It comes as a surprise even to myself when I find myself telling others the list of my favorite food cities, the places I’m drawing inspiration from at the moment, and inevitably on that list, right up there alongside Paris and Tokyo and Mexico City, is London. London! Not just for the fish and chips, but for the countless understated cafes and higher end wine bars alike that have opened up in the last decade or so. If the stereotype of the English soccer team (it’s the World Cup, after all) is that they wear their heart on their sleeve, playing passionate, straightforward football, then it could also be said of the city’s new wave of cooking that it is honest, direct, hiding behind nothing. There’s technique, to be sure, drawn from older British cooking and fused with influences from nearby France, faraway India, and everywhere in between, but the food itself comes across as clean and elegant. Much of this list is focused on the Eastern part of London, specifically Hackney and surrounding neighborhoods, as that’s where I’ve spent the most time, but I’ll include a few other can’t miss spots dotted around this terrific food city.
