Kebab Queen, a restaurant that serves eight courses of flame-grilled meat, fish and vegetables in the basement of Le Bab, a more conventional fast-casual spot. There is a paradox here, but a fun one: each course, constructed and cooked with evident care, is served without plates, directly onto a heated counter, sauces and all. You have no choice but to eat them with your hands, scooping up any leftover sauce with a finger or, if you’re brave, your tongue. This is not recommended at the Japanese equivalent. A playful (and generous) wine flight adds to the sense of conviviality: early in the evening, a rich aubergine-stuffed dolma paired with tawny port prompted murmurs of appreciation, but course six, an ox cheek manti and a glass of smoky German pinot noir, received loud acclamation from around the counter table.
eatlebab.com

Sushisamba, Covent Garden

It’s early evening midweek but there’s already a queue of people trying to get a table at Sushisamba, writes The Week’s Irenie Forshaw. Set in the Opera Terrace on the top floor of Covent Garden’s historic Market Building, the buzzy restaurant is thrumming with life. Lush greenery springs from every corner and a team of chefs are hard at work behind the counter in the sleek open kitchen. The menu is filled with unexpected delights: inventive dishes that fuse elements of Japanese, Peruvian and Brazilian cuisine. Plantain chips, served with a spicy aji amarillo dipping sauce, and salted edamame beans set the tone of the signature tasting menu. The salmon ceviche doused in a rich sesame dressing and topped with crispy slices of sweet potato and toasted sugared macadamia nuts was the highlight of the evening. Other twists came in the form of California rolls (drizzled with truffle oil) and yellowtail tuna (diced and served in mini taco shells). Be sure to save room for the chocolate banana cake, and wash everything down with a cocktail or two. The fiery Tom Yam – a heady mix of gin, coriander, chilli, ginger and lime – is a must.
sushisamba.com

Belly, Kentish Town

Small and buzzy, Belly (pictured above) in Kentish Town has all the warmth of a neighbourhood bistro – with a frisson of Filipino flair, writes The Week’s Helen Brown. The brainchild of restaurateur Omar Shah (Ramo Ramen, Hoodwood, Mamasons), it serves up bold dishes that blend European and Filipino flavours. Scallops, for example, come cured in a chilli, annatto and coconut cream, and tiramisu turns an Instagrammable shade of violet with blueberries and purple yam. The smoked trout kinilaw, with its citrus, cane vinegar, coconut milk and shiso leaf dressing, is a top-notch starter if you arrive too late to bag the super-popular but limited tempura cod pandesal: a shareable slider of warm, flaky cod in a soft fluffy Filipino breakfast roll, with American cheese and salmon roe – like a clever, tangy take on Filet-O-Fish. For mains, there’s a paprika-spiked seafood caldereta, with clams, mussels, squid, roasted tomato, red pepper and prawn-head emulsion, wagyu bistek with braised shallot and charred lemon and woodland mushroom arroz caldo with soy-cured egg yolk. But the stand-out dish is the oak-smoked tinola herb chicken in a buttery, herby, ginger, caper and coriander sauce. Order it with the beef-fat fries and dunk deliciously away. There’s an esoterically good wine list, including a Lebanese Grenache, and a small but wickedly inventive selection of cocktails: the watermelon and calamansi margarita is definitely worth a try.
bellylondon.com

MA/NA, Mayfair

The name brings together twin Japanese concepts of “ma”, the space between moments, and “na”, the energy within them, and the designers have done a good job of giving both a physical form, writes The Week’s Holden Frith. In MA/NA’s warm cocoon of a dining room, Tokyo-style wood panelling is offset by a splash of art deco drama. Recessed panels of light around the doorways and in the stairs emit an amber glow, as does the curvy, copper-fronted bar. It’s opulent but comfortable too: plush banquettes and chairs suggest the ambience will be a little less buttoned-up than the Kobe, caviar and truffle-heavy menu might imply. The service is warm too, offering a friendly guide through pages of maki, robata and sashimi. Diners may be lured in by the hero dishes – the fatty otoro tuna and prized Japanese beef – but they will find subtle treats on every page. Rock shrimp tempura with wasabi mayonnaise, for example, with its crisp, delicate batter and a kick of heat from the spiced mayo. manarestaurants.com

Luna Omakase, City of London

Tucked away in a private room inside Los Mochis London City, Luna Omakase is a sensory Japanese dining experience for those with adventurous palates, writes The Week’s Deeya Sonalkar. Its chef-selected nut- and gluten-free menu has 12 courses inspired by the rhythm of the moon, and changes as the lunar cycle shifts. The 12-seat counter is designed to allow diners to immerse themselves in the preparation of the dishes and learn about the ingredients selected for the day. The venue has low lighting, to mimic moonlight, and the courses are served on wood or stone plates. Each course is intricately crafted, and every ingredient plays a crucial role. The chef’s take on the onigiri was one of the best courses, with a single bite offering a world of flavour. A good number of dishes featured caviar, an ingredient that can sometimes overpower others. The taco maki, a Japanese-Mexican fusion of tacos and maki sushi, with avocado, jalapeño salsa and coriander, was simple, fresh and unique. Every dish offered something new: this place is a joy for anyone who loves traditional Japanese cuisine and fancies an experimental tasting adventure.
luna-omakase.com

Pyro, Southwark

With its open-fire chef’s station, rustic wooden interior and huge outdoor terrace, Pyro, in Borough, combines the warmth of a taverna with a super-elevated take on traditional Greek food, writes The Week’s Helen Brown. It’s the debut restaurant of Athens-native Yiannis Mexis, formerly of Hide, The Ledbury and Petrus, and radiates energy, refinement and excellently inventive cocktails. Most of the plates – from the small potato pittas to a showstopper slab of Dorset lamb – are made for sharing, and bear the charred, smoky marks of the flame. Classic Greek meze, like tzatziki and melitzanosalata, are uplifted to top-quality taste and texture experiences; spanakopita, made with barrel-aged feta, is served as dainty tartlets, and ember-cooked pork souvlaki skewers reach a whole new level with prunes, radicchio and sour apple. Stand-out dishes include a sea bream crudo, with green olives and caper leaves, crispy-topped, fluffily layered potatoes with skordalia, and that hunk of alder wood-cooked Dorset lamb, served with a smoked anchovy yoghurt and a fabulous bitter-leaf salad. Food to fill the stomach, and fire the soul.
pyrorestaurant.co.uk

Sachi, Belgravia

Discreetly hidden on the second floor of the Pantechnicon building, Sachi is one of Belgravia’s swankiest sushi spots, writes The Week’s Irenie Forshaw. The kappo-style (cut and cook) Japanese restaurant reopened in November after an extensive revamp, adding a moodily lit rooftop bar. Expect minimalist interiors with flowing cream-coloured drapes, plenty of teak and potted plants positioned in every corner. For a buzzy atmosphere, book a table upstairs in the bar or escape the after-work crowd by requesting a quieter spot downstairs.

The pared-back menu features an assortment of dishes from tempura and sashimi to decadent sushi platters and oscietra caviar. Everything is simply yet elegantly plated, allowing the quality ingredients to shine. The wagyu, eringi mushroom and yuzu maki rolls are perhaps the most inventive dish; topped with a sliver of marbled Japanese beef, each morsel tastes like a bite-size burger. But the real highlight is the bluefin tuna: both the truffle-dusted carpaccio and the maki rolls are delicious. There’s also a drinks list filled with Japanese whiskies and enticing cocktails, as well as a collection of sakes. Be sure to enlist the help of the knowledgeable sake sommelier for perfect pairings with every dish.
sachirestaurants.com

Patri, Hammersmith

You might miss Patri on the street outside but, once you step inside, it is like being transported to a train in New Delhi, writes The Week’s Rebekah Evans. With its shutters, dark wood interiors and multicoloured hanging light bulbs, the intimate setting cocoons you. But once the food starts to arrive, the last thing you will be thinking about is your surroundings. Patri offers The Grand Thali, a unique experience allowing a group to sample two starters alongside 26 authentic Indian street-food dishes, with rice and garlic naan. You should be prepared for a wait, but it’s certainly worthwhile. With so much to choose from, it’s difficult to pick a stand-out dish. Surprisingly, the vegan chatpati aloo tikki chaat starter is perhaps one of the best: fragrant spicy potato patties and chickpeas, tossed in a chutney bursting with flavour. Dishes like this that really sing are truly cooked with soul. The butter chicken has a rich, creamy, and so moreish, sauce, while the paneer curry is soft and delicious. Be sure to wear trousers with a loose waistband; you’ll certainly test its capacity to give.
patri.co.uk

Baked Alaska traditionally consists of a cake base, an ice cream filling and a meringue topping that is browned under the grill, said Edd Kimber. This version is more of a quick assembly job: it includes shop-bought elements, plus a couple of simple home-made ones. The recipe is intended only as a guide: you can vary as you see fit. You might want to use brownie offcuts as the base, for example, and jam in place of the compote.

Ingredients

For the blueberry compote:

• 50g blueberries
• 2 tsp caster sugar
• 1 tbsp lemon juice

For the milk chocolate sauce:

• 20g milk chocolate
• 40% cocoa solids, finely chopped
• 30ml (2 tbsp) whipping cream

For the Swiss meringue:

• 1 large egg white
• 50g caster sugar
• small pinch fine sea salt
• ¼ tsp vanilla bean paste

To serve:

• 20g (2 tbsp) salted pretzels or salted peanuts, roughly chopped
• 2 large scoops of vanilla ice cream

Method

• For the compote, put everything in a small saucepan, place over a medium heat and cook for 2-3 minutes or until the fruit has broken down and the liquid is thick and syrupy. Scrape into a small bowl and set aside until needed. It can also be refrigerated for a couple of days before using, if needed.
• For the chocolate sauce, place everything in a small bowl and heat in a microwave, using short 15-second bursts, until the cream is hot. Stir everything together to form a smooth sauce. Set aside until needed. The sauce will thicken as it cools, so stir to loosen when needed. The sauce can also be refrigerated for a couple of days before using, but once refrigerated it will firm up and will need heating slightly to loosen.
• When ready to serve, make the meringue topping. Add everything to a heatproof bowl and place over a pan of simmering water. Whisk until the mixture is hot to the touch and the sugar has fully dissolved. Remove and use an electric mixer to whisk until the meringue holds stiff, glossy peaks, about 3-4 minutes.
• To assemble, divide your pretzels/peanuts between two coupe/martini glasses or other small bowls. Top with a scoop of ice cream and use an ice cream scoop or spoon to press down on the ball of ice cream to create a small well.
• Add the compote and then the sauce atop the ice cream. Spoon or pipe over the meringue. Use a kitchen blowtorch to burnish the meringue until it’s as dark as you want. Serve immediately.

Taken from Chocolate Baking: The Ultimate Guide to Cakes, Cookies, Desserts & Pastries by Edd Kimber.

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The resolute tango between the personal and the practical is a hallmark of a cookbook humdinger. Doing so merges two apertures — the narrow and the microscopic — into a wide-angle lens.

Andrea Nguyen’s 2006 debut, “Into the Vietnamese Kitchen: Treasured Foodways, Modern Flavors,” is a sublime example of that intermixture. She opens the book with the following scene: “We heard the plane coming in low, and I was scared. Mom grabbed me, pulling me underneath the staircase as a bomb exploded nearby. I shrieked, believing the end was near.”

The rare turned common

The end was not quite near, but it was imminent. That opener took place in Saigon on April 8, 1975, when Nguyen was 6 years old. A little more than two weeks later, Nguyen and her family were loaded on a plane, landing eventually in Southern California. Life, and with it, the family’s cooking, was upended.

One makes do, and new traditions are born. Western noodles, like fresh fettuccine, and butter were luxury items in Saigon. Thus, noodles with butter went from a rare novelty to a kitchen staple for the Nguyens. She shows the reader how to dress just-boiled noodles with umami-laden Maggi sauce, then warm garlic in melted butter, adding the noodles and tossing. The “nutty, savory caramel qualities of the Maggi sauce” come to the fore as you toss and sear the noodles.

Cabbage also receives special status in the family’s new home, because “cool-season crops such as cabbage and cauliflower are difficult to grow” in Vietnam. So ribbons of the vegetables are sauteed until wilty, then fish sauce and beaten egg added, the egg lacquering the cabbage with a custardy coating. If you thought you knew all there was to know about buttered noodles and cabbage heads, you have just been shaken out of culinary complacency.

Icons, dissected

“Into the Vietnamese Kitchen” is not only a Nguyen tale. Classics from the diasporic Vietnamese repertoire are included too, with irreproachable instructions. An exemplary version of bo kho (beef stew) is heady with lemongrass, fish sauce, ginger, five-spice powder and star anise. Salmon, shrimp, catfish and chicken all appear braised in recipes using the savory, bittersweet, burnt-caramel sauce known as nuoc mau. Pho is here; bun (rice noodles) are as well, alongside grilled pork and punchy herbs, and in comforting soups with crab or beef.

Feeling adventurous? Dive into a round of project cooking to make the charcuterie, like gio lua (silky chicken sausage), that stars in banh mi, those irresistible spiky Vietnamese sandwiches. In Nguyen’s text, you will be guided by sure hands, as welcome storytelling is whispered in your ear.

Bone broth “has undergone the PR glow-up of a lifetime”, said Saskia Kemsley in The Standard. Celebrities including Gwyneth Paltrow, Halle Berry and Kylie Jenner have all jumped on board, extolling its rejuvenating benefits.

So what is bone broth? Put simply, it's a nutrient-dense liquid made by simmering animal bones with vegetables or other natural ingredients for up to 24 hours, similar to making stock for use in soups or stews. Drinking the broth for its health benefits is a “phenomenon” that has “skyrocketed” in recent years, even if the evidence is somewhat unclear.

“Of all the wellness trends, this one’s probably up there with the strangest,” said Daisy Jones in British Vogue. “A broth? Made from bones, you say? Sounds a bit fee-fi-fo-fum to me.”

But bone broth promises an “array of supposed health benefits”. Some studies have shown that it is an anti-inflammatory “gut-healing powerhouse”, rich in electrolytes, and full of amino acids that help “regulate the immune system and promote gut health”. People are also indulging in a bid to improve their skin with the high collagen content. “Hmmm, maybe not so unappealing after all?”

Some of the most popular brands are “hugely expensive”, and often not much better than you can make at home, so you don’t need to “spend a fortune” buying the stuff, said Clare Finney in The Times. All you have to do is pop into a butcher’s for some “broken-down bones” at a “fraction of the price”, Michelin-star chef Emily Roux told the newspaper, “or if you’re making a roast chicken, never throw away the carcass”. After a four- to six-hour “long, slow simmer”, you can add combinations of “star anise, black peppercorns, any veggies or herbs that are suffering in the fridge” to “zhuzh it up”.

If you do want to splash out on a shop-bought broth, one of the best on the market is Borough Broth, whose organic beef bone broth is “filled to the brim with umami excellence” and has a “whopping 40% bone content”, said Kemsley in The Standard. Freja is another brand “taking supermarkets by storm for good reason”. Its broths have a two-year shelf-life, making them a “pantry essential”, and there’s also a fish-based version for pescatarians.

Despite the frenzied uptake by influencers who think it is a “wonder stew for your face”, some experts have a “bone to pick” with the trend, said GQ. Though it can be a great source of amino acids, the results can be inconsistent depending on what is cooked, and how.

“My personal advice would be that it doesn’t add anything that a healthy diet containing a good source of proteins wouldn’t do”, Dr Christine Hall, NHS GP and aesthetics doctor, told the magazine. “In fact, a healthy, balanced diet will actually contribute more.”

For those who want to eat well without spending a fortune, here’s a selection of restaurants newly awarded a Bib Gourmand (given to establishments offering excellent, good-value cooking) in the 2026 Michelin Guide. Prices are between £25pp and £50pp for three courses.

The Clarence

At this “likeable neighbourhood spot” from the team behind the popular Cail Bruich, there’s a “generosity in the portions and pricing”. That’s especially true if you choose the set menu, which offers three courses for £29. The chefs use “prime Scottish product” – seasonal girolles, “super-fresh Loch Fyne mackerel”, Barnsley chop – and make ample use of the charcoal grill. Excellent service “adds to the appeal”.

168 Hyndland Road, Glasgow

Norman’s Neighbourhood Kitchen

If you “find yourself near Huddersfield”, then a diversion to this “wonderful” bistro is a must. Named after the owner’s dog – and his grandfather – it offers great-value sharing plates in a rustic setting. The menu roams the globe (with Japanese and Indian influences), but local fare features too, as in a dish of pig’s cheek glazed in “cult” Sheffield condiment Henderson’s Relish.

22A North Road, Kirkburton, West Yorkshire

The Yurt at Nicholsons

Lunch in this “lovely yurt” – fashioned from upcycled materials – is certainly “a little different”. But it’s an experience that will make you smile. Located at Nicholsons nursery, where some of the ingredients are grown, it offers generously sized, Mediterranean-inspired dishes packed with “bold, natural flavours” – cider-cured Chalk-Stream trout with crab bisque is a “wonderful example” – as well as “bright and breezy” service.

The Park, North Aston, Oxfordshire

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“Straightforward is the name of the game” at this “delightful bottle shop and bistro” close to the River Severn. The concise menu – which is chalked up each day on a blackboard – uses produce from the restaurant’s nearby smallholding. Dishes might include homemade pappardelle with braised ox cheek ragù and salt-baked celeriac with hazelnut cream and black grapes. On Sundays, there’s a sharing set menu offering three courses for £35pp.

Horwood House, High St, Newnham, Gloucestershire

Ssam Ssam

This family-operated Korean restaurant is “run with palpable pride”. Some tables have their own BBQ, allowing you to grill the sensibly priced meat, such as spicy pork belly or Wagyu ox tongue. At the standard tables, “bansang” dishes – consisting of a main component such as grilled mackerel along with three sides and “top-drawer kimchi” – are “surefire winners”.

149 Merton Road, London SW19

Counter Culture

This “lively restaurant” – inspired by the “pintxos” bars of San Sebastián – offers “terrific Spain-meets-Cornwall cooking”. Local seafood is the “bedrock” of many dishes, as in Cornish monkfish tail with cavolo nero, salsify and anchovy jus. For those who want a drink and a quick bite, there are cocktails and delicious snacks, including smoked eel with apple and cauliflower, and smoked cheese “croqueta”.

4 Beach Parade, Newquay, Cornwall

Flavor meanderings, genre reconsiderations, health on the rocks — 2026’s predicted cocktail trends move from the world of ingredients to a thoughtful appraisal of what precisely comprises an Irish pub. Right this way to what’s ahead in the drinking world this year.

Fermentation is in it for the long game

A process that’s no newbie, fermentation has been around for eons. Its presence in the cocktail world, though, keeps bubbling in the interest of “pushing flavor boundaries,” said Lindsay Parrill in The Manual. “I’m not sure if it’s the ‘next big thing’ or just my personal obsession, but fermentation is king,” said Chad Austin, the beverage director of Bar Benjamin in Los Angeles, to Vine Pair. It brings “layers of depth, acidity, funk, brightness — all the things that make cocktails more compelling.”

That might mean miso syrups or the use of fermented citrus like spicy Japanese yuzu kosho. “Our guests are increasingly drawn to drinks that balance citrus, salinity and light heat,” said Tana Kokanot, the head bartender of Jeong Yuk Jeom in New York City, to Vine Pair. And fermented citrus “delivers that balance.”

Hojicha and matcha say it’s tea time

The roasty-toasty hojicha is the tea that’s “going to define 2026,” said Chris Figueroa, the beverage director at Markette and The Argyle in New York City, to Vine Pair. The ingredient is “truly versatile.” It “deepens the base, rounds the edges and adds a quiet complexity that elevates an entire drink.”

But matcha may beg to differ about hojicha winning the 2026 Steeping Olympics. When the green tea’s verdancy appears in a bar, it’s “hard to overlook what some bartenders have called the ‘sizzling fajita effect’ — a head-turning item that prompts more order,” said Liz Provencher at Food & Wine. With its “combination of herbaceous, earthy notes and slight sweetness,” matcha has “great tannin structure that helps it hold up against a variety of other drink components.” So the internecine Camellia sinensis battle begins.

Irish pubs are back and maybe better

“When I first came to America, they were actually writing articles on the death of the Irish pub,” said Jack McGarry, the co-founder of New York’s The Dead Rabbit, to Punch. The Irish pub is “never going to die. But it has to be done right.”

“Done right” these days entails one that bests the simulacrum approach that has existed in the U.S. Gone is the American idea of an Irish pub, and in arrives a new wave of bars that lock on the beating heart of an Irish drinking establishment. Consider Guinness with oysters on the half shell at Manhattan’s Banshee, wild ox pie with live music at The Harp in Washington, D.C., a pour of Skellig Irish whiskey alongside fish cakes with tartar sauce, and an analog listening party at Baltimore’s The Wren. All prove the truism that a pub is “not just a place to get a drink but a place where life happens,” said Hannah Walhout at Punch.

Pandan clocks in

Tropical drinks continue to have their beachy day in the sun. It was perhaps inevitable, then, that pandan would stretch its pointed leaves into the cocktail-sphere. The plant is sometimes called the “vanilla of the East,” said Richard Luong, a bartender at Cure in New Orleans, to Vine Pair. “The leaves have sweet, nutty and vanilla aromatics that are very pleasant; my family always had some growing in the backyard.”

Pandan is so on the trend move that it’s even being captured in bottled form. Owner-bartender Nico de Soto of Mace in New York City and Paris’ Danico created KOTA Pandan Liqueur with the French distiller Gabriel Boudier. The “resulting liqueur is beautifully aromatic with notes of vanilla, toasted rice and buttery sugar cookie,” said Penelope Bass at Imbibe.

Protein strongarms its way into the glass

Everyone can’t stop yapping about protein, and the growth of Mate! Vodka Protein Water, a canned 4.5% ABV beverage with eight grams of protein, is muscle-bound evidence. Sales keep increasing, and the protein surge has also entered the high-end cocktail space.

Drinkers now want “satiety, recovery support or wellness alignment while still honoring the ritual of cocktail hour,” said Ahu Hettema, the owner of Istanbul Hawai’i in Honolulu, to Wine Enthusiast. “Clear whey isolates,” a type of protein powder, can be “seamlessly incorporated in bright, transparent cocktails like gin and tonics, spritzes and margaritas.”

Trends demand both fealty and novelty. Fealty because everyone has to either play along or cry foul. Novelty because there is forever an old trend dissipating and a new one materializing. Cabbage, the workhorse of a cruciferous vegetable recruited in boundless cuisines since perhaps the beginning of time, has been dubbed 2026’s vegetable of the year. Welcome to the churning now, old friend!

“It might be the closest thing to a shelf-stable vegetable we have,” said Joe Yonan, a cookbook author, to Real Simple. “Of course, it needs refrigeration, but it can last for so long that it seems to be always there, waiting for you.”

Cabbage’s steadfastness is a boon indeed. As is its nutritional profile, being loaded with fiber, vitamins K and C, and folate. Less alluring for some can be the vegetable’s sulfur-bomb heart. If you buy it fresh, say from a farmers market, you acquire a less stinky head. If you do not overcook the mighty bejesus out of your cabbage, the results are milder. Less time from harvest, more better. Less cooking into boiled oblivion, also more better.

There are immeasurable ways to refashion cabbage into a craveable dish. It caterwauls for big, bold treatments. Cabbage is “having a moment,” said Berk Guldal, the chef-owner of Hamdi in Seattle, to Martha Stewart, because “it’s endlessly versatile. You can pickle it, ferment it, shave it raw into salads, or lightly blanch it, and it still shines.” Consider the following recipes and techniques a warm-up for your cabbage-centric adventures.

Roast and flavor-assault

Chef and food writer Andy Baraghani is the Crown Prince of Cruciferi. He works wonders with the vegetable, always utilizing a complementary mixture of ingredients to finish his pan-seared cabbage. Two standout examples: a garlic-anchovy sauce with loads of fresh dill and a chunky, zippy sauce with a whole chopped lemon, pistachios, honey, olive oil and a flurry of shredded cheese.

Cloak it in a familiar costume

A scorching oven setting turns cabbage wedges smoky and charred in chef and James Beard Award winner Hetty Lui McKinnon’s take on chicken Parm. The wedges are then draped with tomato sauce and mozzarella, and blasted in the oven again so the cheese bubbles and browns. A finish of croutons and basil leaves provide texture and a green lift.

Cook softly with moisture

Sometimes a soft sauna turn in the oven is what cabbage most craves. Prolific cookbook author Molly Stevens shows you how to make the “World’s Best Braised Cabbage” by cooking it covered, slowly, with onion, carrot and water — or stock if you’re feeling glamorous. The leftovers are their own pleasurable reward.

A classic cookbook is often formed in the forges of time. Years of kitchen use and page-flipping transform a book into a genre fixture. Now and again, a brand-new book waves its knowing hand. People look in its direction, tow it into the kitchen, cook from it once, then again and again. They ask themselves, “Is this text an instant classic?” “Six Seasons of Pasta: A New Way with Everyone’s Favorite Food,” released in October 2025, is one such cookbook.

Division as greatness

“Six Seasons of Pasta” was, in many ways, fated to be a triumph. Its chef-author, Joshua McFadden, has been known for years as a vegetable soothsayer. His debut cookbook, “Six Seasons: A New Way with Vegetables,” showed how to bring vegetables to glorious life. His co-author, Martha Holmberg, translated McFadden’s restaurant-minded technique into unimpeachable recipes for the home cook.

McFadden is as impassioned about pasta as he is about the garden, so he and Holmberg replicated their winning formula. As with their debut cookbook, “Six Seasons of Pasta” is anchored by six chapters that divide the year into six rather than four seasons: spring, early summer, midsummer, late summer, fall and winter. Artichokes star in five pastas for spring, including in radiatore with chicken and lemon-flavored ricotta. Eggplant appears with linguine, tomato and almond pesto, or nestled with capers and golden raisins between ribbons of mafaldine. You get the idea.

Boil, boil, toil and (no) trouble

The book opens its aperture to the amplest of wide angles, too. “Six Seasons of Pasta” begins with a series of treatises on the fundamentals of McFadden’s pasta-cooking style. “Cooking pasta is simple in the way writing a haiku is simple,” he writes.

He clarifies how much salt is the right amount to add to your boiling water. He reveals the effortlessness of building your sauce in the skillet as the pasta boils. He tells you why you should add any cheese while you finish cooking the pasta in said skillet: so the cheese has an opportunity to melt and emulsify the sauce. Richness is goodness, and McFadden’s 50/50 mix of pecorino and Parmigiano-Reggiano is a pantry godsend.

For the make-ahead, ragu-obsessed, there is a chapter on long-cooked sauces, including a white chicken ragu woodsy with thyme and rosemary, a black peppercorn-laden short rib ragu and even a vegan nut ragu with five kinds of nuts. Faultless recipes for now, impeccable recipes for your future self, exhilarating recipes and guidance that upends how you cook: All the makings of a classic.

Wine drinkers are usually a picky bunch and have a list of go-to bottles they never betray. But while people’s loyalty to their favourite tipples can be strong, some newer Portuguese wines have enjoyed a surge in popularity.

The “inexpensive yet un-boring” nature of these wines have turned them into “fixtures on the dinner table”, said Victoria Moore in The Telegraph. Portugal’s “portfolio of characterful indigenous grapes” and pocket-friendly prices helps explain how the country “quietly overtook” Chile on the Wine Society’s sales leader board last year.

Gone are Portugal’s days of “lagging” behind its EU neighbours, said John Mariani in Forbes. Following Spain’s “progress and global recognition”, the Portuguese wine industry is having a deserved moment in the spotlight. From “tinta roriz and castelăo red grapes to the alvarinho and loueiro white”, the “wide variety of styles” can make it “confusing” for consumers.

There are over 250 types of grapes native to Portugal, “but I’d wager that many of us wouldn’t be able to name many more than two of these indigenous varieties”, said Hannah Crosbie in The Guardian. The “old vines of different varieties are often planted side by side” which avoids the “painstaking process of separating harvests”. This is why it’s “the norm” in Portugal to make “blends” instead of “single varietal wines” which only feature one type of grape. With so much choice, here are three of the best bottles to try.

Symington Family Estates, Pequeno Dilema, Douro, Portugal 2022

This “complex yet subtly approachable” white wine has an “assertive freshness”, said Decanter. Viosinho, arinto, códega do larinho and a “sprinkle” of alvarinho come together to create a wine with “equal amounts of classicism and energy”. Expect hints of white pepper, aniseed and chopped almonds with a “strong mineral backbone”. The "vividness and depth” comes from the 10-month aging process in French and Hungarian oak barrels.

Bando de Corvos Murder of Crows Tinto 2023, Lisboa, Portugal

“Fruity with a touch of earth”, this high quality blend is made with castelão, trincadeira and touriga nacional grapes, said Moore in The Telegraph. Produced “expressly” for the Wine Society, it’s a “very good value” red wine.

Taste the Difference Douro White 2024, Portugal

For lovers of white wine, this “brand new vintage” is an “excellent” choice, said Moore. “Bright and fresh”, the wine is almost “sherbetty” with “tangy notes of lemon rind” as well as hints of white peach and quince. “Shiveringly clean and crisp”, it’s a deliciously refreshing tipple.

In my opinion, every stir-frying lesson should start with this dish, the Chinese equivalent to the French omelette challenge, says Jeremy Pang. It is a real test of your control of heat, or wok hei: not hot enough, the egg will stick to the base, while too hot and the food is bound to burn. And if you combine your ingredients in the wrong order, you will end up with a rice omelette. No pressure, then. Still, if you master this, you will have picked up a valuable skill that will serve you well on your Chinese cookery journey.

Ingredients

• 250g boiled/steamed and cooled jasmine rice
• 2 eggs, well beaten
• 80g petits pois
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• ½ tsp sesame oil
• vegetable oil
• black pepper
• 1 spring onion, finely sliced, to garnish

Method

• Run a spoon through the cooked grains of rice to separate them as much as possible, breaking up any clumps. (This will help when you add the rice to the dish later.)
• Build your “wok clock” by placing the ingredients around a work surface or plate in the order they will be added to the wok. Start at 12 o’clock with the beaten egg, followed by the cooked rice, petits pois and finally the light soy sauce.
• Heat 1 tbsp of vegetable oil in a wok over a high heat until smoking hot. Pour in the beaten egg and allow to bubble, then scramble it slightly. Allow to bubble again, then repeat this process 2-3 times. Push the egg to one side of the wok to allow space for the next ingredients.
• Drizzle a little more vegetable oil into the wok, add the rice and stir-fry for a minute or so, pressing into the rice to separate the grains out further while cooking them through. Then add the peas and continue to stir-fry for 1 minute.
• Pour the soy sauce over the rice and stir-fry for 30-60 seconds until the rice has absorbed it all and become drier. Once the grains are “jumping” around the base of your wok, the rice is ready.
• Add the sesame oil and mix together well, then season to taste and scatter over the spring onion.

Taken from “Chinese Kitchen: Simple Techniques and Recipes to Enjoy Delicious Chinese Food at Home” by Jeremy Pang.

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Once you realise that tomato sauces are enhanced by the addition of miso, you won’t be able to grab a can of tomatoes from your cupboard without a jar of miso coming out too, said Bonnie Chung. This is the best veggie pasta ever, and my favourite when I’m feeling lazy. All you need is an aubergine and some store-cupboard essentials.

Ingredients

• 1 medium aubergine
• 5 tbsp olive oil
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 3 fat garlic cloves, minced or finely grated
• 400g can of tomatoes
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• pinch of chilli flakes
• 200g dried spaghetti, or dried linguine
• 1 tbsp white miso
• 3 basil leaves, roughly torn, plus more to serve
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

To serve:

• Parmesan cheese, or vegetarian Parmesan-style cheese
• Extra virgin olive oil

Method

• Chop the aubergine into bite-sized pieces. Heat 2-3 tbsp of the oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat, then fry the aubergine until charred and cooked through. Aubergines love oil, so don’t be shy. This should take about 15 minutes and it is important not to rush it. Take it out to rest, and season with a pinch of salt and pepper.
• In the same pan, warm up 2 tbsp more olive oil over a medium heat and add the onion and garlic to cook down, soften and become slightly sticky. Then add the can of tomatoes and bring to a simmer, before stirring through the red wine vinegar and chilli flakes.
• Meanwhile, in a large saucepan of boiling salted water, cook the spaghetti according to the packet instructions to al dente, reserving a small cup of the pasta-cooking liquid before draining.
• Scoop out some of the tomato liquid into a small bowl and mix in the white miso with a small spoon until smooth and emulsified. Then add it all back into the pot of tomato sauce and stir through.
• Add the aubergine and basil leaves to the sauce and warm through for 1 minute before adding the pasta. If the sauce is a little too thick, stir in some of the pasta-cooking water, to create a silkier sauce.
• To finish, serve with the grated cheese, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, and a basil leaf.

Taken from Miso: From Japanese Classics to Everyday Umami by Bonnie Chung.

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Zippy, homey, satisfying, electric: The cooking of Sara Kramer and Sarah Hymanson at their Los Angeles restaurants, Kismet and various locations of Kismet Rotisserie, pings between those descriptors.

The duo’s 2024 debut cookbook, “Kismet: Bright, Fresh, Vegetable-Loving Recipes,” shows home cooks how to achieve the same effervescent effect at home.

Schmear and dip and repeat

Kramer and Hymanson are sauce-and-dip obsessed, which tracks, knowing the pair’s fondness for the food of the Levant and Middle East. So the book devotes an entire chapter to the topic.

You’ll learn how to ferment your own labneh with kefir grains, whole milk and heavy cream, then mix it with fresh horseradish and fish sauce to “up your roast beef sandwich game” or whir it in a blender with fresh bay leaves to understand firmly and with finality that, yes, bay leaves do indeed have culinary value.

Tahini sauce is mounded with honeyed kumquats. Or the sesame seed puree is blitzed with Tuscan kale and completed with tangy pomegranate molasses. Or it’s finished with chunks of Castelvetrano olives and Calabrian chiles. At Kismet, everything is fair game in the name of flavor.

On the dip front, there is a smoked trout dip, the fish luxuriating in a base of yogurt and sour cream, and garnished with fresh tarragon and Aleppo pepper. And in a delirious, inspired commingling of creamed spinach and artichoke dip, the Pickley Cheesy Greens’ star ingredient is half-moons of dill pickles.

Simple tricks, big results

Yes, the Kismet pantry is a many-splendored marvel. But the book is also filled with plenty of stripped-down recipes that reveal the liberating power of good cooking technique.

Kramer makes a case for throwing out the flour and eggs when making latkes and, most expansively, serving them year-round with everything from pickled chiles to loads of dill and basil, and, of course, labneh. Hymanson, a born Chicagoan, warbles the praises of giardiniera, serving it alongside a recipe for chicken schnitzel but noting your fried egg might be keen on its presence too.

Even garlic gets the Kismet rethinking. The pair notes — and many of the recipes show — a finishing touch of raw garlic grated on a Microplane grater provides "pleasant sharpness and earthy funk.” A fine truth — and an apt alternate subtitle for the book.

This bright and balanced prawn and pomelo salad is a staple in the repertoire of Luke Larsson, head chef at Khao Bird. Fragrant lemongrass and sharp, refreshing ribbons of makrut lime leaf balance with sweet pomelo, crunchy toasted coconut and crispy shallots.

Ingredients (serves 2)

• 4 king prawns, peeled and de-veined
• 1 stalk lemongrass, very finely sliced
• ½ shallot, very finely sliced
• 3 makrut lime leaves, very thinly sliced
• handful mixed herbs: mint, coriander, dill (leaves picked)
• ½ tsp fried garlic
• 1 tsp crispy shallots
• ½ tsp toasted coconut
• 80g pomelo flesh (or grapefruit segments)

For the dressing:

• 50ml fish sauce
• 25ml fermented chilli sauce or sriracha
• 25ml lime juice
• 25ml palm syrup or sugar syrup

Method

• Bring a small pan of salted water to a simmer. Poach the prawns for 1–2 minutes, just until they turn opaque and bounce slightly to the touch. Remove, cool and. if you prefer a lighter texture, slice them in half lengthways.
• Make the dressing in a small bowl by whisking together the fish sauce, fermented chilli sauce (or sriracha), lime juice, and palm syrup. Taste and adjust: you want a balance of salty, sour, sweet, and spicy.
• Prep the aromatics: the lemongrass, shallots, and makrut lime leaf. Slice as finely as possible – the thinness is what keeps the salad delicate.
• Assemble the salad in a mixing bowl. Gently toss the pomelo (or grapefruit) with the prawns, sliced aromatics, herbs, crispy shallots, fried garlic, and toasted coconut.
• Dress the salad by gradually spooning the dressing over. You may not need all of it. Toss lightly to coat.
• Finish and serve. Adjust seasoning with extra lime juice, chilli or fish sauce, if needed. Serve immediately so the herbs and aromatics stay fresh and crisp.

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What better way to welcome the weekend than with the smell and sound of a frying ijeh, asks Sami Tamimi. A delicious frittata-like mixture of courgettes, leeks, peas, herbs and eggs, it is often made, in Palestine, with finely chopped herbs and onions. I like the addition of fresh and dried mint, and dill or fennel seeds.

Ingredients

• 250g frozen peas, defrosted
• 2 courgettes (300g)
• 1 small onion (150g)
• 1 large leek, finely chopped (175g)
• 50g plain flour
• 15g fresh parsley, finely chopped
• 10g fresh mint leaves, thinly shredded
• 1 1⁄4 tsp dried mint
• 1 tsp Aleppo chilli flakes (or regular chilli flakes)
• 1⁄2 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tsp dill or fennel seeds, slightly crushed
• 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
• salt and black pepper
• 3 tbsp olive oil

To serve:

• Lemon wedges
• Soured cream

Method

• Put the peas into a food processor and blitz for a few seconds – you want them to be slightly crushed but not mushy. Place in a mixing bowl and leave aside.
• Trim the courgettes and peel the onion, then, using the coarse side of a box grater, grate them on to a clean tea towel or muslin.
• Gather the ends of the tea towel and twist hard over a bowl to squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Add the grated courgettes and onion to the peas, along with the leek, flour, herbs, spices, eggs, 1 3⁄4 teaspoons of salt and a good grind of black pepper. Mix well to form a uniform batter.
• Place a large (28cm) shallow non-stick pan (with a lid) on a medium heat and add the oil. When the oil is hot, add the ijeh mixture, smoothing it down to make an even patty. Partly cover the pan and cook for about 17 minutes on a low heat, shaking the pan a few times to make sure it doesn’t stick at the bottom, and running a rubber spatula around the sides, until the edges start to get golden brown. Get a large flat plate and place it over the pan.
• Carefully invert the pan, plate and all, so that the ijeh ends up on the plate. Slide it back into the pan to cook uncovered for 15 minutes, until it is firm and cooked through.
• When ready to serve, slide the ijeh on to a serving plate, squeeze over a little lemon juice, and serve with lemon wedges and soured cream.

Taken from Boustany: A celebration of vegetables from my Palestine by Sami Tamimi.

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Veganuary – a month-long challenge to eat only plant-based foods – has become a staple to kick off the new year. Whether it’s in support of the environment, health motivated, or you’re just looking to try new recipes, embracing a vegan diet is a great way to start 2026.

Instead of a radical overhaul of all your meat-filled favourites, one of the best ways to approach Veganuary is to change in small ways – or “veganise” – your existing recipes, food writer Richard Makin told The Guardian. Most people have eight to 10 dishes they make on rotation; try to “switch up the ingredients a bit”, replacing dairy milk with soya milk, or beef mince with Quorn mince. Taking incremental steps means “you tend not to feel quite so dislocated in your diet”.

If this is your first foray into vegan cooking, it’s important not to overcomplicate things, food author Anna Jones told Vogue. Don’t treat vegetables any differently than you would meat: “lots are much better when put on the grill”, and are able to soak up all the “char and smoke”. Consider using umami-rich ingredients like sundried tomatoes and miso for a “deep savouriness”, and adding a handful of fresh chopped herbs to further “enhance” the flavours of plant-based dishes.

One of 2025’s “most talked-about ingredients”, beans, are the perfect way to add fibre and flavour to your New Year cooking repertoire, said Hannah Twiggs in The Independent. In a “rare feat” for January eating, they are packed with anti-inflammatory benefits and have a “knack for making food taste better rather than worse”. A Veganuary favourite is Mediterranean butter beans with toasted focaccia, where the “richness of the sundried tomatoes” and the “saltiness of the olives” make for “next-level soul food”.

If you hit a wall with one ingredient, that’s perfectly fine, former head of Veganuary Toni Vernelli told The Independent. “There’s such a diversity out there” that you may need to shop around and try different varieties of plant-based milks or vegan sausages until you “find one that works for you”. Ultimately, it is important to be kind to yourself. If you find yourself reaching for a milk chocolate bar, that’s fine. You “didn’t fail”, “you were a human being”!

Little vegan treats can make things easier, said Joanne Shurvell in Forbes. For breakfast, you could try the “light, creamy and tangy” Nush protein vanilla fudge yoghurt range, containing “billions of live vegan cultures”. And for chocoholics, the “shockingly tasty” Pierre Marcolini vegan chocolate bars have “all the sweetness of a milk chocolate bar in a vegan version with oat milk”.

If you’re looking for more inspiration for vegan recipes, try these from The Week:

Celeriac soup with pumpkin seeds and chilli oil

Spaghetti with fresh tomato sauce

Broccoli and lentil salad with curried tahini and dates

Spring greens and chickpea curry

Adjapsandali (Georgian-style ratatouille)

Green goddess salad

Golden coconut and butter bean curry

A “sobering shift” is taking place, with “stiff drinks” giving way to “soft power”, said Tamzin Reynolds in Tatler. As “Dry January hits its stride”, low- and non-alcoholic alternatives to booze are booming.

Whether you’re “zebra striping” (alternating between alcoholic and soft drinks), or going cold turkey (perhaps literally with leftovers), “abstinence has never been more indulgent”. Here are some of our favourites to kick off 2026.

Lucky Saint unfiltered alcohol-free lager (0.5%)

One of the reasons Lucky Saint is such an “old favourite” is that the company only makes alcohol-free products, said Victoria Moore in The Telegraph. The “Pilsner style beer” is an “excellent” lager made with “citrussy, floral Hallertau hops”. Its popularity means it is widely available in major supermarkets.

Almave Blanco blue agave spirit (0%)

“A zero-proof tequila-style spirit may not be the first thing you’d think to turn to when you’re not drinking, but this was an unexpected hit”, said Joanne Gould in The Guardian. Founded by Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton in partnership with Mexican spirits group Casa Lumbre, once you pop the stopper you are met with an “immediately distinctive” and “extremely convincing” agave aroma, with the taste to match. The non-alcoholic spirit is “genuinely nice even for sipping straight”, but when mixed into a spicy margarita, it is “fantastic”.

Wild Idol sparkling wine (0%)

This is perfect for a “special” occasion, said Hermione Blandford in Shortlist. If you want something to mark a birthday or engagement “you can’t go wrong” with Wild Idol. Unlike other similar products, branded as “sparkling tea”, this alcohol-free drink is made with grapes, so it “looks the part”, and “tastes the part” of wine. It also comes with a hefty price tag (bottles start from around £29.99) so it’s a luxury option, but is definitely “worth it”.

Impossibrew cask reserve amber beer (0%)

You can still enjoy the warming depths of a darker, caramely festive treat all “without the dreaded hangover”, said Shahed Ezaydi in Stylist. And it’s “just as fun”! For those seeking “richness and complexity” from a non-alcoholic beer, look no further than Impossibrew. Expect “layers” of “toasted rye”, “citrus zest” and “fresh pine” from the cask reserve. “Refreshing!”

Château La Coste Sparkling Rosé (0%)

Such is the “booming” trend of no- and low-alcoholic drinks, that “even the bastions of Bordeaux and Provence” are trying to tap into it, said Reynolds in Tatler. Nooh, in particular, from Château La Coste is a “perfect example” of how non-alcoholic beverages can compete with the real thing. This option has been de-alcoholised – alcohol is removed from the process – meaning the “red and citrus fruit flavours” are preserved. Though it may not have quite the same “mouth-feel”, expect delicate “hints of jasmine, conjuring summers in the South of France”.

Bright, refreshing, and nourishing, this prickly pear juice recipe from Bermudian herbalist Doreen Williams-James is a simple way to enjoy this unique cactus fruit. Prickly pear is available as an import in the UK, and can also be grown indoors. Blended with ginger and lemon, the juice is lightly spiced with citrus notes, and perfect when served over ice.

Ingredients (serves 2)

• 2 or 3 ripe prickly pears
• 1 tbsp grated ginger
• Juice of one lemon
• 480ml of cold water
• Honey or agave syrup, to taste (optional)
• Ice cubes, to serve
• Sprig of mint or slice of lemon, to garnish (optional)

Method

• Prepare the prickly pear carefully with gloves or tongs to avoid the tiny spines. Cut off the ends and slice them open to scoop out the flesh.
• In a blender, combine the prickly pear flesh, grated ginger, lemon juice and water. Blend until smooth.
• Strain the juice by pouring the blended mixture through a fine mesh strainer. Remove the pulp and seeds.
• If desired, stir in honey or agave syrup to sweeten the juice. Adjust the sweetness to your preference.
• Pour the juice into glasses over ice cubes. Garnish with a slice of lemon or a sprig of mint.
• Any leftover juice can be stored in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to three days.

Doreen Williams-James’s book “Discovering Nature's Bounty: A Culinary Journey Through Wild Edible Plants” contains more plant-based recipes.

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These restaurants know how to transport. Some bring the flavors of far-flung locales like the Caribbean and Indonesia; others welcome with homey dishes in nourishing settings. Here’s where to eat this winter.

Amba, Cleveland

A meal at Amba is a “feast for the senses, with low lighting, a lively soundtrack, and a menu built for sharing,” said Eater Chicago. The menu leans heavily on North Indian dishes, including local paneer with curry leaves and mustard seeds. But there’s wandering, too, as evidenced by Turkish fried eggs, wok-fried green beans with gai choy, and popcorn chicken with Thai basil.

Coquine, Portland, Oregon

“Coquine is the perfect little restaurant, unfailingly, 10 years running,” said Karen Brooks at Portland Monthly. The restaurant, with miraculous food from chef-owner Katy Millard, is somehow both precise and nonchalant. You could go all out with a five-course tasting menu, dine à la carte or pop next door to Katy Jane’s for a few rounds of oysters. Choosing your own adventure has never been more delicious.

Fallow Kin, Cambridge, Massachusetts

This brand-new restaurant has strong connections to both local farms and the community, showcasing a zero-waste menu section and donating a portion of its food to neighborhood food insecurity programs. Vegetables, such as parsnips with pickled pear and miso, as well as potatoes with bonito-flavored mayonnaise and trout roe, are the centerpiece of the menu at Fallow Kin but not its sole offering.

Kabawa, New York City

The Caribbean gets short shrift in fine-dining restaurants across the U.S. That has been shifting over the last few years, and Kabawa is a luminous addition to the sea change. Chef Paul Carmichael is at the helm, and he island-hops for inspiration, snatching influences from countries including Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad for Kabawa’s prix-fixe menu.

Duck sausage is “jerked” with Jamaican spicings. A fillet of black bass is sauced with a Trinidad-evoking curry. In keeping with the Caribbean spirit, a meal at Kabawa can be a rambunctious good time. You need only clue the staff into your readiness to have a whole lot of fun.

Lem’s, Chicago

“Once you have tried Lem’s, you can’t help but develop a particular craving for it whenever you want barbecue,” said Chicago magazine. “Because nowhere else in town does it quite as well.” The city’s oldest Black-owned barbecue business, Lem’s specializes in rib tips and hot links. Who said you need to be in the South to eat good ’cue?

Mabel Gray, Detroit

Long live the longstanding! Restaurant culture, by its nature, is obsessed with newness. Mabel Gray celebrated 10 years in September of this year, and the restaurant is a “look into the creative minds of people who have seen the world,” said Danny Palumbo at Hour Detroit. The menu changes constantly; you can experience it a la carte or as part of a $92 tasting menu. Recent dishes include fluke with whole-grain-mustard beurre blanc, dirty rice arancini, and wilted spinach with smoky whipped tofu. Mabel Gray is always evolving, forever sublime.

Rice and Sambal, Philadelphia

Put yourself in the kitchen’s hands at Rice and Sambal, and you will experience the wide-ranging flavors of great Indonesian cooking. Come for brunch on Sundays to have an omelet with shallot, tomato and sweet soy sauce, or the coconut jam-slicked srikaya toast topped with, yes, chocolate sprinkles. For dinner, the menu is set, at either five courses on Thursdays and Fridays or the blowout Liwetan feast served in a communal bamboo basket only on Saturdays.

Zao Bakery and Cafe, St. Paul, Minnesota

When the weather is outstandingly sharp, you want a bowl of ripping-hot soup. Or you want a fluffy pastry. Or, you simply want it all. Zao Bakery and Cafe is “built for everyday moments and everyday meals,” said Justine Jones at Minneapolis-St. Paul Magazine, a place to “slip in weekly for a stomach and soul-warming lunch, a sweet pastry pick-me-up or a weeknight dinner.” For that bowl-connected need, it might be congee with ginger chicken or beef noodle soup. And the pastry selections, including taro twists and matcha custard buns, are near endless.

Good bars should impress. The best ones do it without batting an eyelash. Some of these bars have a laser focus on one style of drink; others are just welcoming locales with solid cocktails. Any of them will serve you well.

Daisy, Sherman Oaks, California

Almost any cocktail these days that has tequila, sweetener and lime juice dubs itself a margarita. Daisy, located just north of Los Angeles, aims to reclaim the classic drink’s soul. The bar’s beverage director, Max Reis, “treats the margarita as both template and playground,” said Punch, a drink magazine. So the standard iterations are sublime. But there is “ample room for customization,” too. Choose tequila or mezcal as the base. Make it regular or picante, up or on the rocks. You get the idea. Discipline and free will are good bedfellows.

Gilly’s House of Cocktails, San Diego

“One thing I’m really proud of is,” when Gilly’s House of Cocktails is packed, “no one is on their phone. You see strangers interacting with each other,” said Erick Castro, one of Gilly’s owners, to Imbibe magazine. “That’s something that’s missing right now in American society. We need to feel like we belong somewhere.” Gilly’s has been around since the 1960s. Castro and his crew bought it a few years ago. It’s now employee-owned, the cocktails are top-notch, but the laidback, community-minded vibe remains.

Loma, Providence, Rhode Island

Repeat after us: Latin American drinking is not a monolith. Loma, whose owners’ lineages trace to Puerto Rico and Guatemala, succeeds in proving the point — in the glass. You may find a singular rum from Michoacán, Mexico, used in a caipirinha or a Mexican mezcal stirred as the base of a martini. The food menu also flits from arroz y gandules (Puerto Rican rice and beans) to a local cheese plate. The hospitality welcomes, just as you hope it would.

Madeira Park, Atlanta

The newish wine bar from the crew behind beloved local institution Miller Union balances “historical appreciation and casual magnificence,” said Mike Jordan at Bon Appétit. The glass wine list centers on great styles and producers, like Domaine Fanny Sabre white Burgundy, tempranillo from Spain’s López de Heredia Rioja and, natch, a collection of vintage madeiras. Satterfield’s food menu at Madeira Park is, yes, grape-friendly: butter and anchovy tartine, a chicory salad with blue cheese and candied pecans, and steak au poivre with rutabaga.

None of the Above, St Louis

In agile hands, a speakeasy concept never grows tiresome. None of the Above sits below the events space City Foundry, hidden away as so many speakeasies are. But bar manager Fionna Gemzon has her sights looking up, up and away. There’s calamansi and red miso alongside black sesame-infused rye in the In the Mood for Love Cocktail. Gemzon’s “Filipino heritage inspires her tendency to lean on high-acid and sweet-sour flavors behind the bar,” said Imbibe magazine when selecting her as an Imbibe 75 Person to Watch.

Pretty Neat, Denver

No muss, no fuss, just friendly vibes and great cocktails. Pretty Neat stands by its name and mission. “It’s just a place to have good drinks and be comfortable,” said co-owner Xanthus Be Dell of his bar to Westword. The drinks move from deep classics, like the Amaretto Sour, to modern ones, including the Penicillin and Espresso Martini. And a bunch of Pretty Neat’s own inventions, such as Be Dell’s The Absinthe of the Fall, with vanilla-kissed rum, lime, pineapple, coconut puree and an absinthe rinse.

Providencia, Washington, D.C.

This wee bar in the nation’s capital is a group endeavor from bartenders Pedro Tobar and Danny Gonzalez with food from Erik Bruner-Yang and Paola Velez. Providencia is a “reflection of the quartet’s effort to seamlessly honor and remix shared and disparate influences,” said Elazar Sontag at Bon Appétit. It is, unabashedly, an immigrant–forward establishment.

So the Sabanetas cocktail with rum, blackberry and ginger is an explicit homage to Gonzalez’s mom’s blackberry agua fresca in Sabanetas, El Salvador. That same personal history runs across the rest of the menu. No hiding; only celebrating.

Winter requires the very most from your home cooking. Whether hosting a holiday hoo-ha or recovering from the gluttony of said gatherings, you are bound to eat a pendulum-swinging variety of dishes over the coming months. These recipes aim to solve your needs, from December through February.

Creamy Giardiniera Dip

Dips are the king, queen and court jester of any holiday gathering. They’re somehow both regal and cheeky crowd-pleasers. For this lush giardiniera dip, mix together sour cream, cream cheese, Parmesan and a bunch of chopped giardiniera, that jarred, zippy Italian pickle of cauliflower, celery and peppers. Bust out the chips, and keep the Champagne flowing.

Dutch Baby

There may be no more simple showstopper of a brunch dish than a proper Dutch baby. The way it puffs and burnishes as it bakes in the skillet. The way you garnish it as you like, then serve the entire thing in the same skillet you cooked it in. This recipe gilds the finished Dutch baby with powdered sugar and lemon — along with optional jam and walnuts. Choose your preferred fillip.

Hoppin’ John with Turnips and Turnip Greens

We all could use a little luck each New Year’s Day — even more so after 2025. Black-eyed peas and rice, aka hoppin’ John, is a New Year’s staple in some parts of the American South. Todd Richards’ version stars the obligatory ham hock but is loaded with so much flavor that the hock can be omitted without the dish missing a flavor beat.

Kimchi and Ketchup Fried Rice

Once you start being accustomed to cooking fried rice, there is a roteness to the move. You will generally reach for the same aromatics and additions, whether those be ginger and egg, or ham and green onions. It is then a treat to quiver the familiar, and this fried rice remains simple to execute. But the addition of both ketchup and kimchi takes the dish in a new direction. Unless, of course, you were always adding those all along.

Perfect Poached Eggs

So simple as to barely be a recipe, Mei Lin’s game-changing technique for poached eggs guarantees intact whites and runny yolks. You simply combine two parts water to one part vinegar. Then, about 30 minutes before you’re going to serve your eggs, crack however many eggs you are going to cook into the water-vinegar bath. The outside of the eggs essentially cure, tightening the whites. When you poach the eggs, the whites don’t spread into wandering filaments. Brunch, you’re welcome.

Totchos (Tater Tot Nachos)

Nachos are superb; totchos are just a whole other delight unto themselves. A simple made-from-scratch cheese sauce drapes the tots. Underneath and on top is a charred-tomato salsa, bits of chorizo and lots of green and red onion. Make it for a party or for a comforting night in.

Vegan Chili

During winter, there is reassurance in knowing there is a big pot of fortification waiting in the fridge whenever a need strikes. Chili is forever a correct answer, all the more when it is a meat-free variation loaded with kidney beans, the sweet musk of cumin and the hearty addition of bulgur.

This season’s collection of winter cocktails is hot, hot, hot! Whether you are eyeing a soothing nonalcoholic gut-filler or a sharp toddy variation with Irish whiskey and apple syrup, these warm drinks are the bouncy blanket for the months ahead.

Barraquito

The barraquito is a visual stunner, with layers of condensed milk, yellow Licor 43, frothed milk and espresso assembling into an striated, earthtoned sequence. The drink from Spain’s Canary Islands is a “midmorning pick-me-up, a post-meal ritual and an intergenerational tradition,” said the beverage publication Punch.

Francophile

Spices do wonders for wine during the coldest months. The Francophile’s way with mulled wine includes cinnamon simple syrup for sweetening and Calvados, the apple brandy, for a stout complement. An apple slice and cinnamon stick as garnishes remind you exactly what’s afoot in this gladdening cocktail.

Hot Tiger’s Milk

Like some hybrid of a hot buttered rum and a piña colada, Hot Tiger’s Milk is rich and coconutty. It’s an old recipe, dating back to the 1800s. You wouldn’t want more than one, what with its rich coconut cream base and addition of evaporated milk when you build the drink in your mug. But you are going to want to finish each drop of the one you do drink.

Moneygun Hot Toddy

Whiskey, step away from the toddy. Rum and cognac are stepping in for today’s performance. In the Moneygun Hot Toddy, named after the Chicago bar, a touch of fresh ginger, Darjeeling tea, cloves, lemon juice and honey are the supporting players that give this lively toddy a strong, welcoming point of view.

Peanut Atole

Atole is a hot, agreeable Mexican drink, nonalcoholic by nature. The base is nearly always made with corn. This variation employs that prototypical corn base but adds a slap of natural peanut butter for a welcome touch of richness. If Goldilocks really knew what was up, this would be her porridge of choice.

Queen of Cups

Hazelnut brown butter, spiced apple syrup, Irish whiskey: Thirsty yet? Not the kind of cocktail that one can throw together during a somnambulic moment, The Queen of Cups requires advance thinking to make the brown butter and apple syrup. Once those elements are prepared, though, you simply assemble. At that point, you can indeed make it in your sleep.

Verte Chaud

Hot chocolate is spiked with green Chartreuse in the simple, thrilling Verte Chaud. Imagine packing a thermos with this effortless cocktail. Anyone you share it with will thank you, profusely. Or just keep it all for yourself. You deserve it.