This is a piece I never thought I’d write. Just two weeks ago, I’d have been the first to explain exactly why ordering in is not – cannot – be the same as going out to a restaurant. I would tell you how most chefs’ meals simply can’t travel, and extol restaurants’ virtues of atmosphere, conviviality and hospitality. “It’s just more sociable!” I’d cry. “Order in and you will inevitably wind up chewing over Netflix, not even speaking to each other.”
But fast forward a fortnight and I’m not just encouraging you to dial for sustenance, I’m writing a guide to it. Because this is a world I never thought we’d be living in.
In principle I haven’t changed. I still believe restaurant meals are best enjoyed in restaurants rather than the home, where the sofa and Sex Education beckons. I still believe in a restaurant’s power to strengthen the ties of friendship, or affirm relationships of old.
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That they are now – rightly – closed doesn’t diminish this, but it does mean finding new ways in which to harness their social and personal potential as well as their takeaway offerings. As Charlie Mellor of The Laughing Heart in London observes, “Sometimes you need someone else to curate your evening – to provide the pasta and the wine and the playlist that, when you fall out, will help restore relations.” It is to this end that he and other enterprising independent restaurateurs are looking to make not just the meals, but as much as possible of the experience of eating out available to take away.
Cue London Restaurant Resistance: a database, compiled by Mellor, of all the independent restaurants in London offering deliveries. “There’ll be a summary of what each restaurant does, written from the view of someone else in the industry. So I’ll fondly describe what Snackbar London is doing, for example, and someone else will describe The Laughing Heart’s offering.”
There’ll be takeaways, of course, but there’ll also be meals “that require a bit of finishing at home, so they’ll come with instructions” – adding a welcome source of distraction and (if you’re isolating with people) a way of engaging with each other beyond home workouts and bored bickering.
So far, so pre-Covid 19. What makes this an unusual database for unusual times is not the meals themselves – though there are more of them, and better – but the offerings beyond that. As well as masterstock beef, aubergine and salted chilli, The Laughing Heart is offering its napkins and glasses. As well as crispy fried cauliflower, ginger salt and toasted cashew Thai-style waldorf salad – one of three courses offered currently by Pidgin London on a delivery basis – there will be wines from its acclaimed wine list. There will be – from those restaurants to whom the music matters – curated playlists for you to download for your dinner.
“As these weeks and months go by, the offerings will evolve and become more sophisticated – because this is new territory,” says Mellor. “We don’t want to profit from everybody’s unhappiness; we are trying to look after our staff and suppliers. We’re in the hospitality business. We assess what people need from us right now and try to provide it.”
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A street food vendor waits for customers seated next to a row of brightly-coloured syrup bottles at his street gola (shaved ice) stall, at Girgaon Chowpaty in Mumbai. Gola or barf ka gola or chuski are the most popular street desserts. The ice-based dessert is made by shaving an ice-block and pouring various flavored syrups on to the snow-like crushed ice
EPA
A woman prepares yomari, or Nepalese steamed dumplings, in Lalitpur. Yomari consists of an external cover of rice flour and an inner content of sweets known as chaku and the mild-based khuwa. They sell for about 65 Nepali rupees or 60 US cents per dumpling. The yomari were traditionally prepared as a specialty dish by members of the ethnic Newari community in Nepal for their festival, but demand became so great that they are now sold throughout the year. According to myth Kubera, the Hindu god of wealth and prosperity, liked the yomari so much upon tasting it that he foretold anyone who makes it will be blessed with wealth and prosperity
EPA
A vendor selling seekh kebabs and other non-vegetarian food on Mira Road, in the outskirts of Mumbai. Seekh kebabs are popular, especially among Muslim people. They are made of meat, most often mutton, lamb, beef or chicken, and served with various accompaniments. Kebabs are often cooked on a skewer over a fire like a grill or baked in an oven
EPA
An elderly street cook cuts lap xuong or Chinese sausage, a traditional ingredient when ordering xoi or sticky rice, at a street food stall in Hanoi. Sticky rice is usually served with meat or egg, but there are many variations, such as sticky rice with steamed chicken, sticky rice with mung beans, sticky rice steamed with peanut, and sticky rice with sliced coconut
EPA
People take a meal at a food stall along a street in Manila. Amid Manila’s dense population, ambulant food vendors earn a good profit selling rice porridge mixed with meat, chicken feet, pork intestines, eggs on sticks, and beef stew with rice. Price ranges from 20 cents euro to 50 cents euro
EPA
Men cook snail soup at the Omega street food restaurant in Koh Pich (Diamond Island) in Phnom Penh. The snail soup is made with lake snails, caught by hand by farmers in the provinces around Phnom Penh. The dish offers customers a traditional provincial style of food compared to the majority of restaurants in Cambodia that offer Chinese, western or neighboring Asian nations cuisine, only a few offer traditional Cambodian fare. The restaurant specialises in cooking snail soup and steamed frog with small rocks
EPA
A woman puts a betel package, called quid, into her mouth made and sold at a street stall in Naypyitaw. Betel quids, known as Kunya, are very popular in Myanmar, made of tobacco and small pieces of betel nut wrapped in a betel leaf and spread with a lime paste that are placed into the mouth to suck and chew. Betel is the seed of the Areca palm, and while it’s consumption is common in Asia and the Pacific, it is banned in many western countries due to its negative health effects. It also leads to the red stained teeth and mouths, and the red pavement spit that goes along with the experience
EPA
La Loma district, in Manila, is famous for its roasted pig stores known as Lechon, a popular Filipino delicacy. Lechon is the Spanish word for a young suckling pig, that is then slowly roasted over charcoal. Lechon is often cooked during national festivities, the holiday season, and other special occasions such as weddings, graduations, birthdays and baptisms, or family get-togethers
EPA
Women sit as they eat bakso at a street in Depok. Bakso consists of meatballs and noodles mixed with tofu, mustard greens, fried onions and chili sauce. It is one of the most popular street foods in Indonesia
EPA
A street vendor prepares deep-fried curry fish balls, a street snack especially loved by young people, in Mong Kok, a busy night life district of Kowloon in Hong Kong. Since the so-called ‘ fish ball revolution’ riot in Mong Kok in 2016, where a crowd of New Year revellers tried to push a cart of boiling oil towards health officials who were checking for unlicensed street hawkers, the snack has also become a symbol of identity of the Hong Kong people’s resistance to perceived creeping authoritarianism from China. Traditionally, fish balls were made of local fish species once widely available in Hong Kong waters. However, due to over-fishing and the industrialisation of food production, the iconic snack is now said to contain only 20 per cent fish or less, with substitute ingredients such as flour, chemical enhancers, pork and lard sometimes making up the bulk of the product. Despite this, in 2012, local media Apple Daily reported that 375,000,000 fish balls were consumed per day
EPA
A vendor arranges fried insects on her street food cart on Khao San Road in Bangkok. The road houses many kinds of food but the most popular are fresh fruits, fried insects and pad thai. Fried insects attract the attention of tourists from all over the world. Bugs have been on the menu in Thailand for ages but a few years ago they have migrated from the forests to commercial farms and factories. The most popular method of preparation is to deep-fry crickets in oil and then sprinkle them with lemongrass slivers and chilis. They are crunchy and taste like fried shrimp. Pad thai is a stir-fried rice noodle dish commonly served as street food and at most restaurants in Thailand
EPA
A man sells baozi, or Chinese steamed meat buns, at a business district in Beijing. The traditional Chinese dish is commonly eaten as breakfast. The baozi are steamed over high heat in a bamboo steamer. According to the legend, baozi has a long history, as it was invented by the Chinese military strategist Zhuge Liang during the Three Kingdoms period (third century AD)
EPA
A vendor cooking satay meat skewers at her stall in the Lau Pa Sat food centre. Singapore has announced that it will be nominating its hawker culture, comprising over 6,000 hawkers who provide street food local dishes, for a Unesco’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Hawker centres were started in the 1970s in Singapore by moving street vendors into purpose-built facilities. There are over 110 such hawker centres in the country. The announcement is reported to have angered some Malaysians, as both nations share a long street food culture heritage and similar dishes
EPA
A bowl of bakso
EPA
A woman makes yomari in Lalitpur
EPA
A street food vendor sells a variety of common street snacks in Kolkata
EPA
A vendor fries duck at a street stall in Binangonan, Rizal province. The duck is deep fried after a boiling process with garlic, onions and other spices, resulting in its trademark of crispy duck skin and meat
EPA
A seller prepares chuan on a skewer at the Wangfujing food market in Beijing. Chuan, pronounced as chwan, are small pieces of meat, but on rare occasions can be seafood, roasted on skewers. The food originated from the Xinjiang region of China and has been spread all across China’s cities, where street food is popular. Usually, it is cooked with spices like dried red or black pepper, salt, cumin seeds, and with sesame oil, and sometimes served with small round bread
EPA
Nasi lemak is a Malay fragrant rice dish cooked in coconut milk and pandan leaf. Traditionally, Nasi lemak is served with a sambal (hot spicy sauce) and usually includes various garnishes, including fresh cucumber slices, small fried anchovies, roasted peanuts, and hard-boiled or fried egg
EPA
A street food chef prepares bang trang nuong or Vietnamese pizza at a street food stall in Hanoi. Vietnamese pizza is a thin sheet of rice paper with many kinds of toppings, such as beaten egg, sausage, cheese, dried pork, and is a popular Vietnamese street food
EPA
A street food vendor waits for customers seated next to a row of brightly-coloured syrup bottles at his street gola (shaved ice) stall, at Girgaon Chowpaty in Mumbai. Gola or barf ka gola or chuski are the most popular street desserts. The ice-based dessert is made by shaving an ice-block and pouring various flavored syrups on to the snow-like crushed ice
EPA
A woman prepares yomari, or Nepalese steamed dumplings, in Lalitpur. Yomari consists of an external cover of rice flour and an inner content of sweets known as chaku and the mild-based khuwa. They sell for about 65 Nepali rupees or 60 US cents per dumpling. The yomari were traditionally prepared as a specialty dish by members of the ethnic Newari community in Nepal for their festival, but demand became so great that they are now sold throughout the year. According to myth Kubera, the Hindu god of wealth and prosperity, liked the yomari so much upon tasting it that he foretold anyone who makes it will be blessed with wealth and prosperity
EPA
A vendor selling seekh kebabs and other non-vegetarian food on Mira Road, in the outskirts of Mumbai. Seekh kebabs are popular, especially among Muslim people. They are made of meat, most often mutton, lamb, beef or chicken, and served with various accompaniments. Kebabs are often cooked on a skewer over a fire like a grill or baked in an oven
EPA
An elderly street cook cuts lap xuong or Chinese sausage, a traditional ingredient when ordering xoi or sticky rice, at a street food stall in Hanoi. Sticky rice is usually served with meat or egg, but there are many variations, such as sticky rice with steamed chicken, sticky rice with mung beans, sticky rice steamed with peanut, and sticky rice with sliced coconut
EPA
People take a meal at a food stall along a street in Manila. Amid Manila’s dense population, ambulant food vendors earn a good profit selling rice porridge mixed with meat, chicken feet, pork intestines, eggs on sticks, and beef stew with rice. Price ranges from 20 cents euro to 50 cents euro
EPA
Men cook snail soup at the Omega street food restaurant in Koh Pich (Diamond Island) in Phnom Penh. The snail soup is made with lake snails, caught by hand by farmers in the provinces around Phnom Penh. The dish offers customers a traditional provincial style of food compared to the majority of restaurants in Cambodia that offer Chinese, western or neighboring Asian nations cuisine, only a few offer traditional Cambodian fare. The restaurant specialises in cooking snail soup and steamed frog with small rocks
EPA
A woman puts a betel package, called quid, into her mouth made and sold at a street stall in Naypyitaw. Betel quids, known as Kunya, are very popular in Myanmar, made of tobacco and small pieces of betel nut wrapped in a betel leaf and spread with a lime paste that are placed into the mouth to suck and chew. Betel is the seed of the Areca palm, and while it’s consumption is common in Asia and the Pacific, it is banned in many western countries due to its negative health effects. It also leads to the red stained teeth and mouths, and the red pavement spit that goes along with the experience
EPA
La Loma district, in Manila, is famous for its roasted pig stores known as Lechon, a popular Filipino delicacy. Lechon is the Spanish word for a young suckling pig, that is then slowly roasted over charcoal. Lechon is often cooked during national festivities, the holiday season, and other special occasions such as weddings, graduations, birthdays and baptisms, or family get-togethers
EPA
Women sit as they eat bakso at a street in Depok. Bakso consists of meatballs and noodles mixed with tofu, mustard greens, fried onions and chili sauce. It is one of the most popular street foods in Indonesia
EPA
A street vendor prepares deep-fried curry fish balls, a street snack especially loved by young people, in Mong Kok, a busy night life district of Kowloon in Hong Kong. Since the so-called ‘ fish ball revolution’ riot in Mong Kok in 2016, where a crowd of New Year revellers tried to push a cart of boiling oil towards health officials who were checking for unlicensed street hawkers, the snack has also become a symbol of identity of the Hong Kong people’s resistance to perceived creeping authoritarianism from China. Traditionally, fish balls were made of local fish species once widely available in Hong Kong waters. However, due to over-fishing and the industrialisation of food production, the iconic snack is now said to contain only 20 per cent fish or less, with substitute ingredients such as flour, chemical enhancers, pork and lard sometimes making up the bulk of the product. Despite this, in 2012, local media Apple Daily reported that 375,000,000 fish balls were consumed per day
EPA
A vendor arranges fried insects on her street food cart on Khao San Road in Bangkok. The road houses many kinds of food but the most popular are fresh fruits, fried insects and pad thai. Fried insects attract the attention of tourists from all over the world. Bugs have been on the menu in Thailand for ages but a few years ago they have migrated from the forests to commercial farms and factories. The most popular method of preparation is to deep-fry crickets in oil and then sprinkle them with lemongrass slivers and chilis. They are crunchy and taste like fried shrimp. Pad thai is a stir-fried rice noodle dish commonly served as street food and at most restaurants in Thailand
EPA
A man sells baozi, or Chinese steamed meat buns, at a business district in Beijing. The traditional Chinese dish is commonly eaten as breakfast. The baozi are steamed over high heat in a bamboo steamer. According to the legend, baozi has a long history, as it was invented by the Chinese military strategist Zhuge Liang during the Three Kingdoms period (third century AD)
EPA
A vendor cooking satay meat skewers at her stall in the Lau Pa Sat food centre. Singapore has announced that it will be nominating its hawker culture, comprising over 6,000 hawkers who provide street food local dishes, for a Unesco’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Hawker centres were started in the 1970s in Singapore by moving street vendors into purpose-built facilities. There are over 110 such hawker centres in the country. The announcement is reported to have angered some Malaysians, as both nations share a long street food culture heritage and similar dishes
EPA
A bowl of bakso
EPA
A woman makes yomari in Lalitpur
EPA
A street food vendor sells a variety of common street snacks in Kolkata
EPA
A vendor fries duck at a street stall in Binangonan, Rizal province. The duck is deep fried after a boiling process with garlic, onions and other spices, resulting in its trademark of crispy duck skin and meat
EPA
A seller prepares chuan on a skewer at the Wangfujing food market in Beijing. Chuan, pronounced as chwan, are small pieces of meat, but on rare occasions can be seafood, roasted on skewers. The food originated from the Xinjiang region of China and has been spread all across China’s cities, where street food is popular. Usually, it is cooked with spices like dried red or black pepper, salt, cumin seeds, and with sesame oil, and sometimes served with small round bread
EPA
Nasi lemak is a Malay fragrant rice dish cooked in coconut milk and pandan leaf. Traditionally, Nasi lemak is served with a sambal (hot spicy sauce) and usually includes various garnishes, including fresh cucumber slices, small fried anchovies, roasted peanuts, and hard-boiled or fried egg
EPA
A street food chef prepares bang trang nuong or Vietnamese pizza at a street food stall in Hanoi. Vietnamese pizza is a thin sheet of rice paper with many kinds of toppings, such as beaten egg, sausage, cheese, dried pork, and is a popular Vietnamese street food
EPA
In short, we don’t need to wait for normality to return to support our restaurants – or to be supported by them in keeping the social parts of our brains firing.
“You could have a Skype dinner party, where you order the same pre-prepared meals in and cook and eat them together,” says Natasha Cooke of Lupins in south London. Meals from Lupins are available through Deliveroo or their own home-delivery service, which “provides them in such a way that you can freeze or refrigerate them and reheat them when you need”.
Londoners isolating in a group of housemates or with family should look up the BBQ restaurant Prairie Fire, from where pit master Michael Gratz is vac-packing his Kansas City-style smoked meats and delivering them with beers and sides you can store. They’re easily reheated – “submerge the vac-pack of meat in a hot water bath for 20 minutes and you’re ready to go” – and if you carve them up on a serving board it makes for a sense of occasion even if there isn’t one. “Pass the pork, pass the brisket, sharing around a table – it’s the sort of interaction we are all going to really need.”
Of course, the most obvious route for those looking to recreate the restaurant at home is through those established providers. In the past month Deliveroo registered almost 3,000 new UK restaurants, and launched a new campaign “to support the restaurant sector”. Premium platform Supper, meanwhile, has had what its marketing and business development officer Kieran Cawley called, “our craziest week”.
“So many restaurants looking for delivery, which we’re trying to onboard as quickly as possible – restaurants like Hide, Yauatcha, Hakkasan,” he lists, “who want to maintain their high, Michelin-quality standard.” Of these, a fair few are looking to go one step further and provide the wine themselves or, recommendations for pairing.
Cawley has no particular views on how to make the experience feel more “eating out”, beyond ensuring the meals you receive are of restaurant standard. “Our bikes are designed and customised to carry the food to you in the best way possible – better than someone on a pushbike or moped can do – and we test timings and encourage our partners to omit dishes that don’t travel.” It’s something I wish Deliveroo could do more of, having ordered a fair few disappointing numbers. Some restaurants have the packaging to get round this, but in general I would avoid deep-fried food (the batter goes soggy) and noodle dishes which can stick together and go claggy.
“It’s the first thing we talk about in the industry, whenever the chat turns to takeaway food: the problem of transport,” says Mellor. “A lot of restaurant-style food doesn’t travel well.” It’s why The Laughing Heart, Leroy, Lupins and other restaurants who previously eschewed delivery services have redesigned their menus accordingly.
“The flavours are still Mediterranean, just as they have been in our restaurant – but our takeaway options – lamb and aubergine tagine with couscous; chicken cacciatore – are heartier, more family-style,” says Cooke.
Braises, curries and stews only get better with time, and can be kept warm or reheated without adverse effect to flavour and texture – so you can stagger two or three courses over an evening, just like the real restaurants do.
On the evening in which my family decide to order in, we do just that: Alex Clayton of Tasca Dali in Warwick texts us 20 minutes before delivery asking us to preheat the oven. He arrives with a platter of cold meats and cheeses and another of tortilla and croquetas, for starters, and a Spanish fish and potato braise to rest snug in the oven while we eat. We light candles, sit round the table and serve up on proper crockery. For Seb Holmes of Farang in north London, the latter is essential if the meal is to feel like a proper experience.
“Our whole concept is based around sharing. We’ve had to flip that and make dishes more individual, so those isolating on their own can order – but you can still serve dishes as courses – the crispy chicken first, then the homemade curries or whole sea bass with sour fruits – and serve in nice bowls, and get stuck in as you would in a restaurant.
“If you’ve kids at home, you can even get them to pretend they are front of house and practice their maths. Train them young,” he jokes. “We’ll need all the help we can get after this.”
Source: Thanks https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/restaurant-quality-food-delivery-coronavirus-a9423136.html
