Food & Drink

Stephen Harris, a self-taught chef who has run the Michelin-starred restaurant The Sportsman for over 25 years, sits down with Olivia Potts on Table Talk. Based just outside of Whitstable in Kent, The Sportsman has won national restaurant of the year multiple times, and Stephen is also an executive chef at Noble Rot. The Sportsman At Home is his second cookbook, available to pre-order now and out everywhere from the 6th November. Stephen tells Liv about his earliest memories of food from school dinners to sweets, how he started out as a history teacher and in the City of London – before getting his big break, and which restaurants he

Writer Andrew Turvil is the former editor of the Good Food Guide, the AA Restaurant Guide and the Which? Pub Guide. His new book Blood, Sweat and Asparagus Spears: The Story of the 1990s Restaurant Revolution is out now. On the podcast, Andrew tells Olivia Potts and Lara Prendergast about how his journey began through journalism, the importance of Marco Pierre White’s influence on food culture in the 1990s and which red flags he looks for when reviewing a restaurant. Plus: why did he decide to buy a pub?

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.

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

Claire Dinhut is known to thousands on social media as CondimentClaire. Raised in a European household in Los Angeles, her upbringing and her background studying history have influenced her other passion, for cooking. Her book The Condiment Book: a brilliantly flavourful guide to food’s unsung heroes is out now. On the podcast, Claire tells hosts Lara Prendergast and Olivia Potts about how Anthony Bourdain was her inspiration, the impact of covid on her career, and her French and Greek culinary influences. She also answers important questions such as: should we pair branston pickle with avocado; is cereal a soup; and what’s the deal with pumpkin spice? Produced by Oscar Edmondson and Patrick Gibbons.