The Smart Shopper

It's all Greek
There's something charming (even summery?) about those large Greek pies made with sheets of filo pastry that have been roughly bundled together around the filling. The most famous of these is spanakopita, which teams spinach with cheese. The Little Greek Pie Company is less than a week old and from a corner shop just west of Charlotte Street, they will cut you a wedge of pie for £3.50. There are several different options to choose from, and appealing flavours include chicken, leek, mushroom and halloumi; salmon, spinach and ricotta; and courgette, leek and feta. The pies
all look homemade.
The Little Greek Pie Company, 22 Cleveland Street, W1 (020 7580 0784, littlegreekpie.com)

Crazy crisps
Anyone seeking to upstage the ever-stranger crisps that line the supermarket shelves need venture no further than Chinatown. While there are 90 per cent salt-free crisps, comedy crisps and all manner of bizarre flavourings, they pale into insignificance beside the crisps sold at Oriental Delight on Gerrard Street. Try Yam Sticks or Jack Fruit Chips, both £2.30. They make hedgehog flavour seem unimaginative.
Oriental Delight, 14 Gerrard Street, W1 (020 7439 1183)

The king of spring spuds
This week marks the arrival of the first real Jersey Royal potatoes. Earlier arrivals from heated greenhouses can be discounted because forced early vegetables seldom taste as good as those naturally grown. The Jerseys also have a sliding price: at Whole Foods Market they are currently £7.99/kg but as supplies increase prices will drop. Some would say ignore the Jerseys and wait another fortnight or so for the first Cornish new potatoes. Whether you are patient or not, a fresh new potato steamed in its skin and crowned with a knob of butter is one of the treats of spring.
Whole Foods Market, 63-97 Kensington High Street, W8 (020 7368 4500)