Table Talk

By The SpectatorHealth & Fitness Nutrition Arts Food

Table Talk episodes

July 29, 2025 With Charlotte Ivers
Charlotte Ivers is the restaurant critic for the Sunday Times; most recently she reviewed Lupa, Fenix and Home SW15. Charlotte started her career as a media adviser in Theresa May’s Number 10, before she moved into the world of radio. She was a political correspondent at talkRADIO and Wireless Group before joining Times Radio.

On the podcast, Charlotte tells hosts Lara Prendergast and Olivia Potts about chasing the high she felt from tasting risotto for the first time, how a second date unwittingly converted her from vegetarianism and what she thinks makes a good restaurant critic.
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35 min
July 15, 2025 With Candice Chung
Candice Chung is a food writer whose work has been featured in many publications, including the Guardian. Her first book, Chinese Parents Don’t Say I Love You, is out now.

On the podcast, she tells Liv about her earliest memories of food growing up in Hong Kong, why trying lasagne for the first time was a magical experience, and how Chinese parents show their love through food.

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33 min
July 01, 2025 With Thomasina Miers, co-founder of Wahaca
Thomasina Miers is a chef, writer and restaurateur who co-founded Wahaca – the award-winning restaurant group that brought bold, sustainable Mexican street food to the UK. Her new book, Mexican Table, is out in August.

On the podcast, Thomasina tells Lara about early memories of stirring onion with her mother, why she moved her family across the world to live in Mexico, and why bread is the ultimate comfort food.
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18 min
June 17, 2025 With Nadine Dorries
Nadine Dorries is one of the most recognisable Conservative politicians from the past two decades. Elected as the MP for Mid Bedfordshire in 2005, she notably clashed with David Cameron and George Osborne (who she called ‘two arrogant posh boys’) and lost the whip in 2012 when she took part in the reality show I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here. Loyal to Boris Johnson, she served in his government and rose to be Culture Secretary. She stood down in 2023 and went on to write about politics in the bestselling books The Plot and Downfall.

On the podcast, Nadine tells the Spectator’s executive editor Lara Prendergast about her memories of tinned burgers and Sunday lunches as a child, working long shifts as a nurse in Warrington and what it was like spending a year in Zambia. She also explains the ‘relentless’ but ‘collegiate’ atmosphere of Parliament and how she once saw a mouse at the Commons’ salad bar. Nadine explains what it is like to have recently used the weight-loss jab Mounjaro and why, in her family, she is still the ‘queen of the Sunday roast’.

Produced by Patrick Gibbons.
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16 min
June 03, 2025 With Jun Tanaka
Jun Tanaka is a Japanese-British chef with over 30 years’ experience in some of London’s most famous restaurants, including La Gavroche, Restaurant Marco Pierre White and The Square. In 2016 he opened the Ninth, which was awarded a Michelin star two years later.

On the podcast, Jun tells Lara why the smell of baking brings back early food memories, how Japanese packed lunch is superior to English packed lunch, and why, in his view, you still can’t get a good ramen in London.
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23 min
May 20, 2025 With Daria Lavelle, on her breakout novel 'Aftertaste'
Daria Lavelle was born in Kyiv, Ukraine, and raised in New York. Her work explores themes of identity and belonging and her short stories have appeared in The Deadlands, Dread Machine, and elsewhere. Daria is the author of the critically acclaimed new novel Aftertaste which explores food, grief and the uncanny.

On the podcast she tells Liv about her 'inexplicable' love of olives as a child in Ukraine, trying to make it as a writer in New York and how to write about food without it feeling contrived.
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33 min
May 06, 2025 With Mary-Ellen McTague
Mary-Ellen McTague is a chef based in Manchester. She is the culinary driving force behind Aunbury, 4244, the Creameries and her newest venture, Pip at the Treehouse Hotel. Mary-Ellen is also the co-founder of Eat Well MCR, which has delivered almost 100,000 meals across Greater Manchester since 2020 to those sidelined by poverty.

On the podcast, she tells Liv and Lara why, as a child, she would only eat orange cheese, why Lancashire hotpot is so nostalgic, her Eureka moment when she decided to become a chef – and where you should eat in Manchester.
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25 min
April 22, 2025 With Roger Pizey, Head of Pastry at Fortnum and Mason
Roger Pizey is a baker, chef and one of the most influential pâtissiers in the UK. He started his culinary journey as an apprentice at La Gavroche under Albert Roux before taking on the role of head of pastry at Marco Pierre White’s Harveys, during the time it achieved three Michelin stars. He has since worked at a number of London institutions and now serves as the head of pastry at Fortnum and Mason.

On the podcast he tells Liv and Lara about childhood memories of Manchester tart, what he learnt from Albert Roux and Marco Pierre White, and why Fortnum’s rose éclair is the perfect dessert.

Photo credit: Michael Barrow
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21 min
April 08, 2025 With Gok Wan
Gok Wan is a renowned stylist and television presenter. Over the years, Gok has transformed the way we think about style and body image with his much-loved series How to Look Good Naked and Gok’s Fashion Fix – his focus on body positivity was the antidote to the crash-dieting fads which dominated the 2000s. Later in his career, Gok drew upon his Chinese heritage to author books on Chinese cooking.

On the podcast he tells Liv and Lara about growing up in a Chinese restaurant, why hosting is more like ‘theatre’ and why he always abides by the five-second rule.
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26 min
March 25, 2025 With Loyd Grossman
Loyd Grossman is a man of many talents: from appearing on our screens as the host of MasterChef and Through the Keyhole, to crafting a beloved line of pasta sauces. Loyd has left his mark on both the culinary and cultural worlds.

On the podcast, Loyd talks to Lara about hazy memories of ‘sipping a Shirley Temple cocktail aged 6 or 7’, the secret behind his pasta sauces, and why he loathes school meals.
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25 min

About Table Talk

From the publisher's feed

Lara Prendergast and Olivia Potts interview notable guests about their life, through the food and drink that has come to define it.Lara Prendergast is the Food and Drink Editor of Spectator Life.Olivia Potts is Spectator Life's Vintage Chef.