Food Tribe

Thanks for tuning in to the last episode of this season - we’re ending on a high! My guest today is the lovely, and incredibly talented co-founder and chef of the much-loved Japanese restaurant Koya. Shuko Oda and her business partners John and Junya opened Koya in Soho back in 2010, specialising in Udon - the chewy moreish flour-based noodles which they handmake fresh every day and pair with an array of beautiful broths and toppings. Shuko is also renowned for her blackboard specials where she and the chefs at Koya really get creative and use the best of British ingredients to come up with dishes that wow!  Koya opened a second restaurant in the city a few years ago, and what they’re doing is a recipe for success. Simple dishes, high-quality ingredients, thoughtful cooking, and exceptional flavours. As we know, restaurants in London come and go, but Koya is still as loved, as popular, and as good today as it was 11 years ago.  I’m so glad I got to sit down with Shuko and chat with her about how Koya came to be, the dishes that so many of us Londoners have come to love and crave, and what led her from Japan to London, and into the kitchen.  Happy listening!

My guest today is a chef on a mission, championing Filipino cuisine in London. Budgie was born in the Philippines, grew up in Sydney, and moved to the UK 9 years ago, and that’s when he decided to change careers and become a chef.  While working at other restaurants, he started Sarap as a supper club 4 years ago, as a way to connect to his heritage, to learn about Filipino food, and to champion this underrepresented cuisine in London. After winning the Brixton Kitchen competition, Budgie opened Sarap as a permanent restaurant in Brixton’s Market Row at the start of last year. I absolutely love Budgie’s food - it takes you on a trip, it’s made from the heart, it’s lip-smacking good, and just really fun to eat. Over lockdown, Sarap changed to Sarap Baon, offering a more casual menu that could be done to take away and have at home - things like Budgie’s signature pork Lechon and crispy fried chicken sinigang. But now that things are open, watch out for what Budgie does next… I headed over to Sarap to chat to Budgie about his food, life as a chef, Filipino food culture and ingredients, and what led him to open Sarap.

Lulu has been cooking professionally since she was 18, first in the private catering world, and then moving into London restaurants, most recently as sous chef at the beloved Rochelle Canteen. Lulu began to grow more interested in produce, where it came from, and how it was grown, so last year she left the kitchen to go and work on farms and learn more about regenerative growing.    This led to a whole lot of new doors being opened and Lulu co-founded SSAW Collective with two of her good friends. They grow the most beautiful flowers and do pop-ups and food events that champion local, seasonal ingredients. We chat about her experiences in the kitchen and on the farm, and how she’s combined her knowledge of both to craft a whole new career for herself. We also talk about Lulu’s book she’s working on with Henrietta and Bridget from the Land Gardeners which is going to be called Soil to Table - and there'll be chapters on soil, regenerative farming techniques, spotlights on different UK producers, and Lulu’s recipes of course.  Lulu is so lovely, she’s a fantastic cook, she’s someone who cares about where things come from and the connection between food, farming, and our environment. Definitely one to watch on the UK food and farming scene... If you’re around this summer SSAW Collective is doing events and pop-ups where Lulu will be cooking – you can find out more about those here. I hope you enjoy the chat with Lulu.   

Ollie Hunter recently published his second book, Join the Greener Revolution: 30 easy ways to live and eat sustainably. He believes that sustainability is the only way forward, and that it has to be at the centre of everything - whether it be food, our communities, economics, energy, education, or simply making a loaf of bread... Ollie owns and runs The Wheatsheaf pub in Chilton Foliat with his wife Lauren, which was voted the most "sustainable business" in 2019. It’s not too far out of London so I headed over there for lunch to chat to Ollie about his views, his new book, how he found his way into food, hospitality and sustainability and what exactly joining the greener revolution means.

Today on the show I’m speaking to Vietnamese cook, author, food photographer, and stylist Uyen Luu. A few years ago, I went to one of Uyen’s supper clubs she hosts in East London, I fell in love with her food and I've been a fan of hers ever since. Now, lucky for us she’s just launched her new book called Vietnamese - Simple Vietnamese food to cook at home. And it’s a beauty!   As it so often is with beautiful food made from the heart, there’s a bigger story behind why it’s there and what it means to its maker. For Uyen, coming over to the UK as an immigrant when she was a little girl, meant food was about more than just the food - it’s been a bridge to home, a daily link to what was left behind, something real that can be touched and tasted and shared.   And she’s been so generous in sharing her comforting home dishes with us, all wrapped up in one pretty pink book. We chat about her new book, about Vietnamese food culture, about her and her family’s journey of moving over to London and making a new home here, and what led her from a career in film and fashion, to food.  I hope you enjoy this conversation with the wonderful Uyen Luu. 

Bettina started her business, Bettina’s Kitchen, to share her knowledge on plant foods, seasonality, incorporating local produce into our diets, and to spread the word on how to eat more sustainably, and cook in a way that makes us feel good while still being damn delicious.  This all came about as a result of being diagnosed with PCOS and endometriosis years ago and being told that she wouldn’t be able to have children. After changing her diet and lifestyle, Bettina fell pregnant 6 months later, and she’s been on a mission ever since to share the beauty and power of plant-based foods, to get more people cooking wholesome dishes from scratch, and to care about where our food comes from. Bettina’s food and recipes are always so bright and flavoursome (take a look at her uber-popular Instagram account if ever you’re in need of inspiration). Her 3rd book, Celebrate, is out later this summer and as the name suggests, it’s all about the crowd-pleaser dishes perfect for feasts and parties and gatherings - and don’t we know we need a few of those in our lives!  I met up with Bettina to chat about her career in food, her new book, and how food plays such a critical role, especially for women, in balancing our hormones and helping us thrive. Happy listening! Book we discussed – WomanCode by Alisa Vitti

Joining me on the show today is cookbook author, writer, podcaster, and infamous salad queen, Hetty McKinnon. After she had her children, Hetty wanted a way to connect with and build relationships in her community so she decided to start making hearty salads from her home kitchen in Sydney and delivering them to her hungry neighbours on her bicycle. She named her small operation Arthur Street Kitchen and it quickly grew a cult following which led to the publishing of her first book, Community, in 2013. And the rest, as they say, is history.  Hetty now lives in Brooklyn and recently published her 4th book, To Asia with Love. This book is a personal homecoming story for Hetty - an exploration of her heritage and a return to the humble, nurturing flavours and meals of her childhood as a Chinese girl born in Australia. Beyond writing cookbooks, Hetty does so much in the food community - she’s a storyteller at heart and works to highlight the personal stories of everyday cooks and important issues surrounding food, culture, and identity through her food magazine which she started called Peddler and accompanying podcast called the House Specials. Hetty and I chat about her new book, her experience of growing up as a third culture kid and the extraordinary role food has played in her life.

FOOD TRIBE IS BACK! And joining me on the show today is none other than the uber-talented, ray-of-sunshine, superstar Mexican chef Santiago Lastra. Since he left Mexico at the age of 18, Santiago has been traveling the world, the ultimate nomad chef, and in 2017 he had the opportunity to work with Rene Redzepi and the Noma team when they asked him to project manage the entire Noma Mexico pop-up in Tulum.  It was a huge success and this experience of sharing Mexican food with people from all over the world led to a dream for Santiago - a dream of putting down roots and creating a restaurant, a home, a community, a place where people could come to experience the tastes, and hospitality, and soul of Mexico.  And finally, after 3 years of dreaming, and imagining, and cooking and refining, and the rollercoaster of the pandemic, Santiago’s restaurant Kol is now open-open in the heart of London. And it’s something very special!  I met up with Santiago a few weeks ago to chat about the journey so far, and how Kol came to be. We talk about his food, his background and why he loves to cook, and what opening this restaurant means to him.  I hope you enjoy this conversation with Santiago….

My guest today is farmer and butcher Ian Warren, who owns the family-run Philip Warren Butchers in Cornwall. They produce and sell some of the highest quality meat in the UK, supplying top restaurants in the country, and also selling directly to consumers. This year, during lockdown, they launched ‘On the Pass’, making their specialist cuts of meat, that would normally have been used by the likes of Brat and The Ledbury, available for people to order online and cook at home. Ian and I talk about the work he does and what is means to rear and sell quality meat, and he shares some background on livestock farming in the UK, and how we as consumers can make better, more informed decisions when buying and eating meat. I know meat can be a very contentious subject - my view is I believe meat is a specialist product, that it’s not a staple we should be eating every day, and if we do have the means, it would make a huge difference if more of us made the effort to seek out better quality meat farmed in a way that respects nature, where we pay a bit more, eat a bit less of it, and support the farmers producing it in the right way. Like anything in our food system, these small changes can have a big impact. So I hope this conversation gives you some food for thought, and provides some more info on the very nuanced world of meat and how we can do our part to help make it better... You can find out more and order online here - https://philipwarrenbutchers.co.uk/  

My guest today is the creative, unconventional, and rather brilliant Willy Wonka of British wine. Ben Walgate is pushing the boundaries of winemaking in the UK - from the grape varieties he uses, the styles of wine he’s producing, his combination of aging methods, to his vision for the farm and his wine. Ben started Tillingham 3 years ago, on a gorgeous farm in East Sussex. When he took over the farm, there weren’t any vineyards on the land so he’s had to buy in grapes grown in the area to make his wine, while he set about planting his own vines (of which they’re around 35,000 now). This really is just the beginning for Tillingham… I’m in awe of what Ben has created in such a short space of time - aside from the fact that he has an incredible gift for winemaking and his wines are so acclaimed, not just in the UK but by some of the world’s top restaurants, he’s also set up a beautiful guesthouse and restaurant on the property which uses produce grown and reared on the farm. We recorded the episode in the winery at Tillingham, and Ben and I chat about the farm and how it came to be, and of course we talk about the wine and some of Ben’s methods. Ben is so charismatic, and his love for wine is infectious. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

Towpath Café is a rare and precious treasure of a place that is loved by so many. My own long-standing love affair with Towpath started pretty much the moment I moved to London in the summer of 2016 while strolling along Regent’s canal - I was totally sucked in by the magic, and the divine food, and I’ve been visiting this gem religiously ever since.  They’ve been open for ten years and to mark the occasion, the owners, Lori De Mori and Laura Jackson have published their book Towpath - recipes and stories. Another piece of good news out of this wild year - usually, each November these four Towpath bunker doors close, bidding us farewell for the winter. And then just when you’re in need of a summer lifeline, they roll up in March, signifying spring, new beginnings, and the promise of good things to come. And now for the first time ever, Towpath is going to be open for the winter - you can bundle up and go for breakfast and lunch and they’re now also doing reservations for dinner. You can find out all about that, and order their beautiful book, on their website - https://www.towpathlondon.com/ Towpath is so much more than a place to go and eat. It’s a part of the reason London came to feel like home for me. And I know many others feel the same. It was an honour to be able to sit down with Lori and Laura and talk about the book and the whole Towpath journey and how they’ve created this piece of magic on a tiny stretch of Regent’s canal. I hope you enjoy! *For more recipes and stories from Towpath, tune into Lori and Laura’s podcast here.

My guest today is none other than the brilliant chef and baking queen Pam Yung. Pam moved to London from New York last summer to take up the head chef position at James Lowe’s wine bar and bakery, Flor in Borough Market. When the restaurant had to close during the first lockdown, Pam and her team started making some of the best damn pizzas Londoners have ever laid their chops on. They called it ASAP pizza and it’s become a hit. People cannot get enough, and for good reason - these are New York style sourdough pizzas made using exceptional produce and heritage British wheats, and some seriously creative, delicious topping combos. I respect Pam’s whole approach to food and cooking - she’s extremely curious, meticulous about the produce she uses and how it’s grown, and takes pride in her relationships with farmers, growers and her diners. She cares so much about the craft of cooking and baking, and about doing it with integrity and an open mind. I met Pam a few weeks ago to talk about her story and background, and how she found her way into the kitchen. Pam has a lot of stories under her belt so this is a wide-ranging conversation - we cover everything from pizza, to travel, to differences between NYC and London,  and Pam’s experience of being a child of immigrant parents and finding the courage to follow her heart and do what she loves. I hope you enjoy this conversation with the wonderful Pam Yung.   *Flor is re-opening this week, and ASAP Sundays will continue every Sunday from Flor – you can book your spot here.

E5 Bakehouse in Hackney is a place very close to my heart, so I am super excited to share this episode with you. They may be a beloved neighbourhood spot but their impact goes way beyond Hackney – e5 is a seminal London bakery, whose foundations are built on sustainability, on using the best produce that’s grown in harmony with nature, and who see the community, relationships, and quality as absolutely key to building a successful food business. The owner and founder is Mr Ben Mackinnon - a fascinating guy who started e5 around his 30th birthday, after a career change where he decided he wanted to try his hand at baking. That was 10 years ago and lucky for us he turned out to not be too shabby at it… I met Ben at e5 a few weeks ago to chat about the e5 story and how it all came to be, the process behind making their sensational sourdough, and what it takes to run a sustainable café and bakery.

My guest today is the very talented and oh so humble co-owner and head chef of Dinings SW3, Masaki Sugisaki. After selling his family's restaurants outside of Tokyo, Masaki moved to London to work at Nobu, and later formed part of the founding team at the original Dinings in Marylebone. The Japanese food culture and respect for produce governs his whole approach to cooking. He doesn’t compromise on quality, he cooks seasonally and uses the whole ingredient, and has direct relationships with his seafood suppliers (predominantly day boats in Cornwall), and it shows on the plate - fresh, thoughtful, and absolutely delicious. I met Masaki after having lunch at Dinings a few weeks ago and we chat about his background and the change that came with moving from cooking Japanese food in Japan to the freedom of being a chef here, and how he’s experienced the evolution of Japanese cuisine in London. And of course, we talk about his restaurant and his whole philosophy on cooking… I hope you enjoy! 

Abby is the co-creator of the Farmerama podcast which heroes farmers and producers behind regenerative farming and highlights stories that bring us closer to the source of our food. They’ve recently released their new 6-part series titled Who Feeds Us? Abby has a fascinating story – she studied Physics at Oxford, then went on to do an art and design course, and later began working at her family’s farm in Chile where she discovered her love of farming and soil. And she now uses all her skills across technology, design, physics and farming. She’s devoted to creating a better food system and raising awareness about the importance of healthy soil and regenerative farming, and the fact that this is something that affects us all.   We chat about the brilliant new season of Farmerama, Abby’s background, her love of farming and soil and why it’s essentially the context to all our lives, and we also get onto some pretty niche topics like feminine land ethic, and One Health… I hope you enjoy this wide-ranging conversation with the wonderful Abby Rose. Farmerama podcast Abby’s family farm – Vidacycle Leah Penniman

Today’s guest is the gorgeous, stylish, and lovely Ravinder Bhogal. Cooking always played a big part in her life, but it wasn’t until a twist of fate 13 years which led to her winning a national TV competition that she found herself suddenly entering the world of food - and she’s since gone on to have this incredible career as a chef, food writer and journalist, and restaurateur. Ravinder opened her restaurant Jikoni in Marylebone 4 years ago, and she’s now just published her second book; Jikoni - proudly inauthentic recipes from an immigrant kitchen. Ravinder’s unique mix of experiences, cuisines, cultures, and flavours that she grew up with has informed her approach to food which you won’t find anywhere else. Food without borders, that’ll leave you talking about the dishes long after the meal…  I headed over to Jikoni a couple of weeks ago to meet Ravinder - we chat about her wild career ride so far, the ups and downs of owning a restaurant, her background and how that inspires her food, and of course her new book. 

Chef Douglas McMaster is the man behind the world’s first zero-waste restaurant, Silo. He believes a better future is possible, one in which we can mend our broken system and eradicate food waste. His restaurant, Silo is a living, breathing, working example of Doug’s vision; a sustainable food system for the future with zero waste as it’s point of difference - one in which we eat whole foods, upcycle ‘waste’ into something delicious and desirable, where there exists an eco-system of chefs, farmers, producers, makers who are growing and creating and going about their craft in ethical ways that respect nature - that’ll make you rethink what luxurious food and dining should be. This conversation with Doug goes into a lot more than just the food or the restaurant - I wanted to get and share some insight into this rather brilliant, creative, innovative man’s mind. I hope you enjoy this wide-ranging conversation with Mr. Douglas McMaster...

Creating a chocolate company was the furthest thing from Raphael Dapaah's mind - he went into a career in politics, and despite cocoa being a huge part of his heritage, it wasn’t until reading a shocking fact on the industry in 2016 that led him to taking a trip back to Ghana to begin building his own ethical, sustainable craft chocolate brand. His two siblings Kwaku and Afia soon joined the company and in 2018 Dapaah Chocolates was born with a mission to uplift local cocoa-growing communities in Ghana, create new jobs, and pay farmers better, fairer wages. I’d heard about Dapaah because they won a Young British Foodie award last year, then I tasted their chocolate (which totally lived up to the hype) and I knew I had to get Raphael on the pod. The Dapaah story is an incredible example of a small food brand going against the mass-market status quo and standing for big, positive change.  I caught up with Raphael a couple of weeks ago to hear their story -  we chat about why he wanted to start the company, how he learnt to make chocolate, what makes their bars so unique,  and his long term dreams for the brand.

Would you believe it - today’s guest is an actual scientist! As in Ph.D. from Oxford in Materials Science scientist who happens to also be a world expert in fermentation and uses his scientific powers to help chefs and bars make food more delicious, in thoughtful, sustainable ways. I first heard about Dr. Johnny because of the work he does with Doug McMaster at zero-waste restaurant Silo and with Mr Lyan at his cocktail bars and restaurant Cub here in London where Johnny heads up the fermentation cave. Yes, a real below-ground bunker dedicated to fermenting things.  Despite only working in the food world for the last 6 years, Johnny has done so much - from fermenting butter at the Nordic Food Lab in Copenhagen to making ramen noodles in Switzerland, to co-founding MOLD magazine which explores the intersection of food and design, focusing on how we’re going to create a sustainable global food system that can feed 10 billion people by 2050. So yes, Johnny is a very cool, fascinating guy who cares a lot about food and creating a better, more sustainable food system. We chat about Johnny’s career so far, some of the interesting, wacky projects he’s worked on, what set him on the path to directing his work more around sustainability, and some ideas on what the future of food and restaurants could look like… 

Farmer Abi Glencross is now head of Grains at Duchess Farms and is also one half of the Sustainable Food Story with her best friend Sadhbh Moore (you can listen to episode 30 to hear their story). Abi has had a rather wild career ride - she went from studying engineering to becoming a scientist growing meat in a lab, and then went to train under pioneering chef and sustainable agriculture advocate Dan Barber and his team at Blue Hill Farm in the US where she learned to farm. And it was there that she discovered her passion for heritage grains.  We talk about Abi’s journey from the lab to the field, what made her want to become a farmer, and she gives us the lowdown on heritage grains and why they’re better.  Abi is so passionate about what she does, and about doing it in a way that respects nature and our environment. It was great to speak to her again and I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did… Happy listening! *To help Abi and the team at Duchess Farms buy their new flour mill, visit their crowdfunder page here*