In the sweltering kitchen of the Plimsoll pub in north London, the head chef, Joshua Swinney, has a frozen tea towel wrapped around his neck to combat the heat.
As temperatures exceeded 35C (95F) in the capital, workers who were not lucky enough to be in air-conditioned offices sweltered in the heat.
To cope, Swinney said the pub tried to put more dishes on the menu that did not require ovens or stoves. That is tricky, however, when it is most famed for its cheeseburger, the making of which entails standing over a grill.
“Suddenly you realise you have seven salads on and can’t get enough raw fish dishes in there,” he said. “As for the heat itself, fans help, but mostly just blow the hot air around, and you can’t have them in the service kitchen.” He said kitchen staff had been known to keep cool a number of ways: “I’ve even seen someone take an ice bath in a flexi bucket.”
