Autumn produce has a branding problem. The minute pumpkins, squash, mushrooms and apples appear, we tend to treat them as an instruction to roast everything until soft, add butter and call it comfort food. Delicious, certainly, but by November even the most committed casserole enthusiast can begin to crave something with rather more life in it.
Sebby Holmes has other ideas. At Farang, his modern Thai restaurant in Highbury, British ingredients regularly meet the heat, acidity, sweetness and funk of Thai cooking – an approach shaped by his time at The Begging Bowl and Smoking Goat before he launched Farang, first as a series of pop-ups and supper clubs, in 2016. The restaurant’s cooking is built around ingredients from both Thailand and the UK, with the emphasis firmly on balance and flavour.
