Duck & Waffle is a pioneer of 24-hour dining in London. Several times, I have wandered in at 5 am, seeking comfort in a Bloody Mary and Colombian eggs.
At that time, the restaurant is relatively quiet. For much of the day and night it is packed and buzzy, and much of the credit for that goes to chef Dan Doherty, 32.
He can't just cook, though he can certainly do that, with creative dishes such as miso-glazed rabbit with roasted cauliflower, suet biscuit & crispy cabbage.
He's also charming, finding time to engage with diners alongside his 51,400 followers on Instagram and another 18,300 on Twitter. He's a millennial, as much at home in social media as in the kitchen; as comfortable on TV as at the stove.
He's got a new book, Toast Hash Roast Mash, filled with recipes that are as accessible as he is. It's a compendium of the kind of things he likes to cook at home for friends.
And in case you are thinking of polite dinner parties—does anyone really enjoy those? I'd hate them if I were ever invited—his idea of home-cooking is a 24-hour brunch: There's a whole chapter devoted to cooking with a hangover, featuring options such as Blue cheese, English mustard & onion jam rarebit; and breakfast tacos.
"This book is about homely food that people seem to be interested in at the moment: brunch-style food, overnight food, breakfast food," he says in an interview. "And that is how I eat at home. We wanted to do fun, accessible food that is creative and easy to make." And the ingredients are likely already in the cupboard or easy to find.
"The inspiration for the book comes from opening my fridge. And I've got some eggs, I've got some avocado, I've got some chilli and I've got a little bit of left over sausage casserole or something like that. And it's coming up with a dish."
This is a book for those of us who don't start our day with a visit to the gym, followed by kale juice and a salad and maybe a glass of mint tea. There are even recipes for Bloody Marys. So now I don't need to go back to Duck & Waffle in the wee hours.
The book will be published Aug. 11. Time to get cooking.
Article by Bloomberg's Richard Vines, edited by Hospitality Ireland
