In London’s Yellow Bittern, bookings are taken by telephone only and payment is in cash – and the food is worth every penny

Last Monday, I had lunch at the Yellow Bittern, the much-written about restaurant near King’s Cross in London where bookings may only be secured by telephone, and payment made only by a small wad of notes.

Yes, I know its analogue ethos has induced a certain crossness in some, but I loved everything about it, from the big Le Creuset pans in its galley kitchen to the flaky pastry on the beef pie we shared. Our (perfect) rice pudding came, courtesy of the restaurant’s cook, Hugh Corcoran, with a tiny glass of mirabelle – a crystal clear shot of retro naughtiness that I just about dealt with by dashing out to visit the cashpoint in the freezing cold without putting on my coat first.

Congratulations to Kate Beaton, the Canadian cartoonist and writer, whose book, has won the 2024 Jan Michalski prize for literature, the first time a graphic novel has done so. I’ve spent 20 years extolling the virtues of comics in the Observer, and every time one triumphs in the posh prize stakes, I’m filled with an odd kind of pride. (She knew she was right!) But Beaton’s book, a memoir in which she recounts her time in the brutal world of the oil sands of Alberta, is in a category of its own, having survived three rounds of voting by judges in competition with novels, poetry and illustrated works published internationally between 2021 and 2024. Not only a victory, then, but also a bold proclamation.