This week I am bringing you the second book from one of my favourite restaurants of all time. ‘Beyond Nose to Tail’ by Fergus Henderson and Justin Piers Gellatly of the incredible St. John restaurant is another excellent book following the success of ‘Nose to Tail’. We use it often at Cafe and at home. There are simple dishes to follow, but it is the vinaigrette, the green sauce, the quince, the brine — these basic recipes we use daily are just brilliant.

The book is filled with proper food: bread pudding, steamed sponges, wigmore and potato pie, bread and, of course, the salads. Delicious and different. Nothing pretty, not a tweezer in sight, and I love it. It takes rustic food to another level of intelligence and fun, because food and eating should be fun, not a starchy, low-lit Mecca for gastronomy. Good food should be for all, and St. John offers that — and at Bread and Wine too, their other gaff. If you have not eaten there, you must. And buy their books. They are good.