The Go To Food Podcast

From selling homemade pâté at a market in Cork to becoming one of Ireland’s best-loved chefs and television personalities, Clodagh McKenna has had an extraordinary journey.

This week, Clodagh joins Freddy and Ben to share some of the wildest stories from her career, including how she managed to shut down New York, partying with Bob Geldof, the reality of life on television and the people who helped shape her love of food.

We also delve into her incredible 100-acre Hampshire home, Broadspear, where she's built a remarkable working farm, complete with a walled garden, orchards, bees, pigs and cattle. Clodagh discusses her passion for growing and cooking her own food, her latest cookbook Clodagh at Home, and why the simplest things in life often bring the greatest pleasure.

Expect hilarious stories, plenty of laughter and a fascinating insight into the life of one of the food world's most infectious personalities.

Subscribe to The Go-To Food Podcast for more incredible stories from the biggest names in food.

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After two years of chasing him, we've finally got him! This week we're joined by the brilliant Matt Tebbutt, Saturday Kitchen presenter, former MasterChef judge and one of Britain's best-loved TV chefs, for an outrageously funny and revealing conversation over lunch at Café François.

And what a career he's had.

Matt takes us back to the wild days of London's great kitchens, including working under Marco Pierre White, who once pretended to be a French waiter just to wind him up, before eventually sacking him in the middle of service. The following day, Marco phoned him demanding to know why he wasn't at work!

We hear about his experiences working with some of the country's greatest chefs, his struggles running a restaurant in rural Wales, the moment he found himself in tears wondering how he'd pay the bills, and the unexpected phone call that changed his life forever.

Matt also opens up about his controversial departure from MasterChef: The Professionals, revealing how he was told at 5pm the day before a planned appearance on The One Show that he would not be returning.

Plus, we get into his fascinating relationship with James Martin, the truth about their supposed rivalry, Saturday Kitchen's most disastrous live television moments, accidentally swearing on air, and the time a particularly heavy weekend involving two enormous Chinese meals ended with him in hospital.

There's also his hilarious relationship with Anna Haugh, his worst-ever restaurant customers, tales of working with Bruce Poole, and his dream of escaping to France to open a tiny restaurant of his own.

From being sacked by Marco Pierre White to becoming one of the most recognisable faces on British television, this is Matt Tebbutt as you've never heard him before.

An absolute belter of an episode. Enjoy!

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Chef feuds, restaurant gossip, outrageous rumours and a rather reluctant Thomas Straker... Welcome to the Go-To Food gossip show!

To celebrate the launch of our brand-new Patreon, we're giving you a FREE taste of our exclusive weekly gossip round-up, where we discuss everything happening behind the scenes in the food world.

Coming to you from Coombeshead Farm in Cornwall, we're spilling the beans on our complicated relationship with Thomas Straker, the latest chef gossip, London's hottest restaurant openings, ridiculous food trends and everything else that's been getting us talking this week.

No guests, no scripts, no filters. Just Freddy and Ben letting loose, sharing stories and occasionally saying things we probably shouldn't.

Enjoyed this? There's plenty more where it came from!

Every week on Patreon, we'll be bringing you an exclusive gossip round-up, alongside ad-free listening, behind-the-scenes content, the chance to ask our incredible guests your own questions and much more.

Join the Go-To Food Patreon from just £3 a month!

👉 SUBSCRIBE HERE: https://www.patreon.com/cw/TheGoToFoodPodcast/membership

Your support helps us keep bringing you the biggest names in food, incredible adventures and plenty more mischief along the way.

Thanks for being part of the journey!

Freddy & Ben x

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Why would one of London's most exciting bakeries refuse to sell croissants?

This week on the Go To Food Podcast, we're joined by the brilliant Anna Higham, the acclaimed pastry chef behind Quince Bakery and the brand-new Clementine.

Having worked in some of the world's most celebrated kitchens, including New York's Gramercy Tavern, Lyle's, Flor and The River Café, Anna has become one of the most exciting voices in British baking.

We sit down with her at Quince to uncover the secrets behind its extraordinary success, from the famous brown butter buns and oat cookies to her determination to create a bakery that doesn't follow the crowd.

Anna reveals what it was really like working alongside Ruth Rogers at The River Café, including the extraordinary kitchen budgets, spending around £1,000 a month on vanilla, and the pressures of working inside such an iconic institution.

We also discuss why she refuses to sell croissants, the problem with Instagram-driven bakeries, the worst day she's ever had in the kitchen, why pastry chefs don't get enough recognition, and how she's taking everything she's learned into her exciting new opening, Clementine.

Plus, her controversial opinions on chocolate-covered strawberries, overfilled pastries and the desserts that have changed her life.

A fascinating conversation about creativity, ambition, British baking and what it really takes to build a successful independent food business.

Subscribe to Go To Food Podcast for more conversations with the world's greatest chefs, restaurateurs and food personalities.

#AnnaHigham #QuinceBakery #GoToFoodPodcast

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Jean-Georges Vongerichten is one of the most influential chefs of all time. From revolutionising New York's restaurant scene to building an empire of around 60 restaurants across the world, his career has been nothing short of extraordinary.

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How do you turn a humble jacket potato into one of Britain's biggest viral food sensations?

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Dylan Jones has spent more than four decades at the heart of British culture, from i-D and The Face to GQ, the Evening Standard and some of London’s most legendary dining rooms.

Recorded Live At Decimo London - The Standard

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Today we're joined by one of the most important figures in modern Italian cooking in Britain, Jacob Kenedy, chef and co-founder of the legendary Bocca di Lupo and Gelupo. Jacob's journey is anything but conventional. Before becoming a chef he studied science, was a glassblower and a DJ, before a stint at Moro changed the course of his life and eventually led him to create the restaurant he simply wanted to exist in London.

Jacob takes us inside the extraordinary story of Bocca di Lupo, from opening in the middle of the financial crisis to becoming one of London's most celebrated restaurants. He reveals the brutal workload behind its early success, including the moment he became so exhausted he knelt down beside a customer's table and physically couldn't stand back up. We also get into the economics of restaurants today and why Jacob believes there is something about the industry that can actually “favour the worst”.

Plus, we talk pasta. Jacob reveals the biggest mistakes British home cooks make, why you should take pasta out of the water while it's still almost raw, the secret to seasoning properly, and the thinking behind his new book Pasta Tricolore. Over mezcal, tacos and a few strong opinions at Decimo at The Standard Hotel London, this is a brilliant conversation about food, creativity, restaurants and nearly two decades at the top of London's dining scene.

Recorded Live At Decimo London - The Standard

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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.

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🔥 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.

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