From the tinned fish brand reinventing the British coastline to the sparkling skincare drink changing the way we think about collagen, the pizza that proves gluten-free can be genuinely extraordinary, and the dressings turning a salad into a proper occasion, this is our summer food edit.
Summer eating has shifted. The grazing board has replaced the dinner party centrepiece. The fridge edit matters as much as the recipe. What you are serving alongside drinks at 6pm on a Friday is as considered as anything that comes after. And the brands arriving right now seem to understand all of this instinctively convenience without compromise, flavour without the fuss, and the kind of provenance story that makes you want to share where something came from before you have even finished it. These are the launches and finds we are eating, drinking and pressing on anyone who will listen this summer.
What We’re Serving: Sea Sisters Conservas
Charlotte and Angus started Sea Sisters after a campervan trip across Europe where a tin of sardines genuinely rerouted their lives. They moved to the Dorset coast and became the first craft fish cannery in England since the 1940s. Each conserva is hand-packed in small batches with high-quality olive oil and original recipes, think Cuttlefish Caponata with Basil and Pine Nuts, Crab with Chilli and Lime, and Mackerel with Harissa, all made from sustainably sourced British fish landed from day boats. This is what we are opening at golden hour, on a board with good bread, alongside something cold. The kind of thing guests ask about before they have finished the first tin. The conservation mission, 90% of fish eaten in the UK is currently imported makes every purchase feel even more worthwhile.
The Spanish edit: Brindisa Spanish Foods
For over 35 years, Brindisa has been the home of Spanish food in the UK and they remain the people we trust most when we want to build a truly exceptional grazing board or put something genuinely special on the table. Right now we are obsessed with their Torres Black Summer Truffle Crisps (as extraordinary as they sound), the Perelló Gordal olives that have earned genuine cult status among chefs, the new tinned Perelló Chickpeas and Butter Beans, and their range of Marcona almonds. Brindisa is the kind of supplier that makes you feel like you know more about food than you actually do and that is the best possible compliment.
Dressings worth knowing about: All Dressed Up
We have a dressing problem. We buy them, forget them, make do with olive oil and a squeeze of lemon. All Dressed Up is the brand that has genuinely changed that for us this summer. Naturally made, refined sugar-free, gluten-free and dairy-free, the range manages to taste more flavourful for the absence of all those things rather than less. The Tahini & Lime is the one everyone picks up first zesty, nutty, exactly right over a grain bowl or charred courgette. The Miso and Toasted Sesame is the quiet hero for slow-cooked lamb or roasted aubergine. These are not condiments. They are the reason a salad becomes a meal worth making.
The cooking oil rethink: Good Phats
The seed oil conversation has arrived in British kitchens in a serious way, and Good Phats is the brand leading the alternative with rigour and real transparency. Their range includes Italian and Spanish extra virgin olive oils, Spanish avocado oil and organic British grass-fed ghee and beef tallow, all selected for quality, function and complete absence of ultra-processed seed oils. The squeezy bottle format (a chef’s trick for years) is a particularly smart touch for precision cooking. A brand built on the simple, increasingly radical idea that what you cook in matters as much as what you cook.
The chocolate that takes dark seriously but not itself: Fatso Chocolate
Founded by Ella McKay in Richmond in 2022 with one clear mission: to prove that dark chocolate can have as much fun as milk. The result is a range of chunky, seriously good bars made with single-origin Fino de Aroma certified Colombian cacao from Luker Chocolate, only 8% of the world’s cocoa growers earn that classification. The flavours are the whole point: Home Run pairs salted pretzel, almonds and honeycomb with 60% cacao; Nan’s Stash layers peanut, toffee and digestive biscuit into 70% cacao; Drunk’n Monkey wraps rum-soaked banana chips and sea salt in dark chocolate. Female-founded, ethically obsessed, completely impossible to stop eating. The summer treat we are pressing on everyone.
“Summer eating has shifted. The grazing board has replaced the dinner party centrepiece. What you serve at 6pm on a Friday is as considered as anything that comes after.”
What We’re Drinking
Mushus Sparkling Skincare Drink
The UK’s first sparkling skincare drink featuring vegan collagen and possibly the most interesting new launch in the functional drinks category this year. Founder Bethany Eaton developed Mushus after using vegan collagen, probiotics and tremella mushroom to support her skin following chemotherapy. Each can contains 3g of plant-based collagen peptides, hyaluronic acid, organic tremella mushroom and clinically researched probiotic HU58, with no added sugar, no artificial sweeteners and under 20 calories per 100ml. Available in Raspberry Fizz and Pineapple Fizz. Drink it daily. Your skin will tell you it was worth it.
Summer recipe edit: Mindful Chef – Summer Series
Mindful Chef has just launched a special English Wine Week menu in collaboration with wine expert Jane Rakison, pairing seasonal recipes with bottles from English vineyards for a restaurant-quality experience at home. Think Roasted Vegetable Gnocchi with Sundried Tomato & Walnut Pesto alongside Nyetimber English Summer Rosé, and Honeyed Chorizo & Sweetcorn Salad with a Lyme Bay Shoreline. The kind of menu that makes you feel like you have summer hosting completely under control. Dishes available 20–28 June. Beyond the wine menu, their summer box edit is the recipe box we keep recommending for anyone who wants genuinely good food that arrives ready to cook, with the thinking already done.
Pizza night, elevated: White Rabbit Pizza Co
White Rabbit was founded by Italian chef Teo, who grew up mastering family recipes at his uncle’s pizzeria in the mountains and his business partner Nick, who watched how many people missed out on great pizza because of gluten intolerance. The result is a dedicated gluten-free bakery in Oxfordshire producing sourdough pizzas made with slow-proved dough, Italian ingredients and a genuine refusal to compromise. The Sourdough Vegana, topped with roasted red peppers, mushrooms, wild garlic and vegan MozzaRisella is the current obsession, ready in 14 minutes. Available at Waitrose, Sainsbury’s, Ocado, Whole Foods and Daylesford. The pizza that makes gluten-free feel like a choice rather than a concession.
