Praise cook having nailed hot drink (8)
I believe the answer is:
flattery
'praise' is the definition.
(flattery is a kind of praise)
'cook having nailed hot drink' is the wordplay.
'cook' becomes 'fry' (I've seen this before).
'having nailed' is an insertion indicator.
'hot drink' becomes 'latte' (I've seen this before).
'fry' placed around 'latte' is 'FLATTERY'.
(Other definitions for flattery that I've seen before include "Mendacious praise" , "phony praise" , "sugar?" , "Sweet talk" , "Honeyed words" .)