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Telegraph
03-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Prue Leith: ‘If you've had a quarrel, a walk in the garden calms things down'
Prue Leith was born in South Africa and moved to London at 20 to attend the Cordon Bleu Cookery School. She later launched a catering business and opened a restaurant in Notting Hill, which was awarded a Michelin star, as well as her own cookery school, which she sold in 1993. As well as writing 12 cookery books and eight novels, she has appeared in several television series, and has been a judge on The Great British Bake Off since 2017; the show will return to Channel 4 in September. She was made a dame in 2021. Where do you live? I have lived in Gloucestershire for nearly 50 years. For 46 of them, I was in a big house about 500 yards away from where we are now. I bought it with my first husband, Rayne, when we were looking for somewhere to bring up our two children. It was a proper Cotswold farmhouse, with outhouses, a barn and 150 acres. Back then, the Cotswolds were very unfashionable. Everybody wanted to live in the Home Counties. As a result, our property was valued on the agricultural land, which was quite poor, so I got a big place for very little. But now the children have moved out, and since property prices have shot up, when I married my second husband, John, I decided it was time to downsize. I sold it all, except for 50 acres which had an old farmhouse on it. We knocked it down and built a modern one instead. It bugs me that having slaved away at cooking, catering, restaurants, novels and TV work, none of it would have made me enough money to do this. What kind of garden did you want to have? Our first job was to deal with the concrete. The previous tenant farmer couldn't make money out of his farm, so he farmed other people's land and had put down lots of concrete to park his vehicles on. To do anything, it meant we had to dig it all up, and we spent a year doing it. The garden at the previous house was very English, with herbaceous borders, a croquet lawn and a rose tunnel. I wanted this one to be simpler and more water conscious, so one of our first projects was to create a grass garden for a drier climate. I was inspired by Piet Oudolf's stunning perennial meadow at the Hauser & Wirth Gallery in Somerset – he creates the best grass gardens in the world. We've tried to do something similar to create wonderful tonal colours and differing heights, just on a smaller scale. My favourites are Stipa gigantea, Festuca glauca and Miscanthus sinensis 'Morning Light'. What's your husband's favourite area? Well, when John and I moved into this house, I said to him that we weren't going to start growing veg because I'd done enough midnight harvesting, trying to freeze things like the spinach crop. And then you've got the inconsistency of vegetables… 500 courgettes one year and none the next. It's all exhausting! But, one day, I saw these big containers arriving and I asked John what they were for. He said, 'Ah, they're for my vegetables.' I said: 'I thought we weren't going to have a vegetable garden?' He replied: 'It's not a vegetable garden, it's just pots.' So, we've now got more than 50 pots, and every pot has veg in it. Having said that, he's just pulled out our first new potatoes and I couldn't think of anything nicer for supper than new potatoes with lots of butter and mint. What types of trees do you have? We wanted a large apple and pear orchard with heritage varieties, so we bought 250 saplings, only to discover that the bloody heritage apples look like scabby golf balls and are as sour as hell. Every autumn, we make apple juice and tonnes of apple jelly, but there's only so much you can foist upon friends and local charities. We do, however, have the most wonderful pears, and nothing beats a good pear tarte Tatin or a pear and chocolate bread-and-butter pudding. We also planted a nuttery for the birds and an avenue of oaks and rowans through one of the fields – I just wanted an avenue! I then realised we ought to have something at the end of it, so John built a hill with leftover spoil and the local blacksmith is now making a dovecote to put on top of it. I just hope the doves crap on the neighbours' house and not ours. Over the years, have your gardens become a place of memories? When I think of my first husband, I think of the lake we created in the field opposite our house. He was an author and expert on China, and it was his dream to have a Chinese garden – like a scene on a Blue Willow plate. Beside the lake, we had a pagoda, a red bridge and a weeping willow. We loved it. He was ill for the last 15 years of his life, but even towards the end of it, he loved looking out at the garden, and that's when I decided to create a box parterre. I took 2,000 cuttings and prepared them while I sat at his bedside. I had an old-fashioned frame and was very careful to use the right mix of sand and soil to start them in. There was only one hiccup: our cat. I came out one day to find him sitting in what he thought was the best litter tray ever. Did you have a garden as a child? I grew up in Johannesburg where we had a house with a large garden full of plants and trees. My father was the director of a big chemical company; my mother was a well-known actress. Some of my earliest memories are of her weeding with a big hat on. South Africa has a great climate: it only rains at 4 o'clock every second day and the skies are blue all winter. The tree I particularly remember is the jacaranda at the front with its beautiful blue flowers. My brother and I were given vegetable plots to look after, but I was more interested in riding my bike. I'd line up a series of logs on the lawn and pretend I had a pony… jumping over them. When my children were little, I was probably out in the garden weeding, too. They were fortunate enough to have real ponies. What do you love about your garden now? As I get older, I walk around less due to boring old-age complaints, like my knee or my back. But in our courtyard, I've found such joy in filling large troughs with spring bulbs. They add such colour and when they're finished, John and I plant them in the fields, although we do have our gardener Philippa to help us with such tasks. I did vow to give up on herbaceous borders, but I miss roses and peonies so much, I've decided to make a new one. We've installed tanks by two barns to collect rainwater, so I won't have to feel too guilty about watering it. John also bought me a Polaris, which is a cross between a tractor and a buggy; it goes through water and snow, over bumps and ditches, and when the pasture is 3ft high, I can charge through it! What does the garden mean to you? A garden is many things. Certainly, if you've had a quarrel with a child or your beloved, a walk in the garden calms things down. Stay inside and you brood. One of my favourite places to go is a little wood we have that we call the dell. It was very soggy, so having cleared the brambles, John drained it and created a stream and a path. We then planted wild garlic and bluebells. It's beautiful… so peaceful. Other times, I love the noise of kids running around. We've got 12 grandchildren between us and not long ago, we bought 12 different trees, one for each child. Everyone came over to plant them; the older ones dug holes, the little ones poured water over their feet. It made me think of that lovely Chinese proverb: 'Society thrives where old men plant trees in whose shade they will never sit.'
New York Times
29-07-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
The Libertine Team Goes Full Francophile at Chateau Royale
Opening Cody Pruitt, a Francophile who spent time in France, knows the difference between bistro, like his casual Libertine in the West Village, and restaurant, like the more polished Chateau Royale in Greenwich Village, both of which he owns with Jacob Cohen. (Neither is a brasserie, best defined in New York by Balthazar.) 'I wanted comfort and nostalgia,' he said of the new restaurant with a ground floor bar and a skylit dining room upstairs. The executive chef, Brian Young, worked at the Quilted Giraffe and brings along Barry Wine's iconic beggar's purses. Foie gras, escargots, duck à l'orange and chicken Cordon Bleu are also on the menu, some of which is served at the bar. (Tuesday) 205 Thompson Street (Bleecker Street), There's more to Spain than paella and Basque cheesecake. Ryan Bartlow, the chef and an owner of Ernesto's, knows it; New York is learning it, or rather, relearning it, as he's proving with his latest venture. Years ago part of the West Village and Chelsea was a 'Little Spain,' a vestige of which is La Nacional on 14th Street. It's the neighborhood of Mr. Bartolo's new slice of Madrid, a taverna with a wine list that's almost entirely Spanish and a menu of tapas like anchovies with butter; tortilla de patatas; and pork belly, along with assorted rices, suckling pig and stews. The setting combines napery and velvet upholstered formality with old-world reclaimed wood. (Opens Thursday) 310 West Fourth St. (West 12th Street), 646-494-4970, A dress rehearsal for a fall opening on Van Brunt Street in Brooklyn is happening for this Cambodian spot temporarily camping out Fridays through Sundays through Aug. 24 at the restaurateur Billy Durney's Billy's Place in Industry City. Hōp's owners, Bun Cheam and Cait Callahan, both worked at Mr. Durney's Red Hook Tavern. The samplings from their future menu include beef skewers and fried noodles. (Friday) 87 35th Street (Third Avenue), Industry City, Brooklyn, 718-576-3556, A whiskey bar with an inventory of more than 400 labels, plus a list of cocktails like a barrel-aged manhattan, classic boulevardier and a rum-based Trinidad sour, offers an excuse to settle in, not just stop for a quick shot. The bright, windowed space with exposed brick and leather banquettes also serves plates of tuna tartare, cured salmon and cucumber rolls. It's the work of Andy Lock, who ran the bar at Gotham Bar & Grill and was a sommelier at the Lobster Club. 476 Driggs Avenue (North 10th Street), Williamsburg, Brooklyn, 914-826-2402, This restaurant, by the marquee Japanese chef Masaharu Morimoto, is cutting its teeth in Montclair, N.J., with a major installation. It's a partnership with the ambitious Montclair Hospitality Group. A follow-up in Manhattan, and eventually in other cities, is planned. Here, more than 200 diners will find a Japanese restaurant, sushi and omakase counter included, dressed for a turn as a steak house. Permutations of Wagyu from several sources, creations like tuna pizza and even tacos are on the menu. (Thursday) 193 Glenridge Avenue (Forest Street), Montclair, N.J., 862‑333‑4833, Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Evening Standard
11-06-2025
- Evening Standard
Meater Pro Duo review: The essential smart thermometer for perfect BBQs
Al fresco cooking brings with it an extra element of stress. When the sun is shining, the playlist is blasting, and your friends and family are feeling good, there's no bigger dampener than dry chicken or overcooked steak. It's the one sure way to ruin the seasonal jovial spirit. This is where MEATER comes in. The brand is known for its smart meat thermometer, a probe which you place inside the grilling meat and, via the accompanying phone app, reveals all you need to know about how ready your carnivorous feast is. It doesn't require a fancy barbecue, nor a Cordon Bleu diploma, to treat your guests to some serious tender food. Genius. The end pointy part of the probe is the temperature sensor. It is to be placed in the thickest part of the meat and has a max reach of 105°C. The other, thicker end is the ambient temperature sensor, which can reach up to 550°C, which should be fine as long as you are not placing it inside an extremely hot pizza oven. Both are stored and charged inside the sleek wooden case that is just too sophisticated to keep in a drawer. To juice up the probes, you use the accompanying USB-C charging cable provided, which has a USB-A on the other end for ease. The two lights illuminate to show whether they are fully charged. The probes, annoyingly, do not come fully charged and ready to use. But it is a fast charger, so you should be able to get two hours of cooking after just five minutes plugged in. The app walks you through every stage. You begin by selecting the meat in question. Notifications reveal when it is ready to flip or remove from the heat, with alerts throughout the cooking process to make it foolproof even for the most amateur of chefs, like myself. There is even a timer for resting and instructions regarding reverse searing to maximise the flavour of every bite. I started small and easy; chicken to be paired with salad for a simple mid-week dinner. I am quite the hypochondriac when it comes to cooking chicken to avoid the dreaded pink undercooking, and as such, I find I often leave it too long in the oven, and it's dry and chewy. The MEATER Pro Duo sorts this. Inserting the probe into the thickest part of the breast (you place it in as if you were butterflying the meat) and determining how well-cooked I wanted it on the app, I was then notified when it was ready to be removed from the heat, all while I caught up with the previous night's Love Island. The brand has extended the range of the thermometers for full home coverage - something that will come very welcome when the mercurial British summer turns into a rainshower.
Edinburgh Live
23-05-2025
- Health
- Edinburgh Live
Great British Bake Off star Mary Berry opens up on 'lucky' recovery from deadly illness
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info Dame Mary Berry, the renowned Great British Bake Off star, has candidly shared how a life-threatening childhood illness continues to affect her to this day. Dame Mary, who has been a respected figure in the culinary world for years, developed a passion for cooking and baking in her 20s while studying at the prestigious Cordon Bleu in Paris during the 1960s. As she rose to prominence, the 90-year-old made her television debut in the early 1970s alongside Judith Chalmers. In the 1980s, she balanced raising three children with releasing books and filming BBC TV series. However, her journey was marked by a potentially fatal illness she contracted as a teenager. Reflecting on that uncertain period, Dame Mary recalled being taken to hospital and learning about her condition after falling ill. (Image: undefined via Getty Images) Speaking on the Lessons From Our Mothers podcast, she recalled: "I remember saying to the nurse, who was absolutely covered in masks, 'what's wrong with me?'. "She picked up a clipboard from the end of the table and said 'you've got infantile paralysis'. I had no idea what that was." However, after going on to make a full recovery, the baker admitted "I was so lucky". She said: "It's only just down the left side. I've got a bit of a funny hand, but people think it's arthritis, but it's polio. And I've got a bit of a curve in my spine." (Image: undefined via Getty Images) The beloved television personality has fared better than many, overcoming infantile paralysis, known as polio, though not without lingering effects. Not everyone has been as fortunate with polio; some sufferers have experienced dangerous complications like meningitis and encephalitis, while tragically, others have succumbed to the disease. The UK, which last saw a confirmed case of polio in 1984, has, in large part, the vast vaccination programme to thank for the lack of cases since the 1980s. (Image: Getty Images) Those who contract polio may experience symptoms such as a high temperature, fatigue, headaches, vomiting, a stiff neck, and muscle pain, as noted by the NHS. Fans of Dame Mary can look forward to seeing her on TV again, as she will feature at 7.30 pm tonight (May 24) during the RHS Chelsea Flower Show broadcasts on BBC One.
The Guardian
03-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Seven restaurants to sample Spain's hottest new chefs – without blowing the budget
Since 2002, Spain's gastronomic year has kicked off at Madrid Fusión, a jamboree where top chefs from all over the world show-cook, share dishes of rarefied ingredients and outline new culinary concepts. Wrapping up the three-day event is the crowning of Spain's best young chef (often a duo) or 'revelation'. This year's seven candidates ranged from restaurants as far afield as Galicia in the north-west to Tenerife, Seville and Madrid. Most cook at intimate spaces with few tables, and offer ingredients and cooking techniques you would be hard-pushed to find on a British menu without breaking the bank. We start in Galicia, with the winners of the best emerging chefs for 2025. Pilgrims have been walking to Santiago for over a millennium, and now gastronomes are following to discover this Michelin-star restaurant south of the monumental cathedral. Opened in summer 2023 by Axel Smyth, 33, a native of the city, with his Ecuadorian partner Claudia Merchán, 32, it offers a sophisticated take on Galicia's pristine produce from the rugged coast to its verdant hills. Seven tables host a 14-course Simpar (€110) or 11-course Conocer (€85) menus, both starting with an inventive play on mushrooms and ending with a deconstructed Santiago tart. If you're a tripe fan, indulge in Simpar's award-winning stew with chickpeas and don't miss the ham croquetas – another prize winner. Other exceptional concoctions are rooster with chocolate and truffle, and scallops (the pilgrims' symbol) in a meunière sauce. From the wine list, which is 70% Galician, Axel suggests Quinta da Muradella (€84) made from the white Treixadura grape. We're in Catalan territory at 27-year-old Ángel Esteve's buoyant restaurant in Lleida, which capitalises on local suppliers in the Pyrenees, in Aragón and on the coast. Idiosyncratically named after his grandparents' apartment, which is on the sixth (sisé in Catalan) floor, it has eight tables facing an open kitchen. 'We don't want to hide what we do,' says Angel, much influenced by his time at the top Catalan restaurant El Celler de Can Roca. The menu reflects childhood food memories, as do his sister's charming wall drawings, and specialises in charcoal grills and stews that change weekly. There is something earthy here, from a starter of artichoke, comté cheese and truffle (€16), to mains of barbecued lamb with calçot onions and romesco sauce (€21), or rice with quail and burrata cream (€28). Angel's signature dessert is a chocolate tart rivalled by a calorie-light teaser of blackberries, goat cheese and galette (both €7). Unusual wines (€25-€150) are national and Instagram As Felicia Guerra, the wife of Ausiàs Signes, puts it, they are 'in a random town of 7,000 inhabitants', so they hardly expected instant success. After meeting at Madrid's Cordon Bleu school, they have welcomed customers from afar to their slick restaurant of just seven tables in Pedreguer, which is inland from the Costa Blanca fishing port of Dénia and an hour's drive from Alicante. 'It means we manage to fill the restaurant, so there's no waste, which keeps our prices reasonable,' says Ausiàs, who heads the kitchen, leaving front of house to Felicia. They preserve traditional flavours, methods and ingredients – but with a twist. Their tasting menu (€84 for 12 courses or €62 for 10) is strong on reinvented seafood such as cuttlefish with cauliflower, yeast and bergamot, or baked grouper with roast cabbage and pickled seaweed. Carnivores despair not, as roast lamb also features. End with a luscious ode to Valencian oranges, an emulsion of orange, olive oil and saffron. The wine list (€29-€500) focuses on small Mediterranean wineries and rare In the lively historical capital of La Rioja, this place is run by Beatriz Fernández and her husband Rodrigo. Since opening under a year ago, the quirkily decorated restaurant of 22 tables hasn't looked back. An appetiser of chilled orange soup with bluefin tuna tartare (€6) might continue with a starter of wild boar stew with oloroso sherry (€16) or scallops in broth with cauliflower (€18). Mains include turbot with seaweed, semi-dried tomato and black olives (€24) and wood pigeon smoked with vine stalk alongside roasted chestnuts and lemon in brine (€26). Desserts range from a pomegranate and rose sorbet (€8) to pumpkin cake with olive oil and thyme ice-cream (€8). True gourmets should order the 12-course tasting menu (€70) backed up by inexpensive wines and sherries from Andalucía and La Rioja. For an unusual tipple, Rodrigo recommends a Riojan white, Eraso Azala (€25) – 'not quite orange, more dark golden' – made from grapes in their Sign up to Inside Saturday The only way to get a look behind the scenes of the Saturday magazine. Sign up to get the inside story from our top writers as well as all the must-read articles and columns, delivered to your inbox every weekend. after newsletter promotion 'Hospitality and restaurants are in my blood – I'm the fourth generation,' says 22-year-old Lucia Gutiérrez, owner and chef of Lur in Madrid's Legazpi district. Thanks to the nearby catalysts of Madrid Rio, a new urban park, and the Matadero contemporary arts centre, this southern neighbourhood has been energised. So, just over a year ago, Lucia took over the restaurant space of her now retired father. With only five tables, its spacious interior of natural woods and potted olive trees exudes calm, a quality reflected in her meticulous cooking and plating. The seven-course tasting menu (€87) remains seasonal, though vegetables dominate and Lucia injects a fine line between savoury and sweet. Sourced from small producers, some ingredients hail from the Basque Country where Lucia worked near San Sebastián. The name itself, Lur, is Basque for 'land'. In the centre of sunny Santa Cruz, the capital of Tenerife, and the ferry gateway to other islands, is Restaurante Moral – a name referring to the mulberry tree and to the restaurant's ethics. It was opened last summer by Canarian couple Icíar and Juan Carlos Pérez-Alcalde, who met working at Poemas by Hermanos Padrón, La Palma's top restaurant. Moral brings inspired cuisine to locals and visitors in the serene setting of a converted mansion with only six tables. Island produce dominates, whether in the five-course tasting menu (€50) or à la carte choices. Here you have a starter of aubergine with eel, yoghurt and mushrooms (€19), main courses of duck in an orange sauce spiked with dried fruits (€27) or skate with mussel and parsley sauce (€25). Wash down a dessert of roast beetroot, passion fruit and flowers (€7) with a Tenerife wine recommended by Juan Carlos – a light, aromatic Finca Vegas made from the white Listán grape (€26).On Instagram Hidden down a side street south of the burgeoning Alameda, Leartá conjures up ambitious dishes that fuse Andalucían tradition with technique. At the helm is Manu Lachica, 30, a true Sevillano, and his wife, Rita Llanes, a 23-year-old Catalan. After working together in Galicia, they opened Leartá less than a year ago. 'We want people to feel at home as well as showcase Seville's trades such as hand-painted tiles and handmade furniture,' says Manu. With an open kitchen, the restaurant seats 12 and offers 10 complex dishes (€72). Each plays with textures and temperatures. Wild boar comes with burrata, a chilled pumpkin broth includes salted kaki fruit and sea urchin cream, while a sweet edge comes in celery macerated in herbal syrup with butter from the yeast of wine barrels. Teetotallers can revel in delicious kombuchas (€6) infused with fruits such as limequats, ginger and mint. Wines (€35-€147), including sherries, are from emerging Andalucían vintners as well as national and international
