What fresh actually means in our kitchen

Every kitchen says its food is fresh. It is worth saying what we mean by it.

Prep starts in the morning, before service. Stocks go on, sauces are built, vegetables are cut for the day rather than for the week. It is the least glamorous part of the job and it is the part that decides how everything tastes later.

The second half is what happens at the pass. A dish leaves the kitchen when it is ready, not when the ticket has been sitting long enough. That occasionally means a table waits a few extra minutes for one plate so that everyone eats together and nothing has been held under a light. We would rather explain a short wait than serve something that has been waiting.

It also means the menu moves. When produce is at its best we cook more of it, and when it is not we take it off. If a favourite disappears for a few weeks, that is usually why — ask us and we will tell you when it is coming back.