ottolenghi

I like waking up in the middle of the night to deliciousness. Outside, there's the whirr of crickets (and I'd say tree-frogs if I didn't know better) & the whole house is sleeping soundly, but me. But I don't mind. My very clever friend Sian in London sends me this tantalizing email:

hey miss w, was drooling over one of my favourite food porn books of the moment, and suddenly thought you & j might love it too. think like me, this is your kind of food!! ottolenghi has taken islington by storm - salads & cakes to die for. all a definite middle eastern twist as the guys who set it up are yotma & sammi - jewish /italian /palestinian - wonderful! enjoy!!

So, I checked it out. And she's right - completely scrumptious and a cult-like following it seems. Yotam Ottolenghi's Guardian column (with recipes) can be found here. Here are some samples: fried butter beans with feta, baked ricotta with figs and lavender honey, gado gado, artichokes with broad (fava) beans... Also here on the Eat Like a Girl blog, find their chargrilled peach & speck salad. Here is an adaptation of their roast chicken with sumac, za'atar and lemon & here the chargrilled vegetable and haloumi salad with basil oil. Thank you to all the bloggers I've linked to & special thanks to Miss Sian (whose beautiful photographs I steal with abandon).