Jay Blades, MBE is a furniture restoration expert and TV presenter from Hackney, East London. Jay struggled with dyslexia growing up and found solace using his hands. He got by in school, but never learned to read and has since shared his journey to help break the stigma for others in his position. Jay is the much-loved presenter of The Repair Shop on BBC One, which won a BAFTA for Best Daytime Programme in 2023. He released a memoir in 2022, Making It: How Love, Kindness and Community Helped Me Repair My Life. His new show, David and Jay’s Touring Tool Shed, is available on BBC iPlayer now.

Jay is a big fish fan and arrives hungry (which he mentions once or twice!). Luckily for him, Angela has prepared a whole sea bream, with brown butter champ and charred salad onions. Nick and Jay are blown away by the rich umami flavours. This dish is complemented by a bottle of Patricius Tokaj Dry Furmint recommended by the experts at Waitrose.

Counting King Charles and Dame Judi Dench as two of his biggest fans, Jay Blades is the most charming of dinner guests. He talks candidly about the darker moments in his life and how he overcame them, his passion for the Waitrose bakewell tart (which will make you want to buy one immediately) and his greatest DIY disaster.

Just so you know, our podcast might contain the occasional mild swear word or adult theme.

All recipes from this podcast can be found at waitrose.com/dishrecipes

A transcript for this episode can be found at waitrose.com/dish

We can’t all have a Michelin star chef in the kitchen, but you can ask Angela for help.

Send your dilemmas to [email protected] and she’ll try to answer in a future episode.

Dish is a S:E Creative Studio production for Waitrose