When I was planning the menu, I wanted there to be a starter that celebrated bread and butter - butter had become a big part of my recipes, after all. Moreover, is there really a better way to kick off a meal than warm bread and delicious salted butter? I think not.

Inspired by the classic French dish, moules marinières, this recipe is indulgent, warmly spiced from the burnt chilli, and yet still light with plenty of lemon and our signature bubbly flatbread dough. It’s a perfect way to start your time at Straker’s, intended to be shared and eaten whilst having a crisp, cold drink.

With this recipe, now you can make it right at home. It’s a labour of love, which requires preparing the dough in advance so it has plenty of time to rest, but the results are so worth it. Make the most of these last warmer evenings, light your pizza oven and enjoy.

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Rather than putting a piece of steak in a pan and calling it a day, you turn it into something else entirely. In Italy you’ll find involtini made with different meats, fillings and sauces depending on the region, the family and probably whatever was in the fridge that day.

This version is beef, prosciutto, rosemary and garlic, cooked in tomato and red wine. Polenta underneath to catch everything.

A very good way to cook a steak.

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RECIPE

Serves 2

INGREDIENTS

• 2 skin-on chicken breasts or chicken supremes

• 50g unsalted butter

• 4 garlic cloves, bashed

• 4 rosemary sprigs

• 4 thyme sprigs

• 200g Scottish girolles, cleaned and cut into chunks

• 100ml white wine

• 2 tablespoons wholegrain mustard

• 150ml chicken stock

• 30g crème fraîche

• Small bunch of tarragon, leaves picked and finely chopped

• Small bunch of chives, finely chopped

• 1 lemon, to serve

• Extra virgin olive oil

• Flaky sea salt and black pepper

For the mash:

• 400g maris piper potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks

• 125g unsalted butter, cubed

• 25ml whole milk

• Flaky sea salt

METHOD

Pat your chicken breasts dry and season generously with flaky salt. Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan.

Set a frying pan over a medium-high heat and add a generous glug of olive oil. Gently lay the chicken breasts in the pan, skin-side down, and cook for 6-8 minutes until the skin is golden and crispy. After a couple of minutes, add half the butter, the smashed garlic cloves and the rosemary and thyme to the pan, swirling to bring everything together. Flip the chicken, then baste with all those delicious pan juices. Transfer the chicken and aromatics to an oven tray, pouring over the liquid from the pan. Transfer to the oven until the chicken is cooked through. Set aside to rest and stay warm.

Add the potatoes to a pan of well salted water and set over a medium heat. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 10-15 minutes until the potatoes are easily pierced with a knife.

Return the chicken pan to a medium heat and add another glug of olive oil and the remaining butter. Tip in the girolles and sauté for 5 minutes or so until softened, then deglaze the pan with the white wine and bubble away to reduce by half. Add the mustard, followed by the chicken stock and any pan juices from the chicken tray and continue cooking for a couple of minutes. Finally, stir through the crème fraîche, tarragon and chives. Season to taste with plenty of black pepper and salt.

Drain the potatoes and let steam dry for a couple of minutes. Add the butter to the still-warm pan the potatoes were boiled in, then pass the potatoes in through a sieve - using a dough scraper to push them through is helpful. Return to a low heat and stir to combine, adding the milk here too, until you have a smooth, buttery mash. Season well with salt. Slice the chicken breasts ready for plating.

To serve, add the mashed potato to one side of your plates. Gently lay the sliced chicken breast on the other side, then spoon over the girolles and plenty of their sauce. Finish with a good squeeze of lemon juice and tuck in.

Enjoy,

TS

This month we’re introducing Jane, our new Head of Pastry. This is a brand new position for us across the group and we are so excited to welcome her to the team, her delicious creations in tow. Jane first trained at the award-winning Ballymaloe Cookery School in Cork, Ireland, before working in the Michelin Star restaurant OX Belfast. She then headed back to Ballymaloe to teach in the bakery, alongside fellow Straker’s sous chef, Alex.

Jane will be the new creative force behind Straker’s signature and ever-rotating dessert menu, as well as baking fresh sourdough daily and levelling up our range of ice creams. Her gorgeous choux bun with hazelnut mousseline and coffee ice cream has already been a real hit on the menu last week - as has the white chocolate and raspberry eclair on the menu over at Acre.

Creating impactful sharing desserts for parties over in the Dining Room will also be one of Jane’s top missions. The pavlova with roast peach, vanilla and pistachio features on our new set lunch menu and is an absolute show-stopper, and diners can also choose from Jane’s equally delicious mille-feuille with white chocolate and roasted apricots, pistachio frangipane with crème fraîche ice cream, chocolate tart with coconut sorbet, or profiteroles with that famed hazelnut mousseline. Private lunch menus in our Dining Room start from £85 per person. To peruse the rest of our sample menu and to book, email ryan@strakers.london.

Neighbouring our Golborne Road restaurant, the Dining Room has swiftly become a wonderfully versatile space able to cater to a whole host of events, going beyond the parameters of the private dinner. We’ve created a space that is additionally available for dry hire; total use of the space no matter your vision, whether it’s photo shoots and filming, setting up a test kitchen, or for brand events and team building days.

As ever, we always want to hear about how we can bring your upcoming birthday bashes, bespoke special occasions and (dare I say) Christmas celebrations to life - the latter of which is already booking up fast. To find out more details about the Dining Room or to make a booking, contact ryan@straker.london.

Back in the kitchen, the chefs received a whole 60kg Atlantic bluefin tuna, fresh from the boat in the small fishing port of Newlyn, Cornwall. Back in season (with numbers typically peaking in Cornish waters from mid Summer through to late Autumn), the Atlantic bluefin is renowned for its sashimi-grade fat content and buttery texture. The chefs broke the fish down into loin, belly, two collars, and had all of the bones scraped for the freshest tartare, with the loin being served up with San Marzano tomatoes and a herby green sauce.

When Tom first started cooking, bluefin tuna could not be sustainability sourced in the UK; importing from far-away seas was the only option if you wanted to showcase it on your menu. The species had been over-fished to near collapse in British waters and disappeared for decades, but since the mid-2010s, the Atlantic bluefin has been making a remarkable recovery off our shores. Thanks to successful conservation efforts and the resulting increase in prey fish, British bluefin numbers are significantly on the up. How we fish is also vastly improved too - it’s caught under strictly managed, highly traceable fishery using rod-and-line methods, with almost no by catch. With metallic blue backs and a silvery white belly, they are a true beauty of the ocean, and getting to serve Atlantic Bluefin always feels like a treat.

Next month we’ll be introducing our new Head of Wine and talking about some exciting new allocations hitting the wine list. We look forward to sharing all this with you very soon. Until then, book a table with us below and we’ll see you there.

Straker’s x

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It's simple, makes the most of what's in season, and is a great way to use up a glut of courgettes. Roasted tomatoes bring sweetness, ricotta keeps the eggs light and creamy, and lots of basil and parmesan tie everything together. Serve it warm straight from the oven, or let it cool and eat it the next day.

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When people think about cooking lobster, they often think it’s difficult, but it’s actually the opposite. Once you understand how little cooking it needs, it’s one of the easiest luxury ingredients to prepare. I always keep the flavours simple because the lobster should be the star. A generous amount of garlic butter, proper homemade lemon mayonnaise and really good chips are all you need. Don’t underestimate the potatoes either. Finding a great variety and cooking them well makes all the difference, and in a recipe this simple, those small details are what elevate the whole dish.

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There are only a few months each year when tomatoes are truly at their best. They’re everywhere, ridiculously sweet, and so abundant that the best thing you can do is build meals around them. That’s what cooking with the seasons is all about, making the most of an ingredient when it’s at its absolute peak.

The Italians have always understood this. When tomatoes are in abundance, families come together to make passata, preserving the harvest to enjoy throughout the year. This tart is another way to celebrate them while they’re fresh. Roasting the tomatoes concentrates their sweetness, the pastry turns crisp and buttery, and a little garlic, mozzarella and good olive oil are all they need.

It's the sort of recipe you'll come back to every summer because it's simple, generous and lets the tomatoes do all the hard work.

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Scallops are one of those ingredients that always feel like a bit of a treat, but they're surprisingly quick to cook. I love roasting them back in their shells because all the garlic butter melts underneath, keeping the scallop soft while the breadcrumbs crisp up on top. It's rich without feeling heavy, and the whole thing comes together in a matter of minutes. This is the sort of food I'd put in the middle of the table with plenty of bread, lemon wedges and a bottle of cold white wine. Half the enjoyment comes from mopping up every last bit of butter left in the shell.

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To start us off I have chosen to make Turbot with roasted courgettes. This is a dish I keep coming back to. I cooked it for a family lunch recently and it disappeared pretty quickly. Turbot doesn’t need much, just good olive oil, plenty of seasoning and a squeeze of lemon. Served with roasted courgettes, butter beans and lots of herbs, it’s a simple, healthy lunch that feels a bit special without being complicated.

RECIPE

Serving: 2 generously, or 4 as a lighter lunch

Ingredients

For the Turbot

• 600g turbot tranche

• 1 lemon

• Olive oil

• Sea salt

• Freshly ground black pepper

For the Roasted Courgettes

• 2 courgettes

• 1 garlic clove, lightly crushed

• ½ jar butter beans, drained

• Handful of tarragon

• Handful of basil

• Handful of chervil

• 3 tbsp capers

• Lemon peel

• Olive oil

• Sea salt

• Freshly ground black pepper

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 160°C or a pizza oven to around 350°C).

Prepare the Turbot

Remove the head and tail (keep them for a sauce, such as a pil pil, if you like). Trim away the frill, which can also be used for stock.

Split the fish down the back through the spine.

Generously coat the turbot with olive oil and season well with salt.

Place straight into the oven and cook for 6–8 minutes. Remove, baste with the natural cooking juices, then return to the oven for another 2–4 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish.

Remove from the oven, baste once more and leave to rest for a few minutes. Finish with a generous squeeze of lemon juice.

Roast the courgettes

Slice the courgettes into thin rounds, around a few millimetres thick.

Season with salt, pepper and olive oil, then toss to coat.

Roast for a few minutes until just tender—you want the courgettes softened but still holding their shape, with very little colour.

Add the crushed garlic, lemon peel, butter beans, herbs and capers, then gently toss everything together.

Finish with a squeeze of lemon juice.

To Serve

Spoon the roasted courgettes onto a serving platter.

Lay the turbot on top and pour over all of the resting juices from the tray.

Serve immediately.

Enjoy,

TS

This month our menu is paying a particular homage to the fruits of the sea: oysters, fish, scallops, langoustines. Like the vegetable and fruit produce in our dishes, the seafood we use closely revolves around seasonality - what’s abundant and what’s fresh.

Currently, we’re serving Cooley Gold oysters with a nectarine mignonette. Cooley Gold is an award-winning brand of Irish rock oysters cultivated by the Ferguson family, who have been practicing ecologically compliant farming for over 45 years. These premium oysters are located in the nutrient-rich, Class-A waters of Carlingford Lough on the beautiful Cooley Peninsula of Ireland. Taste-wise, their crisp, juicy flesh gives a delicate balance between sweetness and minerality. Since its stone fruit season, we’re pairing Cooley Gold oysters with nectarines that are diced down with shallots and rice wine vinegar to create a deliciously balanced mignonette.

Our oysters are supplied to us by Rocks Oysters, who recently gave an oyster tasting session with the team in the restaurant. Once the food of the people, then the reserve of the rich - we are right behind Rocks in saying these eco-friendly superfoods are truly part of a sustainable food future.

Elsewhere, we’re dishing up this incredible turbot grilled on the bone or tranche over charcoal, with margarita onion and an oyster beurre blanc sauce.

As our regulars likely know, scallops and langoustines have both been staple dishes on our menu since opening back in 2022. Our langoustines are usually served dripping with gremolata - a herby parsley, garlic and lemon sauce - and have become a firm favourite.

Our scallops are from the ice-cold, pristine waters of the Orkney Islands, off the north coast of Scotland. Celebrated for their remarkably sweet, clean flavour, firm texture, and large size, we are currently serving these basted in a delicious scallop roe glaze. The roes and skirts of the scallop are cooked down with carmelised onions and the glaze is brushed onto the scallop, which caramelises beautifully when cooked over charcoal.

Image: Nestarec

We have some fun new additions to our wine list this month - from Japan, no less. It’s much rarer to get your hands on a Japanese bottle outside of its country of origin, but we’re very pleased to now be pouring A2 Domaine Yui Yoichi-nobori 2024, a low-intervention Japanese red wine crafted in Hokkaido. Highly perfume-forward, this sought after number opens with delicate notes of wild red berries, fresh strawberries, violets, and subtle gamey, forest floor. Also new on the wine list, is another Japanese offering: Nana-Tsu-Mori "Vinop Rosé", an incredibly rare, cult-favourite Japanese rose crafted by Domaine Takahiko in Yoichi, Hokkaido. Known for drawing international acclaim, it’s been compared to a top-tier Burgundy, and is made entirely from 100% Pinot Noir.

For the remainder of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the Straker’s Dining Room on Golborne Road is available for private hire; a beautiful space for you and your guests to enjoy the beautiful game. No searching for seats or endless queues at the bar here. Hire of the space includes two large TVs, jugged cocktails and beers, and caters up to 50 guests. We have some spots available for the remaining dates in the calendar and prices depend on the day of the week, so look fast and email events@strakers.london to secure your booking.

And last (but certainly not least), we have been gearing up for our big opening of Staker’s New York. Doors are due to open in August, and while we can’t share much more just yet, remember to keep an eye on these updates in your inbox and follow @strakers_nyc for all the very latest. We look forward to welcoming you in the Big Apple very soon.

Straker’s x

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Have you caught a glimpse of our sister restaurant’s terrace, lately? The outdoor space at Acre has had a revamp in time for the summer ahead and is ready to receive guests in this little oasis off Golborne Road. We’ve added parasols and a touch of garden landscaping - with the olive trees, this incredible weather, and a ‘Salted Tommy’ from Wade’s new margarita line-up, you may as well cancel your holiday plans now. As long as that sun is shinin’, the terrace will be open every day all summer during Acre opening hours (Tuesday to Saturday for lunch and dinner, lunch only on Sundays). It’s walk-ins only, but make a request to be seated outdoors in your booking notes and we’ll do our best to accommodate.

Also over at ACRE, James and the team are back with a breakfast offering worth getting out of bed for. Expect bagels made in house with tomato, capers, and cream cheese, or salmon, cream cheese, capers, and onion, omelette and herb salad, All Things Dairy cottage cheese with walnut and grapefruit, and pan con tomate. Wash it down with fresh juice and coffee made with beans by speciality roaster, Assembly. Breakfast is served on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 9 - 11am. Book your breakfast table with ACRE here.

Last month at Straker’s, we collaborated with one of our all-time favourite produce suppliers to host ‘A Spring Table with Natoora’ — a long lunch held around the communal table in Straker’s Dining Room. Created specially for the occasion by our head chefs, James Sawkins (Straker’s) and James Freeman (Acre), the one-off menu celebrated the very best seasonal spring produce available to us.

Natoora works directly with growers to champion a more sustainable and transparent food system, built around exceptional seasonal produce. We’re proud to partner with suppliers who care as deeply about quality, provenance and farming as we do — whether through collaborations like these or by showcasing Natoora’s produce across our menus throughout the year.

Our family-style communal dinners in the Straker’s Dining Room offer a different way to dine out — relaxed, shared, and designed to be enjoyed with friends, family, or even some new faces around the table… At our next collab taking place for two nights only across the 5th and 6th June, we’ll welcome Charlie and Emily of Bad Neighbor to Straker’s Dining Room for a special NYC-led takeover.

On the menu:

American biscuit, sorrel butter

Grelot onion rings, taramasalata

Wedge salad, blue cheese whipped ricotta, dill, bacon crumb

Beef crackling, faux bacon seasoning

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Cornish mackerel, melon and cucumber gazpacho

-

Macaroni cheese

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Rack of lamb, provençal veg, fried anchovy, Nocellara olives

Lamb belly kebab, puffy bread

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Warm madeleines, Okinawa butterscotch sauce, frozen yoghurt

Strawberry, elderflower cruller

Chocolate and cherry tart

Lemon meringue choux bun

For two nights, the duo will bring their classic technique and focus on warm, generous hospitality into Straker’s Dining Room, where the menu will be served family-style around the communal table alongside the full Straker’s wine list and a special cocktail selection of favourites from both teams. Limited spaces remain, so move quickly to secure your spot and we’ll see you there.

Last but not least, our popular Run and Done club is back up and running (literally). Runners looking to dose up on community during their work-out are invited to meet at Acre for a warm up before setting off on a 5K run. It’s kept at a conversational pace, dogs are welcome to join. Follow Run and Done on Instagram or the Run and Done group chat on Whatsapp for details on the next run date, timings, and route - and don’t forget to book in for your post-run coffee and breakfast refuel at Acre for when the run is done!

Straker’s x

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A good smashburger is hard to beat. Crispy edges, melted cheese, a soft bun and a sauce that drips down your hands as you eat it.

This is my version. Double patties made with high-fat beef, plenty of Red Leicester, a sharp burger sauce and pickled chillies that cut through all the richness. The pickled chillies are what make it for me. They’re sweet, sha…

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My first cookbook.

When I started working on this book, I kept coming back to one question: what do I actually want to eat?

Not restaurant food. Not food designed for social media. Just the sort of recipes I cook at home, order in restaurants and come back to time and time again.

That’s what this book became.

Inside you’ll find over 100 recipes covering everything from homemade butters, sauces and breads to simple salads, pastas, fish, meat and puddings. There are the recipes many of you know me for, like Burnt Chilli Butter, Miso Butter and Whole Roast Chicken with Chips and Lemon Mayo, alongside dishes I’ve cooked throughout my career that never made it onto Instagram.

The common thread running through all of them is simplicity. Good ingredients, straightforward techniques and flavour-first cooking.

Whether it’s a bowl of Crab Tagliolini, a Chicken Schnitzel with Pesto, Pan-Roasted Romanesco with Tahini Sauce or a Cherry and Almond Clafoutis, the goal is always the same: make food that tastes great and that you’ll actually want to cook again.

This book is about confidence in the kitchen. Learning a few simple principles, understanding flavour and enjoying the process.

If you’ve ever cooked one of my recipes, bought a pot of butter or followed along online, thank you. This book wouldn’t exist without your support.

I hope it inspires you to cook more, eat better and make the food you want to eat.

TS

I’ve spent the whole of my working life in kitchens.

I started cooking professionally in 2008 and went on to work in some of London’s most respected restaurants in a career spanning 18 years to date (I have done my 10,000 hours). Those years chained to the stove taught me the importance of technique, discipline and attention to detail and perhaps more importantly it gave me the tools to develop my own style of cooking along the way. I am extremely focussed on great quality produce, something that was shaped in me from childhood, growing up on a small farm in Herefordshire where I gained a natural understanding of how great ingredients were grown and to appreciate the time spent nurturing them.

As of now I have three restaurants in London (STRAKER’S, ACRE & STRAKER’S DINING ROOM) and soon to open STRAKER’S NYC at the iconic former Lucky Strike site in New York.

Beyond restaurants, I work on content and nurturing my other businesses - all in the food space.

I absolutely love what I do and am extremely lucky to travel extensively in search of fine food, culture and a good time.

Through all of it, my philosophy remains the same:

Use the best ingredients, keep things simple, seasonal, and focus on flavour.

On this Substack, I’ll share the dishes I’m cooking at home, the restaurants I’m excited about, the ingredients I’m obsessed with and the lessons I’ve learnt from years spent in professional kitchens and anything else I deem appropriate.

Most importantly, I want this to be a place that helps people cook with more confidence.

Good food doesn’t have to be intimidating, and some of the best meals come from understanding a few simple principles and applying them well.

What you’ll find here

Recipes
Detailed recipes with the techniques, tips and thinking behind them. Not just what to cook, but why.

Behind the Scenes
A closer look at restaurant life, product development, ingredients, cookware, business and everything else happening outside the kitchen.

Restaurants & Travel
The places worth visiting, the dishes worth ordering and the food experiences that inspire me around the world.

Subscriber Community
A place to ask questions, share ideas and connect with other people who love cooking and eating well.

Whether you’ve followed me for years or you’ve only just found me, thank you for being here.

I hope this inspires you to get into the kitchen and cook something good.

TS