The Recipe

In this episode, Theo is joined by the legendary Michel Roux Jr, a true giant of modern gastronomy, the chef patron and broadcaster who spent three decades leading the iconic two Michelin star Le Gavroche and has helped shape the way Britain cooks and eats. From growing up in a household where fresh vegetables were grown in the garden and rabbits became dinner by Tuesday to training with Alain Chapel, the most respected chef in France during his heyday, taking over Le Gavroche in 1991 and navigating the weight of a family legacy that never quite let go, Michel's journey is a testament to the transformative power of resilience, creativity, and cooking with purpose.
With 43 years of the Roux Scholarship nurturing the next generation of British culinary talent, decades presenting MasterChef the Professionals, and the difficult decision to close Le Gavroche in 2024 after 57 years to regain control of his life, Michel represents a generation of chefs who celebrate precision, hospitality, and the belief that great food should make people feel immediately at ease.
Michel prepares his beloved Oeufs à la Neige with Raspberry Compote (Floating Islands with Raspberry Compote), a classic French dessert of poached meringues floating on crème anglaise and covered in crunchy caramel that speaks of childhood, family, and the soul of French home cooking.
Throughout the episode, Michel shares his remarkable journey from growing up eating freshly cooked food with vegetables his father grew in the garden and animals reared for the table to spending two years training with Alain Chapel in Lyon where they served chicken tripe, frogs legs, and Japanese pancakes with ginger and soy sauce in the early 80s when France was pretty blinkered, officially taking over Le Gavroche in 91 but never really being allowed to let go because his father was always there omnipresent and having to say something, training Gordon Ramsay who remains to this day the most talented chef he remembers at Le Gavroche and was a gobby little so and so then and is still a gobby little so and so now, and why closing Le Gavroche in 2024 after it ruled his life for decades meant he finally regained control and could take Le Gavroche on tour where it listens to him not the other way around.
You can find Michel's full recipe on the Filippo Berio website at www.filippoberio.co.uk/theo, and be sure to check out his Le Gavroche at sea residencies with Cunard as he celebrates 60 years of Le Gavroche in 2027.
The Recipe podcast is hosted by Theo Randall, Chef Patron at the Theo Randall Cucina Italiana. In each episode we meet a special guest who loves food, and they'll tell us all about their favourite recipe as we celebrate the stories behind the dishes that define us.
Please do subscribe, follow, and share the podcast wherever you listen so you never miss an episode; and for more delicious stories and inspiring dishes.
Follow The Recipe with Theo Randall: /therecipe.podcast (https://www.instagram.com/therecipe.podcast/)
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The Recipe with Theo Randall is a Listen To This Production for Filippo Berio.

In this episode, Theo is joined by the brilliant Jacob Kenedy, the visionary chef, author, and restaurateur who revolutionised how London experiences regional Italian cuisine and transformed Archer Street into one of Soho's most legendary dining destinations.
From growing up with a grandmother who was a Hollywood starlet and lived through La Dolce Vita, to training at Moro and falling in love with cooking, spending his DJ years in San Francisco playing at underground clubs like the Enduck, and opening Bocca di Lupo in 2008 with an open kitchen, a bar that broke up the space, and a menu that celebrated the regional diversity of Italy's twenty distinct cuisines; Jacob's journey is a testament to the transformative power of resilience, creativity, and cooking with purpose.
Jacob prepares his beloved Spaghetti al Pomodoro, a dish that speaks of mother, home, and heart, and one he could eat every day.
Throughout the episode, Jacob shares his remarkable journey from spending a week at Moro during his gap year and falling in love with their kitchen, spending a year travelling around Italy with his then partner and discovering there is no such thing as Italian cuisine.
You can find Jacob’s full Pomodoro Simple Tomato Sauce & Spaghetti recipe on the Filippo Berio website at www.filippoberio.co.uk/theo, and be sure to check out his latest cookbook Pasta Tricolore: Recipes in Green, White and Red for more delicious recipes.
The Recipe podcast is hosted by Theo Randall, Chef Patron at the Theo Randall Cucina Italiana. In each episode we meet a special guest who loves food, and they'll tell us all about their favourite recipe as we celebrate the stories behind the dishes that define us.
Please do subscribe, follow, and share the podcast wherever you listen so you never miss an episode; and for more delicious stories and inspiring dishes.
Follow The Recipe with Theo Randall: /therecipe.podcast (https://www.instagram.com/therecipe.podcast/)
Follow Filippo Berio: /filippoberio_uk (https://www.ins

In this episode, Theo is joined by the brilliant Poppy O'Toole, the Potato Queen herself, a Michelin trained chef who transformed a pandemic redundancy into a multi million follower empire and has spent the last few years demystifying fine dining techniques and teaching the internet how to make comfort food truly extraordinary. From growing up eating handfuls of roasted mince in her nan's kitchen and making mini roast dinners at five years old to becoming the potato maker at a fine dining restaurant inside a London bank, losing her job during lockdown, and gaining a million TikTok followers overnight with a video simply saying live, laugh, love potato, Poppy's journey is a testament to the transformative power of resilience, creativity, and cooking with instinct.
With over 4 million followers across social media, six bestselling cookbooks including her latest Poppy Cooks: The Actually Delicious Batch Cookbook, and appearances on Saturday Kitchen and Junior MasterChef as a presenter judge, Poppy represents a generation of cooks who celebrate bold flavours, accessible home cooking, and the belief that anyone can cook if they trust their instinct and go for it.
Poppy prepares her beloved Supreme of Chicken with Potato Fondants, Smoky Hot Pan Sauce and Maple Glazed Corn, a dish inspired by her nan's experimental Chicken Maryland that she remembers eating as a child with banana, corn and chicken, wondering what on earth it was.
You can find Poppy's full Supreme of Chicken with Potato Fondants recipe on the Filippo Berio website at www.filippoberio.co.uk/theo, and be sure to check out her latest cookbook Poppy Cooks: The Actually Delicious Batch Cookbook for more accessible, flavour packed recipes that celebrate convenience, comfort, and cooking with instinct.
The Recipe podcast is hosted by Theo Randall, Chef Patron at the Theo Randall Cucina Italiana. In each episode we meet a special guest who loves food, and they'll tell us all about their favourite recipe as we celebrate the stories behind the dishes that define us.
Please do subscribe, follow, and share the podcast wherever you listen so you never miss an episode; and for more delicious stories and inspiring dishes.
Follow The Recipe with Theo Randall: /therecipe.podcast (https://www.instagram.com/therecipe.podcast/)
Follow Filippo Berio: /filippoberio_uk (https://www.instagram.com/filippoberio_uk/)
Follow Theo Randall: /theo.randall (https://www.instagram.com/theo.randall/)
The Recipe with Theo Randall is a Listen To This Production for Filippo Berio.

In this episode, Theo is joined by the brilliant Tom Kerridge, the only chef in the world to hold two Michelin stars at a pub and a giant of British gastronomy who has redefined what pub food can be. From his early days as a child actor in Gloucester to washing dishes at 18 and falling in love with the energy of professional kitchens, Tom's journey is a testament to the transformative power of resilience, creativity, and cooking with purpose. With 21 years at the helm of the Hand and Flowers in Marlow, a second Michelin star that made history, and his tireless VAT's The Problem campaign fighting for the survival of British hospitality, Tom represents a generation of chefs who celebrate bold flavours, accessible cooking, and the belief that great food should never be intimidating.
Tom prepares his beloved Steak and Chips, a dish that has been on the menu at the Hand and Flowers since day one and beautifully encapsulates his cooking philosophy of taking something everyone knows and loves and elevating it to two Michelin star level.
Throughout the episode, Tom shares his remarkable journey from growing up on an estate in Gloucester with a single parent to joining a youth theatre in Cheltenham, being scouted by an agent and playing Thug One in London's Burning at 17, and why he quite liked being himself as opposed to acting where you're spending a lot of time pretending to be somebody else. He discusses walking into a kitchen at 18 to wash up and falling in love with the energy, the space, the noise, the movement, the connection between front of house and back of house, training under the legendary Gary Rhodes who taught him that one or two or three things on a plate is all you need, and why opening the Hand and Flowers at 31 was terrifying because the only way you're ever going to make money is by making your business work.
Tom also opens up about the difference between one star and two star cooking being personality and the true character of the chef coming through, why three star restaurants are the ultimate in professionals where every single aspect from website to phone call to booking system makes you feel special, switching from gas to electric planches because gas in a professional kitchen can be quite dirty and not that efficient, and why his VAT's The Problem campaign is fighting for a reduction to 10% to give hospitality the level playing field it needs to compete with Europe where 21 businesses are shutting every single week.
You can find Tom's full Steak and Chips recipe on the Filippo Berio website at www.filippoberio.co.uk/theo, and be sure to support his VAT's The Problem campaign at vatstheproblem.co.uk to help save British hospitality.
The Recipe podcast is hosted by Theo Randall, Chef Patron at the Theo Randall Cucina Italiana. In each episode we meet a special guest who loves food, and they'll tell us all about their favourite recipe as we celebrate the stories behind the dishes that define us.
Please do subscribe, follow, and share the podcast wherever you listen so you never miss an episode; and for more delicious stories and inspiring dishes.
Follow The Recipe with Theo Randall: /therecipe.podcast (https://www.instagram.com/therecipe.podcast/)
Follow Filippo Berio: /filippoberio_uk (https://www.instagram.com/filippoberio_uk/)
Follow Theo Randall: /theo.randall (https://www.instagram.com/theo.randall/)
The Recipe with Theo Randall is a Listen To This Production for Filippo Berio.

In this episode, Theo is joined by the brilliant Clodagh McKenna, the celebrated Irish chef, food writer, and television personality who has transformed a neglected 100 acre estate into a thriving organic farm and believes that happy cooking is one of the most impactful tools for mental health. From growing up in a small Irish house where her mother secretly took out a loan to send her to Ballymaloe Cookery School, Clodagh's journey is a testament to the transformative power of resilience, creativity, and cooking with purpose.
With three years spent working with Slow Food in Turin, a new ITV television series launching in October, and her cookbook Happy Cooking celebrating the balance between indulgent Friday night martinis and Monday morning clean eating, Clodagh represents a generation of cooks who embrace bold flavours, sustainable farming, and the emotional connection we have with the dishes that define us.
Clodagh prepares her beloved Ribollita Soup, a deeply nostalgic Tuscan that beautifully encapsulates her cooking philosophy of maximum flavour with minimum fuss. Using a perfectly caramelised sofrito base of carrots, celery, and onions this recipe celebrates the soul of Italian home cooking whilst showcasing the produce from her own farm at Broadspear, the forgotten corner of Highclere Park where she raises woodland pigs, Aylesbury ducks, heritage chickens, cattle, and grows over 150 varieties of vegetables and fruit in her restored walled garden.
You can find Clodagh's full Ribollita Soup recipe on the Filippo Berio website at www.filippoberio.co.uk/theo, and be sure to check out her cookbook Happy Cooking for more accessible, flavour packed recipes that celebrate balance, wellness, and the joy of cooking without compromise.
The Recipe podcast is hosted by Theo Randall, Chef Patron at the Theo Randall Cucina Italiana. In each episode we meet a special guest who loves food, and they'll tell us all about their favourite recipe as we celebrate the stories behind the dishes that define us.
Please do subscribe, follow, and share the podcast wherever you listen so you never miss an episode; and for more delicious stories and inspiring dishes.
Follow The Recipe with Theo Randall: /therecipe.podcast (https://www.instagram.com/therecipe.podcast/)
Follow Filippo Berio: /filippoberio_uk (https://www.instagram.com/filippoberio_uk/)
Follow Theo Randall: /theo.randall (https://www.instagram.com/theo.randall/)
The Recipe with Theo Randall is a Listen To This Production for Filippo Berio.