This Maltese Chef’s Toast Is Shaking Things Up In London
East London is renowned for its buzzing street food scene and notorious hipster food trends. You can sip a cappuccino while stroking cats at Lady Dinah’s Cat Emporium or choose from a variety of nostalgic cereals at The Cereal Killer Café.
You’ll be spoilt for choice as a burger fanatic, a vegan… or even just a toast lover.
A street food stall at Urban Food Fest, Shoreditch.
David Darmanin, a Maltese chef living in London and founder of Pretty F*cking Good Toast (or PFGT), has established himself as a food trend pioneer, and he’s shaking up the food scene with his inspired creations.
He started out 19 years ago, cooking for the homeless in Malta. After studying culinary arts and hospitality management, he became a food writer by day and restaurant chef owner by night. He then got taken on for a stint at world famous restaurant Noma, known for its meticulous attention to detail and innovative approach to foraged ingredients.
David’s own venture, PFGT, is routed in the street food concept, getting around by custom cargo bike and making appearances at trendy food markets and pub gardens all over London. He toasts sourdough bread over a charcoal fire pit, before topping with unexpected delights.
The delicious looking menu for Pretty F*ckin Good Toast’s new pop-up restaurant residency, set to open in Homerton this month, matches gourmet bread with fine cheeses, meats and other fancy ingredients such as seaweed butter, rose petals and dandelion, to be served alongside craft beer.
Photos by Stephanie Galea
David’s posh toast, at £10 a pop, has gathered lots of media attention, and has created a buzz on twitter. Some are sceptical, dismissing the venture as another hipster food fad, but Darmanin is no rookie when it comes to the art of preparing food, and by what we’ve seen we can concur it looks incredible.
An example of what you can expect as a diner at the PFGT restaurant pop-up is toast topped with thyme butter, 30-month aged parmesan, duck salami, dark chocolate and water celery.
If you’re not visiting London any time soon, console yourself with regular buttered Hobz Tal-Malti toast, which thankfully is also pretty f*cking good.
Keep up to date with all the PFGT news and events by checking out www.pfgt.co.uk or on Facebook!