Kitchen
5 min read
Why the menu changes at four o’clock
Nell Hartigan
Every afternoon the growers’ vans arrive before service. We write the menu around what is on the counter, and print it at half past four.
Most restaurants write a menu once and cook it for months. We write ours every day, at four o’clock, when the last delivery has been unpacked.
The counter decides
Chef Nell Hartigan starts by walking the length of the kitchen counter and tasting. If the beans are sweet, they go on the card. If the fish is a day old, it does not.
By half past four the menu is printed and pinned to the pass. Front-of-house learn it in twenty minutes, standing up.
What a daily menu costs
It costs waste, because we cannot over-order. It costs a little sleep. It pays back in food that tastes like this week.
More notes
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Kitchen
Why the menu changes at four o’clock
Every afternoon the growers’ vans arrive before service. We write the menu around what is on the counter, and print it at half past four.
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