The Go To Food Podcast

Between Robert Reid and Jean-Christophe “JC” Slowik, you have nearly 80 years of extraordinary restaurant history. From Roger Vergé and Raymond Blanc to Marco Pierre White, Harvey’s, The Oak Room and some of the defining restaurants of their generation, the pair have witnessed first-hand the madness, brilliance and brutality of elite restaurants. They join us to share incredible stories from those years, including life inside Marco’s legendary kitchens, the intensity of three-Michelin-star cooking and how London’s restaurant world has transformed since the 1980s. Then, in their mid-50s, they decided to start again. During Covid, a phone call between two old friends became Les 2 Garçons, the tiny French bistro they built largely themselves, initially cooking with IKEA induction hobs, a £150 Argos oven and no dishwasher. What followed was extraordinary: huge demand, national acclaim and the creation of one of Britain’s most celebrated neighbourhood restaurants, built around simple French cooking, great wine and the belief that a restaurant should above all be somewhere people actually want to spend their time. This is also a brilliantly funny and candid conversation about everything they have learned along the way. Robert and JC discuss why fine dining became too complicated, why chefs are returning to simplicity, whether Michelin stars still matter, what restaurants get wrong about wine, the importance of value for money and why getting older completely changes the way you think about cooking. After decades spent chasing perfection at the highest level, their conclusion is refreshingly simple: forget most of what you learned, keep the best bits, cook things people want to eat and enjoy the good summers you have left. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

🔥 Two of the most exciting names in London restaurants join us this week as David Carter and Sertaç Dirik reveal the story behind KID, their hugely anticipated new Turkish restaurant in Soho. David has built an extraordinary run of restaurants including Smokestak, Manteca, OMA and AGORA, while Sertaç transformed his family restaurant Mangal II into one of London’s most acclaimed dining rooms. Now, after nearly three years of planning, travelling and eating their way around Turkey, they’ve finally joined forces. We hear how a casual two-hour coffee after Sertaç left Mangal II eventually turned into a partnership, why they waited patiently for the right “unicorn” site, and how trips to Turkey shaped everything from the food to the design. Sertaç tells us about cooking with his dad, meeting legendary Turkish chef Musa Dağdeviren and being handed a collection of historic Turkish cookbooks, while the pair explain how KID tries to respect Turkish tradition without simply recreating what already exists. Plus, David reveals the surprisingly emotional philosophy behind the economics of his restaurants, including why he often prices dishes according to what feels right rather than meticulously costing every plate, and why he believes the bill itself is part of the emotional experience of eating out. We also get into the explosion of Turkish food in London, the changing perception of the cuisine, Instagram restaurants, restaurant design, and what it really takes to build places people actually want to return to. Get 2 Months of Blinq For Free - With Code - GOTOBLINQ - https://blinqme.com/ Watch and Subscribe To Our Youtube Videos Here - https://www.youtube.com/@gotofood Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In his first interview since his shock departure from MasterChef, John Torode joins us for an exclusive and deeply personal conversation about the end of his extraordinary 20-year run on the show. He reveals whether he was surprised by how it all came to an end, reflects on what MasterChef meant to him and the thousands of people involved in making it, and explains why, despite everything, he is determined to hold on to his “professional pride” and look towards whatever comes next. We also go back to the very beginning. John opens up about losing his mother as a young child, finding comfort in the kitchen alongside his grandmother in rural Australia, and the remarkable journey that eventually brought him to London. From working with Terence Conran at Le Pont de la Tour to the madness of opening Quaglino’s and Mezzo during the restaurant explosion of the 1990s, John takes us inside the kitchens, characters and extraordinary moments that shaped both his cooking and his career. Plus, John talks candidly about his 20-year working relationship with Gregg Wallace, the extraordinary impact MasterChef had on British food culture, his life with Lisa Faulkner, his years as a restaurateur and why he never wanted a Michelin star. Funny, reflective and at times incredibly moving, this is the story of John Torode’s life and career, told at a moment when one huge chapter has closed and he is figuring out what comes next. Get 2 Months of Blinq For Free - With Code - GOTOBLINQ - https://blinqme.com/ Watch and Subscribe To Our Youtube Videos Here - https://www.youtube.com/@gotofood Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We travelled to the shores of Loch Fyne to sit down with the brilliant Pam Brunton, chef and co-owner of Inver, one of Scotland’s most remarkable restaurants and the first in the country to receive a Michelin Green Star. Pam’s extraordinary career has taken her from dropping out of Edinburgh University to cook on Scotland’s west coast, through the kitchens of Tom Aikens and The Greenhouse, before stages at Noma, Fäviken and In De Wulf helped shape the restaurant she would eventually create. Pam takes us inside some of the toughest kitchens of her generation, explains what she learnt from the New Nordic movement, and reveals the extraordinary amount of work that goes into Inver, where the team make everything from cheese, yoghurt and charcuterie to miso, bread and butter. We also get into the brutal economics of running an ambitious rural restaurant and why Inver’s rooms now help fund the kitchen and the team behind it. Along the way there are incredible stories, strong opinions, scallops pulled almost straight from the loch, tales of disastrous customers and a fascinating discussion about what sustainability actually means in a modern restaurant. Funny, thoughtful, outspoken and completely original, Pam is one of the most fascinating chefs we’ve had the pleasure of sitting down with.  https://inverrestaurant.co.uk/ https://canongate.co.uk/books/5025-between-two-waters-heritage-landscape-and-the-modern-cook/ Get 2 Months of Blinq For Free - With Code - GOTOBLINQ - https://blinqme.com/ Watch and Subscribe To Our Youtube Videos Here - https://www.youtube.com/@gotofood Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lorna McNee joins us at Cail Bruich to tell the remarkable story behind becoming the chef who brought a Michelin star back to Glasgow for the first time in 18 years. She takes us from washing pots in a small Italian restaurant and a teenage stage at Gordon Ramsay, to walking into Andrew Fairlie’s legendary two-Michelin-starred kitchen as an apprentice and immediately wondering whether she was good enough. Lorna spent the next 12 years working alongside Fairlie, who became her great mentor, and opens up about the moments she wanted to quit, what made him such an extraordinary teacher and why his death ultimately made her realise it was time to step out and discover what her own cooking looked like. We also hear how Great British Menu transformed Lorna’s career, from the devastation of narrowly missing out first time around to returning and becoming Champion of Champions, before taking over Cail Bruich and winning its Michelin star within just five months. She reveals the bizarre way Michelin broke the news to her over FaceTime during Covid, why the restaurant subsequently became fully booked for two years, and argues that even established head chefs should still disappear for a month to stage, learn new techniques and come back better. Plus, why she hates matcha and hot honey, the night vegan protesters invaded her restaurant and had to be removed by police, and plenty more from one of Scotland’s greatest chefs. Get 2 Months of Blinq For Free - With Code - GOTOBLINQ - https://blinqme.com/ Watch and Subscribe To Our Youtube Videos Here - https://www.youtube.com/@gotofood Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices