00:11Welcome to another edition, a 2026 edition of the Standards Food and Drink Podcast.
00:16Joshua, how the devil are you?
00:17I'm okay.
00:18Yeah, how was Christmas?
00:19It was alright. How was yours?
00:21Also alright. That's what Christmas is.
00:23It never gets better than alright.
00:24Was your turkey dry?
00:25No, turkey was terrific.
00:26And I didn't wreck it with pigs and blankets.
00:30Apparently that's a controversial opinion.
00:32Thank you internet. I appreciate all your sweet, lovely comments.
00:35Yeah, good.
00:36Christmas can get in the bin. Let's talk about what's coming up.
00:38Lots of things.
00:39What are you excited for in 2026?
00:41Let's do one, one, one, one.
00:43Otherwise you'll just say all the ones I like.
00:44Well, let's do a Simpsons each then.
00:47You take yours.
00:47Okay, I'm going to go for a cloth.
00:49The one on Simpsons 7.
00:51Yeah, so Simpsons 7's been reborn as cloth.
00:53And they already have an existing restaurant in Clerkenwell, which is fantastic.
00:58It's quite wine focused.
01:00A really interesting list because they tend to buy bottles sometimes at auctions and things like that.
01:05And I think basically because the Simpsons Tavern had been in so much trouble, it's nice to see someone take on that site.
01:13Because you know it's down the alley.
01:15It's very cute.
01:16Down the alley.
01:16And they're going to serve sausages with everything, I hope.
01:20I hope that.
01:21Yeah.
01:21Also, shout out to Ella, the GM at Cloth.
01:24Because she's the most underrated GM in London, I reckon.
01:27Brilliant.
01:28And yeah, I went to the original just before Christmas for a little cosy time with some friends.
01:35And yeah, it's as good as ever.
01:37You know, candle lit, Dickensian.
01:39Which is your Simpsons?
01:40I don't know of any others.
01:41Well, obviously it's quite exciting finally to see Simpsons on the Strand come back.
01:47Absolutely.
01:47So that would be good.
01:49And you know, it's looking good.
01:51It's been a long time coming.
01:53You know, problems with the contractors and the builders and all of that malarkey.
01:57So, and also the snacks were great when we went in for the book launch.
02:02So, looking forward to that.
02:04So, both of them, I think, you know, early in the year, February time, both of them are scheduled for, for softs, aren't they?
02:10And then March time for public.
02:12So, the two Simpsons, I think, is probably a big thing.
02:15Tell you the other restaurant I'm looking forward to this year.
02:17Yeah.
02:18Hell's Kitchen.
02:19So, Hell's Kitchen, Gordon Ramsay is bringing back the kitchen that he made his name off, really.
02:24Because that's when he went from being a pretty well-known TV chef to suddenly like a superstar.
02:30Yeah, a stardom, yeah.
02:32I just, I kind of want them to do the TV show again.
02:35Absolutely.
02:36And I want Vic Reeves to ask for a Friday, I'm going to China play.
02:39Because that was one of the standout moments of, yeah.
02:42You'd think that was a reasonable request.
02:44Do you think Ramsay's mellowed over the years?
02:45Yes.
02:46Great, me too.
02:48Very much so.
02:49He has to be.
02:50He can't be idiots sandwiching everyone all the time anymore because he's got too much money.
02:55And he can't stand to lose any of it.
02:57And then, obviously, Jamie taking the old Marco site in Leicester Square is just hilarious for innumerable reasons.
03:06Most of them are too insular and industry.
03:09But I can't wait for, you know, after only, I mean, he's come back sooner than I thought he would.
03:16And have you read now that he's not just opening this, they want to open 40.
03:19Yeah.
03:20Jamie's Italians across the UK.
03:22It's just going to be an absolute, well, let's see.
03:25Who knows?
03:25I think it's too much at once.
03:27I don't know why he's doing it.
03:28The other thing about the Leicester Square site that's hilarious is it's a cursed site.
03:32Marco, when he went there, did an interview with me for the paper a few years ago.
03:36He was like, I'm just doing it for the money.
03:37We'll just see how long it lasts.
03:38Yeah.
03:39And then they had some food hygiene problems and all that stuff.
03:41And I think Jamie's, in a way, it speaks to giving up on the ambition of having a great restaurant to me.
03:49So when he opened Catherine Street, I thought he wants to come back, be taken seriously as his chef.
03:54And this, to me, tells me that actually what he wants is to get a lot of tourist trade in there and make a lot of money.
03:59There's another interesting one.
04:02A restaurant that closed last year is coming back.
04:05Okay.
04:05We will announce it when it's ready, but look out for this.
04:10What clue can we give?
04:12A colour.
04:14It's good.
04:15I'll tell you after.
04:16Okay.
04:16Very exciting.
04:17It's one of my favourite meals of last year.
04:19And they closed to go on a world tour.
04:23And they're coming back for a residency and it's going to be great.
04:26Orange Wednesdays.
04:27Orange Wednesdays, exactly.
04:28Okay, now we're going to do Bones Pick, where we pick bones with things.
04:33This week's topic for Bones Pick is...
04:35Should dry January be scrapped?
04:38No.
04:39No.
04:39Basically, the thing is, January is the month that you need to drink the most because it's freezing cold.
04:46There's no fun of Christmas.
04:48You've gone back to your dead-end job that you hate and you just need to get through it.
04:53On the other hand...
04:54Have you had a drink? Yes.
04:55This is it, yeah.
04:56No.
04:57Nor me.
04:57On the other hand, I sort of think, why not take a bit of time to be healthy?
05:03Why not have a salad?
05:04I mean, it's for a winter soup.
05:06I made a delicious vegetable soup.
05:08I made one yesterday.
05:08The other day.
05:09Actually, Tony made one yesterday.
05:10A lot of celery in there.
05:12A lot of celery.
05:14You know, almost no nutritional benefit to celery.
05:16It's fine.
05:17I like the flavour.
05:17But, yeah, no, I mean, who cares, actually, whether dry January.
05:22It shouldn't be this big, preachy, look at me, I'm drinking Bativo with tonic and a slice of lemon.
05:32That's fine.
05:33If you want to do that, that's okay.
05:35And it's all about, you know, balance and moderation.
05:39I think that is the thing that is crucial here.
05:41But also, if you just give up for one month, that doesn't mean you can go on naps.
05:44Also, apparently, you know, apparently, it takes three months for your liver to properly become, like, you have to not drink for three months to really feel proper.
05:56Yeah.
05:56On the other hand, the liver is incredibly resilient and starts to show signs of repairing up to three days.
06:01Yeah.
06:02And a week is pretty good.
06:03But I think you can do that regularly.
06:04Just take a week off here and there.
06:06Well, why not just calm down and, you know, do what you like, but don't absolutely get blotto and fall down.
06:14I mean, it's quite simple, isn't it, really?
06:15Yeah.
06:16Let's not, let's all just relax.
06:18In an interesting twist.
06:20Right.
06:20No more overrated or underrated for this episode only.
06:23Yeah.
06:24So we're going to do take it or leave it, which I suppose is in and out for 2026 and food trends.
06:28Buffets are coming back.
06:29Good.
06:30Bring them.
06:31I will happily enjoy a buffet once or twice a week for the rest of my life.
06:36I don't feel that strongly about buffets because...
06:38Sausage rolls?
06:40Half a scotch egg.
06:42What else is on my plate?
06:43Celery batons, carrot batons, hummus.
06:46I think curry was really well as a buffet.
06:47I've got some grapes.
06:49I've got a tartlet, a mini quiche.
06:51I might have a small slider.
06:54I mean, I love a buffet.
06:56And at the omelette station, to just round it all off, here he is, the man, he's on a
07:01hot plate.
07:01He's folding the omelette over.
07:03What do I want in there?
07:04Maybe some gruyah.
07:05Maybe some ham.
07:05Are you having an episode?
07:06Do we need to call someone?
07:08I'm not really sure what's going on here.
07:09Cabbage.
07:13Cabbage.
07:13Take it.
07:14Yeah, I'd take cabbage.
07:15Take it.
07:15Jacket potatoes.
07:16They've never gone.
07:19Jacket potatoes are fine.
07:20They're good.
07:20Yeah, bring them into 2026.
07:22Bring them in.
07:23I'm not like a fully loaded Spud Bros Jacket potato.
07:26Nah, that's £10.
07:28Why am I spending £10 on a Jacket potato?
07:30No one should ever buy a Jacket potato from one of these Spud Bro £10 on a £10 price
07:39nonsense.
07:41Buzz balls.
07:42F*** off.
07:43Leave them.
07:43Absolute dog shit.
07:45They're just the worst form of alcohol.
07:46Did you have any?
07:47Have you had any?
07:48Yeah.
07:48They are disgusting.
07:50It's full branding.
07:50It's people who don't know what they want to drink.
07:53They just f***ing suck.
07:55So leave them.
07:56My little sisters love them, buzz balls.
07:58Yeah, they can get in the bin as well.
07:59But they're 19 and 21, so I think that's the target demographique, isn't it, really?
08:04Yeah.
08:05Fancy functional waters.
08:07No.
08:07Also leave them.
08:08There's a tap.
08:09Yeah.
08:10Open it.
08:11Pick burgers.
08:12Yes.
08:13Bring them in.
08:14Bring them in.
08:15Thick.
08:16It's all about being thick in 2026.
08:18Dubai chocolate.
08:19F*** off.
08:21Straight up leave.
08:22I mean, yeah, whatever.
08:23It just wasn't even a thing.
08:25It's just pistachio.
08:26It doesn't matter.
08:26I quite like it, to be honest.
08:27Just pistachio.
08:28I forget it.
08:28I like the texture.
08:29Anything to do with Dubai can go...
08:31Tuna melt.
08:33What?
08:34A tuna melt that's making its research.
08:35Yeah, bring it back.
08:36I love a tuna melt.
08:37I don't know that well.
08:38Love it.
08:38Tuna makes me feel sick.
08:40I love tuna melts.
08:41Oh, okay.
08:42Especially in a panino.
08:43It's just cat food.
08:44Panini.
08:45I just think tuna's cat food.
08:47I was going to suggest some sort of tinned fish.
08:50Tinned fish had a moment a couple of years ago, and there was Salty Girl.
08:53Do you remember that?
08:54It opened up to much funfair on North Audley Street in Mayfair.
08:58And it shut down, because tinned fish is okay.
09:01You can have it at home.
09:02It's okay.
09:03Well, it's good not...
09:04I just...
09:05I don't really...
09:06The thing is, is actually, people's interest is not in the fish.
09:09It's in the branding.
09:10It's because all it is looks great.
09:13So you want to...
09:13It's a bit like Pirello Olives.
09:15The actual quality of the product is fine, but it's not exceptional.
09:18So I think what people are buying into is the aesthetics of it.
09:21And that's probably why I don't care about it, because fundamentally, once you're eating it,
09:26why have I spent £7 or something that I could have spent £50 on, if I'd got Waitrose's own brand or whatever.
09:33I just think it's Emperor's New Clothes.
09:35To go to a restaurant and pay an inflated price for something I could buy in a deli and open myself.
09:41Put on a wooden board, toast some sourdough, Bob's your uncle.
09:46Like, I like tinned fish, but it has no place in a restaurant.
09:50That's where you go for someone who can cook better than you, and you pay for that skill,
09:55and you pay for that beautiful produce, and you have a lovely time with your friends with a glass of wine in sumptuous surroundings.
10:01If I want some bougie tinned fish, then I'll be at home and have a picky tea.
10:06Or what's it called?
10:06Girl dinner.
10:07Girl dinner.
10:09I'll have a girl dinner.
10:10I just don't think dinner's agendered.
10:11I actually really object to that.
10:12I'll open a buzz ball, and I'll open a tin of high-quality tuna fish.
10:17I won't really want to bring back tuna fish.
10:20Did you encounter mums growing up who would say tuna fish rather than tuna?
10:24No.
10:24Well, they're great, great mums.
10:27So I just want to have a girl dinner, actually, and watch the Night Manager Series 2.
10:35I also don't buy into this.
10:36It's good for the skincare thing.
10:38Oily fish is good for your skin, mate.
10:39That's undeniable.
10:40Yeah, but it's not like, if you eat a tin fish diet.
10:43The thing is, well, I don't know.
10:44I want to see you draping tuna fillets over your eyes in the morning.
10:49You think they can get rid of the bags?
10:50Yeah.
10:52I'm going to start doing it.
10:53In which case, I'll give it a shot.
10:54Great.
10:54Thank you for watching another episode of the Standards of Food and Drink podcast.
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