Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
A Michelin-starred chef and restaurateur who runs four London restaurants and trained under Gordon Ramsay.
On the island
Eight records
The keepsakes
In conversation
Presenter asks
2:40When you are not in your professional kitchen and you are at home, can you be bothered to cook?
Yeah, I do like cooking at home. It's far more relaxing in a sense. You have a glass of wine, you have radio four on, it's fantastic.
Presenter asks
4:56When people ask you about being a woman in your industry, it seems to get up your nose. Am I right in saying that?
I've always set thought it was hours, but I don't think that's the case anymore because I think the hours have got much better in our industry. I think pay has changed a lot. You know, we're better working environments. I could probably name you twenty.
Presenter asks
5:48Marcus Waring described you once as a 'true grit chef'. What characteristics do you think have enabled you from your generation to make it to the top?
I think because I came into it later. All my friends went off to college and stuff. So I did that. I took a year out and I went to Italy. Then I took three years out and went to college. Then I had a year out afterwards to pay my debt. So by the time I actually got work was in my early 20s, you know, a proper job in a kitchen. … I think you do have to sort of think it is just food. Let's be honest. It's a plate of carrots. Let's keep things in perspective.
The book
Jane Austen
It's a book I studied when I did my A-levels. I did English A-level, but I loved Austin.
Presenter asks
6:37Is it true that when you went to work for Gordon Ramsay at Aubergine, the other chefs took bets on how long you would last?
Yes, yeah, apparently they all did. They all did.
Presenter asks
12:15You were only seven when your father passed away. What do you remember of that time in your life, in your family's life?
I do remember going to the hospital. We looked at everything attached to dad, and he said, 'You go, Dad's got to be really ill.' … And it, yeah, I mean, I don't think it's great for any child. It was horrible. I suppose it made us incredibly close as a family.
Presenter asks
13:37When you look back now and think of your mother, her youngest child not even a year old when her husband died, what do you make of how she coped?
Absolutely. I think what she did do is she made us fiercely independent quicker than we probably would have been. … My mum trusted us and had to trust us. Otherwise, you know, how do you cope with three kids?
“I think you do have to sort of think it is just food. Let's be honest. It's a plate of carrots. Let's keep things in perspective.”
“I do remember sitting on my grandmother's stairs with my brother and him putting his arms around me. Those sort of moments, you know, it's horrible. Yeah, not great for a kid.”
“When people sit there and say we're a foodie nation, we have a food culture. I genuinely don't think we still do. … Our food culture is about money. People who have money can afford good food in this country.”
“I never consciously said I'm not having children. And then when I wanted to have children, it was too late and realized that I couldn't, if I'm absolutely honest. … So that's one regret, unfortunately.”