What we’re reading

Where dinner is a work of art: a first look at Michael O’Hare’s In Lamentation, Boston Spa

Black loo roll, Japanese toilets, ornately folded napkins, and stainless steel sculptures? Michael O’Hare’s new restaurants sounds utterly unique and really rather brilliant.

Good Food Guide

A lifetime of achievement: critic Fay Maschler on her enduring appetite

Who wouldn’t want the opportunity to go out for lunch with legendary restaurant critic Fay Maschler? After over five decades in the business, she tells CODE about what makes a good critic and why she has no intention of giving up just yet.

CODE

For people with autism, can restaurant kitchens be a haven?

Pete Wells reports on a new programme, Chefs on the Spectrum. “There’s a preconception that there’s a risk in hiring autistic individuals. The real risk is overlooking incredible talent.”

The New York Times

Labour’s successive economic raids on the hospitality business are killing the industry: Daily Mail

Tom Parker-Bowles spells it out for those at the back: “The end of restaurants would mean the decimation of one of our great industries, and the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of chefs, servers, accountants, decorators, carpenters, electricians, plumbers, drivers, farmers, fishermen, bakers and artisans dented or destroyed.” Restaurants are not a luxury; they are a crucial industry. “The benefits accrue to society as a whole.”

Daily Mail