Shop like a chef: Where London's top chefs go for their groceries

Cooking is one of life’s great pleasures — but even the best recipes are let down by plastic-tasting veggies and sub-standard fish and meat from the supermarket.

To combat the tide of anaemic asparagus, out-of-season gourds and bland beef, we’ve called on the best culinary talent from across the capital to share their secrets on where they shop for their restaurants — and to give a few tips for using specific ingredients at home along the way. 

Once the reserve of wholesale customers or straight-to-restaurant trade, a growing number of food businesses have grown to supply the same high quality produce to consumers. This means home cooks can now buy from this goldmine of food based-businesses to get those restaurant-calibre ingredients in their own kitchens.

From apothecary-style herb-and-spice slingers in Elephant and Castle to the finest west London butchers, this is where chefs shop for their favourite produce, and where you can too. 

Tom Booton, Tom Booton at the Dorchester

“For me, (51 Palliser Road, W14 9EB, ) is the best.. We use their ribeye for the restaurant but when I’m at home, I go for their homemade kebabs. They’re properly tasty!”