Pickled plants, mussel magic and cult dining hotspots

Dinner ended in a fridge. Underground, off London’s Portobello Road, bubbling jars surrounded koji blooming like suede and wonky vegetables caught mid-pickling. Ten minutes earlier I’d finished a chocolate-tahini crémeux upstairs, and now Holy Carrot chef Daniel Watkins was showing me his laboratory of pickles and ferments.

The experience came through Mastercard’s priceless.com, in collaboration with TheFork, which splits its culinary offering into two flavours: Priceless Experiences, which bring you closer to the craft, and Hotspots, which lands you tables usually snapped up in an instant.

At Holy Carrot diners can take an exclusive tasting menu (£75) and a private tour of the fermentation fridge and prep kitchen. The menu leans on smoke, technique and ferments: warm koji bread with an elastic crumb and mushroom ragu, asparagus with smoked tofu and a green herb mayonnaise, smoked carrots crowned with harissa butter over a bean purée, and a Caesar-ish plate using smoked tempeh pangrattato.

United Kingdom, London

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