I eagerly await the English asparagus season, from tender start to woody finish
Until the 17th century, the vegetable was thought of as an ‘unimproved oddity’. But I could eat it morning, noon and night
Can’t face yet another menu offering charred hispi? This 50-year-old cookbook will help
Even at its most old-fashioned, Jane Grigson’s English Food is still bulging with exciting recipes. The perfect antidote to these jaded times
Merchants 1688, Lancaster: ‘Seriously impressive food’ – restaurant review
Don’t be put off by the tacky website and dodgy decor, Merchants 1688 is a complete gem
It’s easy to get stuck in a recipe rut. I’m going to cook a new dish every fortnight. Well, newish
The need to produce something good to eat when tired, or busy, or a bit less flush than usual is a test for any home cook. No wonder we fall back on failsafes
The Kirkstyle Inn, Northumberland: ‘Three courses for £30 in this day and age feels like a misprint’ – restaurant review
The inn is doing a nifty dance, luring in the gastropub crowd without scaring off people who just want cod and chips
The 67 best places to eat this summer in the UK
From Scottish fish and chips to a perfect Devon pub, top chefs recommend their favourite cafes, restaurants and inns in the UK for lunch or dinner, or just to while away a lazy sunny afternoon
Samphire, Lymington, Hampshire: ‘An eruption in a Cath Kidston outlet’ – restaurant review
Bold, unpretentious and one of the poshest restaurants in the New Forest. But can you handle the wallpaper?
The Woolpack, Slad, Gloucestershire: ‘Fancy but hearty food’ – restaurant review
‘This is confident, swaggering cooking. You’ll get fed until you can barely walk’
Restaurant St Barts, London EC1: ‘A place to take the food obsessive in your life’ – restaurant review
A place for diners who regard food as art, made to be gasped and cogitated over
Pentonbridge Inn, Penton, Cumbria: ‘The sort of food that makes me giddy’ – restaurant review
Why are more people not extolling this chef’s genius? And where are his Michelin stars?
Fork, Lewes, East Sussex: ‘The sort of place I dearly want to succeed’ – restaurant review
A small, neighbourhood restaurant with a heart that is bursting with ambition
Wales’s foodie renaissance: on the trail of an extraordinary national cuisine
There’s more to the food of Wales than laverbread and cockles, great though they are. These four hiking and driving tours savour its broad range
Solstice, Newcastle upon Tyne: ‘Theatre, pacing, exquisite detail’ – restaurant review
There will always be a place for this kind of cooking, because it is special food for the most special of special occasions
The Baring, London N1: ‘A benchmark of where pub dining is heading’ – restaurant review
Not all gastropubs are the same. This is an exceedingly good restaurant
Updown, Kent: ‘They make you lunch and sell you a fantasy’ – restaurant review
One of those places that shows how life could be – classy but understated