‘You can have fun and experiment’: inside the test kitchens where restaurants cook up new dishes
From Michelin-star meals to fast food, chances are your favourite dish was developed in a test kitchen. Meet the chefs who transform ideas into dinner
50 things we love in the world of food right now
Miso spaghetti and chorizo sausage rolls, Colombian brunch and a little restaurant in Venice, oysters from Somerset and filo pastries on Instagram: presenting Observer Food Monthly’s food favourites for 2022
An ex-plumber, a pie maker, a pair of pioneers: Jay Rayner picks his rising stars for 2022
Six chefs whose careers you should follow this year, as tipped by the Observer’s restaurant critic
Essential recipes from Nigel Slater, Claudia Roden and Ottolenghi: the best food books of 2021
Perfect presents for friends, family and fans of Stanley Tucci, Rachel Roddy, and Anthony Bourdain
How to ace Christmas in the kitchen
Don’t buy too much cheese. Do buy enough washing-up liquid. Keep the big day stress-free with our tips from top chefs
‘You can’t run a team on empty’: how the restaurant staff meal is changing
Restaurant workers once lived on coffee and cigarettes. Now more chefs are cooking for one other, making food good enough to end up on the menu
Frozen in Time: Anthony Bourdain, New York, May 2001
Photographed for issue three of Observer Food Monthly, the chef is all innocence and enthusiasm, on the cusp of life-changing success
Monica Galetti: ‘My goal was to be a chef, it wasn’t to be on TV’
The chef on 13 years of MasterChef: The Professionals, the many uses of Marmite and why she can’t have a banana in peace
Ravinder Bhogal’s secret ingredient: tajin spice mix
The chef and cookery writer on the Mexican chilli and dried lime flavouring that can be used on sweet and savoury alike
Kitchen sorcery: lunch with Britain’s best chef
Clare Smyth has three Michelin stars, and cooked for Harry and Meghan’s wedding. Her mission? To make the humble magical
Andi Oliver’s secret ingredient: blackstrap molasses
The chef and broadcaster on ‘magical molasses’ that turn a meal into an event
Henrock, Bowness, Cumbria: ‘It blew my mind’ – restaurant review
‘Of all the Lake District’s pinky-in-the-air places that exist only for the fleeting delight of fancy people, this is the one that truly moved me’
Mercado Central, Cambridge: ‘I was left with a hefty bill and tinnitus’ – restaurant review
By the time we’d spent £60, we’d eaten little and were still waiting for something delicious
The Barn at Moor Hall, Aughton, Lancashire: ‘Delicious eccentricity’ – restaurant review
‘I’d been here for all of five minutes before I was already planning a return’
Seafood recipes from around the UK coast
Mussels with sherry and burnt cream, plaice and cauliflower pickle, and the ultimate fish-finger sandwich – chefs share their favourite dishes