With access to all the best restaurants in London, Grace Dent is never short on moments of foodie inspiration...
But you might be surprised to know that the defining moment of inspiration that sparked the renowned food critic’s interest in gastronomy came from her native Carlisle.
Addressing an invited audience at the Nespresso Boutique on Regent’s Street, in the first of three Mattino Moments breakfasts to celebrate the launch of their new morning coff ee grand cru, Linizio, Grace explained how a visit to a restaurant in Cumbria as a child started her on a delightful journey of indulgence.
“My first taste revelation was at a place at the side of the Fells,” she revealed. “It was a farmhouse kitchen called Cozy Farm, where a whole family used to cook and we just used to drive out there; me, my Grandma and Grandad and parents and we used to have a big table. “It was just proper Cumbrian farmhouse cooking and I remember that being a really happy time and looking back being glad that my whole family were there together.”
Linizio has been created by Nespresso to give coffee lovers that same first moment of inspiration. Coming from the Italian word inizio, meaning beginning or initiation, this new coffee has been designed to produce that one moment of indulgence and to prepare coffee connoisseurs for the day ahead with its rich quality taste.
Grace was also asked by the invited audience of Nespresso Club Members and Evening Standard readers to share her secrets on making an inspirational dish for a dinner party. “Something simple, probably from a Nigel Slater recipe, maybe coq-au-vin, with some homemade bread and buttery mash and Turkish delight cheesecake,” she suggested. The food critic also passed on a simple tip to help inspire the audiences’ home cooking. “Buy a box of seasonal vegetables, then make yourself look up different recipes to use all of them until they are gone, it will make you test yourself.”
When the questions turned to the latest trends in London, Grace was quick to endorse the recent rise in the number of South American eateries in the capital and recommended that the audience should “try the food at Coya”, a Peruvian restaurant in Piccadilly.
However, her favourite destinations in London remain the Quality Chop House in Farringdon and the new French brasserie Balthazar in Covent Garden. When asked to provide that perfect inspired coffee moment apart from her morning Nespresso, Grace ventured further afield to Babington House in Somerset where she would have “coffee with strawberry cheesecake”.
To listen to Grace Dent’s inspirational talk on gastronomy from the Nespresso boutique on Regent’s Street, please CLICK HERE or go to twitter.com/nespresso
