London’s home to world-class chefs and restaurateurs, and we have their insider tips for where they shop for food. But celebrities gotta eat too, and they have some star recommendations of their own.
We take a look back at The Standard’s My London interviewees over the past year and sift through our archives to find the best places to do your food shopping in London this Christmas.
One of the great truisms in life is that you can fall out with your wife, mistress and even your bank manager but never with your butcher
AA Gill
Michel Roux Jr: Moens the butchera family-run business that’s been there for as long as I can remember, just off Clapham Common. Obviously they have great meat, but they also have a great cheese counter and do lots of stocks and sauces.
Jamie Oliver: At the Ginger Pig butcher in Borough Market they all know their stuff.
Fred Sirieix: William Rose Butchers in Dulwich for brilliant quality meat.
Anya Hindmarch recommends M. Moen & Sons butchers
Vick Hope: I’m a big fan of the Hampstead Butcher & Providore for free range, organic meat.
Elizabeth Hurley: Luigi’s deli and Wyndham Housethe butchers, both on Fulham Road.
Jonathan Saunders: Hill & Szrok Master Butchers on Broadway Market. It’s old-school, with great staff, and it turns into a no-reservations restaurant in the evening where you sit around the butcher’s bench.
Joan Collins: Allenmy all-time favourite butcher on Mount Street in Mayfair.
Kirstie Allsopp: Lidgate on Holland Park Avenue is the best butcher’s.
Tom Parker Bowles buys his meat from HG Walter
Dave Benett
Lorraine Pascale: The Chelsea Fishmonger has the best fish in town; I go there a couple of times a week
Michel Roux Jr: Moxon’s the fishmonger, which is on the other side of the common. It’s restaurant-quality fish. You should see the queues out there on a Friday and Saturday, it’s unbelievable.
Jamie Oliver: Golborne Fisheries in W10 – it does a great job sourcing unusual fish.
Dermot O’Leary: The Little Fish Market in Marylebone. I cook a lot so this place is a lifesaver and Nic who runs it is a legend.
Vick Hope says La Petite Poissonnerie “is such a gorgeous little fishmonger”
Ian West/PA Wire
Emma Barnett: Harry Otto & Son for fish in Brixton market; day-boat fresh, great value for money and always delish. And speedy service with a smile and a twinkle in the eye.
Mary Portas: I’d drive across London to get to Steve Hatt’s fishmongers on Essex Road, it’s the best in the country.
Yotam Ottolenghi: My favourite spots to pick up bread are Bread By Bike and Salvino (conveniently positioned on the way home from work).
Angela Hartnett: The Little Bread Pedlarwhich does wonderful breads, and then you’ve also got Steve the honey man.
Paul Smith: Poilâne bakery for the best bread.
Kaya Scodelario says you will find “the best sourdough of your life” at Dunns bakery in Crouch End
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Lauren Laverne: Dunns Bakery in Muswell Hill is an institution. Get the rosemary sourdough with salted crust, toast and butter it and watch your life change.
Emma Barnett: Every Friday I hunt down a challah loaf, usually from Gail’s. Being Jewish in south London has its limitations.
A Latvian woman, as she drove me down Regent Street, asked why young men were queueing outside Nike Town. I explained it was because some new trainers had arrived. She said nothing for about a minute and then, with great seriousness: ‘I have queued for cheese.’
Frank Skinner on the best thing a cabbie has ever said to him
The Cheese Factorywith its shops in Marylebone, Bloomsbury and Highbury, is the chef’s choice, described by Jamie Oliver as “heaven for anyone who loves good food”.
Yotam Ottolenghi: La Fromagerie in Highbury is essential for properly aged comté — their ageing room is a temple to proper cheese. Labour and Wait on Redchurch Street for beautiful, functional kitchen tools that make cooking much more pleasurable. Longdan is where I go for Asian ingredients — I can lose hours in their aisles. And Phoenicia, in Kentish Town, is my go-to for everything Middle Eastern.
Jamie Oliver: Go to La Fromagerie and say, ‘I want to have a little cheese tasting to take on a picnic.’ Don’t tell them anything. They’ll choose it for you. Believe in the cheese. The power of cheese is profound.
Sophie Dahl shops for cheese at La Fromagerie
Dave Benett
Angela Hartnett: I love La Fromagerie in Marylebone. Patricia Michelson’s produce is incredible; she gets the best of the best. She’s been doing it for more than 20 years now, so she really knows her stuff.
Michel Roux Jr: I get superb British cheeses from Neal’s Yard. It has something new every time I walk in.
Poppy Delevingne: For food, my favourite is Daylesford. I swear every cheese there has won some kind of award. If it’s a cheddar and it’s won multiple awards, I’m getting it, do you know what I mean?
Joanna Lumley: The Rippon Cheese Shop in Pimlico does an amazing Emmental and a strong British cheddar.
Best grocery shops in London
And for everything else, whether its for your kitchen staples or specialist delis, our My London interviewees have their own go-to places.
Grace Dent: If I’m passing Fortnum & Masondownstairs they have an incredible honey section. Waitrose in Beckenham has a really good kosher section; I don’t know why particularly in Beckenham. I go to Help me in Leyton, which is a deli and a wine shop — I did my WSET course there to learn how to taste wine. And I swear by the spice place in Borough Marketalthough I find it a bit overwhelming on a Saturday.
Loyd Grossman: Emilia’s Deli on the New Kings Road is a superlative Italian delicatessen. I could spend all my time eating through the stock – it’s exceptional.
Harrods has the greatest food hall in the world, says Piers Morgan
Harrods
Andi Oliver: Palm2 is a beautiful little Clapton deli.
Ralph Fiennes: Leila’s Shop. I would be lost without this small shop on Calvert Avenue for my grocery essentials.
Skye McAlpine: Nature for fresh fruit, veg and Italian cheeses. Lina Stores for panettone, fresh pasta and pistachio butter.
Lewis Goodall: This sounds so bourgeois but there’s a really lovely delicatessen a few minutes from me, David’s Deli in Streatham Common. The shop I use most is Lidl. Lidl is great!
Kaya Scodelario: For groceries, I go to the Brazilian Centre in Stamford Hill — I am half-Brazilian and cook Brazilian food three or four nights a week at home, so I’m there very often.
Mary Portas: I’ve got a really good local deli called Solomanwhich sells bundles of mint and parsley, olives and dates at a great price.
Jackson Boxer buys his food from the Italo Deli
Dave Benett
Angela Hartnett: Down at Spa Terminus in Bermondsey you’ve got brilliant shops — there’s The Ham & Cheese Cowhich does lovely charcuterie.
Alicia Vikander: The Grocery Postup in Highgate, is where I go and get my food.
Vick Hope: I go back to Ridley Road marketin Dalston, for ingredients whenever I’m cooking Nigerian food, particularly if my mum’s visiting. You can get everything you need — the selection of African and Asian produce is amazing.
Polly Morgan: In Camberwell I was reliant on TFC for all the Ottolenghi ingredients I’d never heard of.
Monica Bellucci: San Lorenzo Workshop on Beauchamp Place for my Italian groceries.
Especially Essiedu: I’ve got to shout out Arsenal Supermarket on Blackstock Road because they’re open every day of the year. On Christmas Day, from early till late and they’ve got everything and anything you need: light bulbs, batteries, booze. Everything, it’s beautiful.