Ottolenghi

As you walk into Ottolenghi’s cool, calm white interior, your taste buds are set tingling by a gastronomic display so sumptuous it’s almost indecent: mountains of fluffy meringues, drool-inducing cakes, tarts & muffins, & heaving plates of fresh salads bursting with colour & freshness. Co-owner Yotam Ottolenghi is a Guardian columnist on vegetarian food & he has dubbed his mini-chain of deli/bakeries ‘the haute couture of the food-to-go world’. The experience certainly doesn’t come cheap, but it’s a treat to sit at a communal table here (the only branch with a proper restaurant) & enjoy a sparkling array of ultra-hip, vibrant, Med-influenced dishes. Try braised baby globe artichoke with broad beans, peas, preserved lemon, pink peppercorns, chives & parsley; or crisp-skinned sea bass with baba gannouj, pomegranate & crisp shallots. ‘Outstanding food’ enthuses one reader. To drink there’s a good range of wines, bottled beer & zingy Sicilian lemonade.