cheese dream — as one of the
“small dishes” will immediately
have a place in my heart. A larger
course of gnocchetti (as in the
Sardinian pasta, not potato
dumplings) has a soupy sauce
of braised cabbage and Corra
Linn cheese, almost bracingly
sweet-sour, with a curious but
captivating clovey bass note.
But in case you think it’s all
fluffy-hippy-dippy meat-
avoiding, the daily special is
“sow”, which our lovely waiter
has charming difficulty
pronouncing — or maybe he was
just tripping over the vaguely
off-putting word. In fact, it’s
the porcine equivalent of those
so-fashionable retired dairy
milkers and shares their quality
of immense depth of flavour and
nicely challenging chew. Served
medium rare on a mound of
roughly mashed parsnip and
pickled pink onion, a pair of fat
prunes leaching their sweet
juices and, on top, a drift ofpastiche, accents of sunny
yellow and plaster walls on
which the evening’s bookings
and specials are chalked.
In fact, it’s such a lovely place
to be that we get sucked into the
pudding menu (or “pud-puds”
as they worryingly call them)
and nearly miss our train.
But this small brown butter
cake — hauntingly sweet-salty-
sticky and served with milk ice
cream and tangy quince jelly,
limpid and glinting like garnets
— is gorgeous, every bit as good
as the famous Flor bakery’s
version. Missing the train
would have been worth it.
Everyone working here seems
to be having a really good time
and behave as though they
want us customers to be in
on the good times too. Tonco
may be in Sheffield, it may not
be up your avenue. But it’s
right up my street n
Twitter: @marinaoloughlin
Insta: @marinagpoloughlinPLATE OF
THE NATION
Waitrose No 1
Luscious
Lemon Curd
Waitrose’s No 1 sub-brand
promises shoppers “the very
best” in a range of everything
from ready meals to kitchen
cupboard staples, all the
elitist of the elite, don’t cha
know. And this lemon curd
they badge as “luscious”.
The primrose-yellow
preserve starts off predictably
butter-suave and sweet but
follows with a terrific blast of
uncompromising sharpness.
It manages to be both
refreshing and super-rich,
quite the achievement. Piled
onto a toasted sesame seed
bagel it’s a small indulgence,
but a sincere one.
I can imagine drizzling
it over ice cream. Or to top
a cheesecake, sandwich
a sponge or squirt lavishly
into doughnuts. More
prosaically, it’s also very
good on breakfast bagels
— see pic below. (Yes, I do
breakfast with one savoury,
one sweet, like Mark from
Peep Show — though I’m
even weirder and do
alternating bites.) It’s not
often I agree with marketing
copy but, yeah, luscious —
they can own that. MO’LWaitrose No 1 Lemon Curd,
£2.50; waitrose.comHOW MUCH?
Starters £3-£8
Mains £8-£15Total for two, including
wine, without service
charge £95crisp-fried crumbs, it’s a jaw-
dropper in every sense. A dish
to remind us of the joys of being
a carnivore, of having molars,
of eating really good meat.
Warmly ramshackle, Tonco is
as far from fancy as it’s possible
to get. Heading towards the back
of the small bustling room is
almost like walking through the
kitchen, past bags of flour and
coffee, counter piled up with
those gorgeous loaves. Outside
in the courtyard, they’ve spread
out with fairy light-sparkled
outdoor tables. It all has the air
of something grown organically,
with its logo in Seventies decoDANNI MAIBAUM
The Sunday Times Magazine • 71