The Go To Food Podcast

Is there a more charming, eloquent and talented chef in the industry than Jeremy Lee? I think not and so today we're delighted to be joined by the legend himself in the studio to celebrate over 40 years of his incredible culinary creations. Jeremy is the only chef in the world to work under both Simon Hopkinson and Alistair Little, both the founding fathers of modern British cooking, and so regales us in some incredible stories and memories of his time working for both. Prior to running Quo Vadis he was running The Blueprint Cafe in partnership with the legendary Sir Terence Conran for 15 years, arguably the most important restaurateur in London, and Jeremy reveals to us some wonderful stories of their time together. We hear about his magical childhood, how he got fired as a waiter and forced into the kitchen instead, the machoism of the kitchens in the 80s, the magic of Bibendum and the birth of the London restaurant scene, the accidental invention of his smoked eel sandwich, his love for Soho's great institutions, the struggles of the current food scene and oh so much more! So sit, back, relax and enjoy and please make sure you're subscribed and you leave a rating and comment.
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Please leave us a 5 star rating if you enjoyed the podcast and a written review, it really helps us to grow and of course share it with anyone you think would love it as much as you hopefully have!

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Today we're joined by the delightful Avi Shashidhara who's Head Chef of the multi-award winning Pahli Hill Bandra Bhai in Fitzrovia, which Jamie Oliver recently revealed as his favourite restaurant in the city. Avi's journey is an incredible one which has taken him from growing up in Bangalore to working for Antonio Carluccio in India to working at various Michelin starred restaurants in the UK before running the River Cafe for 10 years to cooking personally for Anthony Bourdain & Nigella Lawson to now running one of London's greatest restaurants. Avi is in a wonderful sharing mood as he entertains us with crazy stories of; being bullied in a 2 Michelin starred restaurant, the brutality of Indias fine dining culinary college, working at India's first boutique hotel under Chef Antonio Carluccio, the magic of working at the river cafe for over a decade, why PR agencies are ruining the food scene, why Michelin are 'anti-indian restaurants' and so much more.....it's a real juicy one, so sit back, relax and enjoy!
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Please leave us a 5 star rating if you enjoyed the podcast and a written review, it really helps us to grow and of course share it with anyone you think would love it as much as you hopefully have!

Get tickets to Avi and Andi Olivers supper here - https://www.pahlihillbandrabhai.com/whats-on/a-dinner-with-andi-oliver

Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter here - https://open.substack.com/pub/thegoto...

Today we're joined by the most famous food critic in the world in Jay Rayner, to discuss his incredible career as a restaurant reviewer for the Observer over the last 25 years. Jay is on incredible form as he reveals stories of ; falling out with chefs, scrapping reviews, law suits, reporting murders, fighting nepotism, questioning whether he's infact a bastard, why Guinness refused to give into the Devonshire's discount demands, the worst restaurants he's ever been to, the art of writing a review, the magic of Joe Allen's, the tragedy of the downfall of The Ivy, why Pizza Express pizzas are some of the best in the country, the secrets to perfect meringues and much much more....

Buy 'Nights Out At Home' here - https://www.jayrayner.co.uk/books#13

Buy tickets to Jays next gig here - https://www.woolwich.works/events/jay-rayner-sextet
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Please leave us a 5 star rating if you enjoyed the podcast and a written review, it really helps us to grow and of course share it with anyone you think would love it as much as you hopefully have!

Head to www.delli.market and discover the thousands of creative products dropping daily.

Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter here - https://open.substack.com/pub/thegoto...

Today we're bringing you a pastry special and who better than the King of Cakes himself Eric Lanlard to take us through his incredible career which has taken him from cooking for the French President in the Navy to baking cakes for the; Queen, Madonna, David Beckham and Elton John to name a few. Eric moved to London in 1995 to work for the legendary Roux Brothers and within 2 years was heading up their whole pastry kitchen overseeing all the sweet treats in all their restaurants and for the likes of Harrods and various 5 star hotels. During this time he worked alongside Gordon Ramsay amongst others and struck up an incredible friendship with his mentor the late great Albert Roux. He then went on to set up his own company 'Cake Boy' where he's become the go to baker for all celebrities parties and weddings. It's not all been plain sailing however and today he reveals all of his nightmares he's experienced from his time as a Chocolatier Apprentice in Luxembourg as a 16 year old to working in the Michelin kitchens of london right up to the modern day where he's set to become the first chef in history to enter Space! Eric is a wonderful man and great orator so sit back, relax and enjoy.
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 Please leave us a 5 star rating if you enjoyed the podcast and a written review, it really helps us to grow and of course share it with anyone you think would love it as much as you hopefully have!

Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter here - https://open.substack.com/pub/thegoto...

Today we're honoured to be joined in the studio by the wonderful Romy Gill MBE who's an award winning food/travel writer and broadcaster and was the owner and Head Chef at Romy’s Kitchen, and In 2016 she was appointed an MBE in Queen Elizabeth’s 90th Birthday Honours List. On this podcast we discuss; her incredible journey from West Bengal to the UK, her memories of 1000 mile picnics to the Punjab as a kid, the magic of Tiffin boxes, why she can never emulate her mothers cooking, why she thought she was getting punked when she got an MBE, the struggles of opening a restaurant in the UK, a nightmare Valentines Day service involving Grace Dent and Matt Tebbutt, how a Fay Maschler review changed her life overnight, the secrets to cooking great Indian food, why Dishoom changed the game in the UK food industry, secrets from Ready Steady Cook and much much more.....
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Please leave us a 5 star rating if you enjoyed the podcast and a written review, it really helps us to grow and of course share it with anyone you think would love it as much as you hopefully have!

Head to www.delli.market and discover the thousands of creative products dropping daily.

Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter here - https://open.substack.com/pub/thegoto...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Books-Romy-Gill/s?rh=n%3A266239%2Cp_27%3ARomy%2BGill

What a joy it is to be joined by the incredibly charming and wonderfully talented Emily Roux at her restaurant Caractère, which is celebrating its 5th anniversary and this year hoping that they may have just charmed the Michelin inspectors enough to win their first star. Emily is joined in the kitchen with her husband Diego Ferrari (Ex Head Chef at Le Gavroche) and they are creating some of the best dishes in London. Today we were lucky enough to sit down with her and properly uncover all her stories from her career so far and find out about the pressures of growing up with the Roux family name. We discuss everything from; the delights of French supermarkets to why she chose not to keep Le Gavroche alive to false claims of nepotism by jealous onlookers to the rudest customers she's ever had to how cancellations are ruining the restaurant industry and much much more....So sit back, relax and enjoy.
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Today we're truly honoured to be joined by one of the most famous Michelin starred chefs in the world in Niklas Ekstedt, who's inspired a whole culinary movement by opening his restaurant 'Ekstedt' in Stockholm in 2011. Niklas decided to get rid of all modern appliances; ovens, grills, microwaves, sous vides and replace them purely with birchwood fuelled fires. This creates a significantly increased amount of challenges for his cooking but also forces him to be creative and innovative to the point where he's invented some of the most famous dishes in the world. Today he takes us through his incredible journey from; growing up in rural Sweden to travelling to America to work for the late Charlie Trotter in Chicago and then onto being an early employee for El Bulli. He hated his time at El Bulli so greatly that he eventually walked out and headed back to Sweden to set up his first restaurant at just 21, where he employed a certain gentleman called René Redzepi. Niklas shares with us some of the most entertaining stories from these times but also some incredible advice on how to get the most out of your talents. He's a pure joy to listen to.
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Please leave us a 5 star rating if you enjoyed the podcast and a written review, it really helps us to grow and of course share it with anyone you think would love it as much as you hopefully have!

Head to www.delli.market and discover the thousands of creative products dropping daily. 

Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter here - https://open.substack.com/pub/thegoto...

Today we're joined by Seb Vince, the owner and genius chef behind the most sought after Pizza brand in the country 'Breadstall' to celebrate his incredible career thats taken him from the advertising boardroom to selling cut price ciabattas on Portobello Road to eventually creating the best pizzas in the UK. We discuss everything from; how he came up with his award winning dough, the magic of the pizza industry, angry customers, stoner delivery drivers, his huge move opening up in Soho, the secrets to his success, getting banned from Rosa's, the best city in the world for a foodie weekend, his thoughts on his competitors, how he learnt his trade selling bread on market stools with his dad, why he gave up selling coffee and pastries for Pizzas, what he hates about the industry, his favourite restaurants to eat out in and much much more.....
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Download The Appetite app now and track your fav spots or places that you're dying to check out and book them easily all through the app - download it now. https://shorturl.at/yFXyK

Today we're joined by the Financial Times food critic and multi-award winning food writer, author and owner of the famous Fitzbililes cafe's Tim Hayward to uncover his fascinating story and unpick his varying views on the industry. Tim has a fascinating life story which takes us from; working in the deep-south as an illegal alien working as a line chef in various diners to writing comedy for BBC Radio 4 alongside Armando Iannucci to becoming one of the most respected food writer and critics in the world. In this interview we uncover; why food critics have gone soft since covid, the hardest reviews he's ever written, why natural wine has a huge marketing problem, why you should never put a certain something on your bacon sandwich, how he turned around Fitzbillies from bankruptcy into a thriving business, the impending death of restaurants, how Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsay made men finally fall in love with cooking, why he would never have his own Substack, why he's tempted to buy The Regency Cafe, what its like working in diners in the deep-south, why you should never do anythign for free, the secret to cooking the perfect steak, his favourite restaurants and much much more.....
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Please leave us a 5 star rating if you enjoyed the podcast and a written review, it really helps us to grow and of course share it with anyone you think would love it as much as you hopefully have!

Head to www.delli.market and discover the thousands of creative products dropping daily and use the code GOTODELLI25 for 25% off everything from us.

Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter here - https://open.substack.com/pub/thegoto...

Today we're joined by Ex professional chef & viral foodie sensation Christina Soteriou, to uncover her incredible career to date from; working at some of London's top restaurants to setting up MOBs sister page Bunch to creating the most sought after Tahini in the country to debunking some abusive food based myths thrown at her to celebrating her brand new incredible cookbook 'Big Veg Energy' and much much more....
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Order 'Big Veg Energy' here - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Big-Veg-Energy-Plant-based-people/dp/1529902347

Download The Appetite app now and track your fav spots or places that you're dying to check out and book them easily all through the app - download it now. https://shorturl.at/yFXyK

Today we're joined by the most entertaining Chef to ever post on socials, the wonderful Martyn Odell aka Lagom Chef who burst onto the scene with his hilarious cooking videos a couple of years ago and now has a loyal following of over 1.5 million disciples. Martyn worked professionally as a chef for over 10 years, working his way upto be sous at some of London's greatest restaurants including his favourite place he ever worked the magical; Andrew Edmunds. He then went to what he describes as 'The Battersea Dogs Home For Chef's' called 'The Underground Cookery School' where he spent 5 years getting drunk, causing mischief and teaching everyone from Hen Do's to Bankers how to cook, with some hilarious stories shared. It was then onto work for the infamous Joe Wickes orchestrating his rapid rise to success, before leaving to go and educate the masses on his real passion which is making better use of food waste. Martyn is an absolutely hilarious guest and it was a pleasure to be able to sit down with him and uncover his greatest tales, so sit, back, relax and enjoy.
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Head to www.delli.market and discover the thousands of creative products dropping daily and use the code GOTODELLI25 for 25% off everything from us.

Please subscribe and leave us a comment, and if you enjoy the podcast please listen to our audio only podcast that we bring out each Thursday whereby we interview the top chefs in the UK and beyond - https://link.chtbl.com/Vg8g3qpb

Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter here - https://open.substack.com/pub/thegoto...

Today we're joined by Londons most exciting young chef in Elliot Hashtroudi for an incredibly delicious and very boozy lunch at his award-winning French restaurant Camille in Borough Market. The food is beyond exceptional and so are Elliot's stories and opinions, as every drink goes down, we get more passionate about the various topics discussed from; the dark side of Borough Market to the overuse of Flatbreads on menus to why Camille is the only restaurant in London that properly does nose to tail dining to why other restaurants have to stop 'pretending to be French' to how he bullshitted his way into his first job in the kitchen to memorable life advice from the legendarry Fergus Henderson and much more...... Sit back, relax and enjoy the podcast and make sure you go and dine at Camille, trust us you'll be hard pushed to find a better plate of French food anywhere in the country!
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Download The Appetite app now and track your fav spots or places that you're dying to check out and book them easily all through the app - download it now. https://shorturl.at/yFXyK

Today we're joined by one of our favourite guests of all time in the delightful Calum Franklin, who currently oversees 2 incredible restaurants in; The Public House in Paris and The Georgian in Harrods. However, he's best known as The King of Pies, having gone viral all around the world during lockdown when he was showcasing his creations from his Pie Room kitchen at his award winning restaurant The Holborn Dining Room. Calum's had an incredible career working in some of the finest restaurants in the country, from the glory days of working at The Ivy cooking for the likes of; Al Pacino and Axl Rose to arguing with angry American OAPs at Borough Markets famous Roast. However it hasn't all be plain sailing, as he suffered for many years with a serious alcohol addiction that nearly cost him his life and shares with us the experience that had on his mental and physical health. Plus we hear about the trials and tribulations of opening a British Brasserie in the heart of Paris, how he recovered from a shocking review from Jay Rayner, why he's so passionate about extinguishing bullying from the kitchen, the magic of resurrecting London's oldest dining room in The Georgian and much much more.....
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Order award winning meats direct to your door from Swaledale Butchers - https://swaledale.co.uk/

Head to www.delli.market and discover the thousands of creative products dropping daily and use the code GOTODELLI25 for 25% off everything from us.

Check out Square's an all-in-one restaurant tech solution here - www.square.com

Please subscribe and leave us a comment, and if you enjoy the podcast please listen to our audio only podcast that we bring out each Thursday whereby we interview the top chefs in the UK and beyond - https://link.chtbl.com/Vg8g3qpb

Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter here - https://open.substack.com/pub/thegoto...

Today we're joined by the co-founder of the ridiculously successful Indian inspired restaurant group Kricket in Will Bowlby to hear about his incredible journey that's taken him from learning his craft under the legendary Rowley Leigh at Le Café Anglais to being given an incredible opportunity to go move to Mumbai to set up a European restaurant and all the ridiculous unforeseen challenges which came with that including; nearly being killed by a stalker outside his flat, having to constantly change his menu to meet the needs of the locals and the joys of fighting off a deadly parasite. However it was in India where he fell in love with the local food and so upon returning back to London 2 years later he went and did an apprenticeship under Vivek Singh at The Cinamon Kitchen and learnt the basics of Indian cooking. 6 months later he set up the first Kricket restaurant in a 15 cover shipping container in Pop Brixton and after stunning reviews from the likes of Jay Rayner, Will now oversees 6 individual restaurants and 2 Bar's in London and today he shares with us his secrets to such success.
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Download The Appetite app now and track your fav spots or places that you're dying to check out and book them easily all through the app - download it now. https://shorturl.at/yFXyK

Today we're joined by arguably the most successful restaurateur in the country in Jon Spiteri who has created such institutions as The French House in Soho, St John in Farringdon and latterly Sessions Arts Club. He takes us through his colourful career from working at Joe Allen's in the 70s as a waiter, to winning mixologist of the year in Australia, to mastering the art of hospitality in America before returning to the UK where a chance meeting with Fergus Henderson changed his life and London's restaurant scene over night. We hear about the hardships of setting up such famous institutions, the challenges of convincing diners to trust 'nose to tail' in the early days, the art of the long lunch, Jons close shaves with alcohol and drugs, the secrets behind hospitality, the main challenges facing the industry and much more....
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Order award winning meats direct to your door from Swaledale Butchers - https://swaledale.co.uk/

Head to www.delli.market and discover the thousands of creative products dropping daily and use the code GOTODELLI for 25% off everything from us.

Check out Square's an all-in-one restaurant tech solution here - www.square.com

Please subscribe and leave us a comment, and if you enjoy the podcast please listen to our audio only podcast that we bring out each Thursday whereby we interview the top chefs in the UK and beyond - https://link.chtbl.com/Vg8g3qpb

Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter here - https://open.substack.com/pub/thegoto...

Happy Boxing Day to you all and we hope that you all had a fabulous Christmas, today we bring you something slightly different as we sit down with Appetite co-founder James Green and serial entrepreneur and founder of 'The Jet Business' Steve Varsano to discuss both of their incredible businesses and favourite places to eat in London. Plus Steve shares with us some crazy stories on; being kidnapped by gangsters, having a gun held to his head during his first business deal, why he uses metal business cards and what foods like on private jets!
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Download The Appetite app now and track your fav spots or places that you're dying to check out and book them easily all through the app - download it now. https://shorturl.at/yFXyK

Today we're joined by one of the most famous Chefs in the country in Jackson Boxer, who now oversees an empire of successful restaurants including the multi-award winning Brunswick House and the previous 'Best New Restaurant of The Year' winner Orasay. Starting out as a kitchen kitchen porter for Margot Henderson at the bonny age of 16, Jackson Boxer was no stranger to kitchens by the time he opened Brunswick House with his brother Frank, aged just 24. Having experienced success alongside him the previous year with the opening of Franks Peckham, they decided to team up and turn an antiques showroom into what would soon become London's hottest restaurant. It hasn't all been plain sailing however, Jackson has been very vocal about his alcohol and drug addictions throughout his 20s and how that almost cost him his life and career. He also opens up about some past failed ventures including opening St Leonards with Vice Media in the same month they were going bankrupt and how messy that got. Plus shares his wisdom on the state of play of the industry currently and why it's never been tougher to be in hospitality although if you look hard enough there are always incredible opportunities to be had, reveals some secret Christmas dishes from the Boxer archive and much much more.....
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Order award winning meats direct to your door from Swaledale Butchers - https://swaledale.co.uk/

Head to www.delli.market and discover the thousands of creative products dropping daily and use the code GOTODELLI for 25% off everything from us.

Check out Square's an all-in-one restaurant tech solution here - www.square.com

Please subscribe and leave us a comment, and if you enjoy the podcast please listen to our audio only podcast that we bring out each Thursday whereby we interview the top chefs in the UK and beyond - https://link.chtbl.com/Vg8g3qpb

Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter here - https://open.substack.com/pub/thegoto...

Today we're joined by one of our greatest ever guests in the larger than life legendary wine trader and owner of 'Passione Vino' Luca Dusi to sample some of his gorgeous wines, but more importantly hear his incredible stories from a life eating the best food and drinking the best wine in the world. We discuss; how he fell in love with wine bunking off school as a 10 year old and sneaking into local bars in Verona, where the best food is found in Italy & why he's not a fan of garlic in his food, how he created the best wine bar in London, the trials and tribulations of being a wine trader, why he wants restaurants to be braver with their wine lists, how supermarkets are ruining the wine industry, where to find the best italian food in London, his memories of working with the best chefs in the country, the best restaurant he ever went to in Tokyo which changed his life forever, what we should be drinking this Christmas and much much more....
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Download The Appetite app now and track your fav spots or places that you're dying to check out and book them easily all through the app - download it now. https://shorturl.at/yFXyK

Today we're joined by one of the most recognisable faces in the country in multi-award winning; chef, food writer, TV star, restaurateur & now social media star Gizzi Erskine. Gizzi takes us through her incredible career which has taken in so many twists and turns along the way; from working in some of Londons top restaurants having been inspired by her mother's incredible food, to winning national competitions across the board for her culinary creations, to becoming the most famous lady on TV alongside Nigella, to starting restaurants with her Rock N Roll friends in Pro Green and Libertines singer Carl Barat, to losing her money in failed foodie ventures, to being at the forefront of the pop up movement, to getting abused by famous chefs and much more...
----------
Order award winning meats direct to your door from Swaledale Butchers - https://swaledale.co.uk/

Head to www.delli.market and discover the thousands of creative products dropping daily and use the code GOTODELLI for 25% off everything from us.

Check out Square's an all-in-one restaurant tech solution here - www.square.com

Please subscribe and leave us a comment, and if you enjoy the podcast please listen to our audio only podcast that we bring out each Thursday whereby we interview the top chefs in the UK and beyond - https://link.chtbl.com/Vg8g3qpb

Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter here - https://open.substack.com/pub/thegoto...

What an honour it is to be sat at the Rotunda interviewing the man who's restaurant's just been crowned the best restaurant in the whole of the country in Endo Kazutoshi. In this interview he opens up like never before talking us through; 

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Download The Appetite app now and track your fav spots or places that you're dying to check out and book them easily all through the app - download it now. https://shorturl.at/yFXyK