Angela Hartnett is one of the brightest female stars in the UK culinary firmament. A former Gordon Ramsay protégé, she has established herself as a formidable chef-restaurateur in her own right, with a number of fine eateries to her name, the most famous being London’s Michelin-star Murano.

She is also an MBE (Member of the British Empire), one of the most prestigious public honours in the UK. Not bad for someone who wasn’t expected to last two weeks in the tough kitchen that existed at Aubergine, the restaurant that launched Ramsay and many of his then kitchen brigade, on to the London and UK dining scene. That was way back in 1994.

These days, in addition to Murano (which she bought from Ramsay’s restaurant group in 2010), she is involved in three other eateries: Hartnett, Holder & Co at the luxury boutique hotel Lime Wood in Hampshire (she is now also a director of the hotel) and Café Murano and Merchants Tavern in London, the latter with her partner, chef Neil Borthwick. Regular television appearances over the last decade and her own food slot in the Guardian newspaper have ensured that she has become a familiar face beyond her businesses.

Hartnett’s cooking style has strong Italian influences. Her maternal grandparents emigrated from the Bardi area in Northern Italy to Wales and her grandmother, Nonna, was instrumental in inspiring a love of food and cooking in her young grand-daughter. Her mother also passed on recipes – most famously in the family, one for anolini.

She isn’t wedded to pasta, though, when she cooks at home. ‘Roast chicken one-pot wonders’ (see Pot-roast Chicken, Lemon, Spring Onions and Ginger) are her favoured dishes for family gatherings, while in her professional cooking she fuses Italian influences with a superb French classical technique.

In contrast to her own cooking style, when she eats out she heads for modern British restaurants close to her home in East London: Tramshed and St John Bread & Wine are regular haunts.

But weekends off, when she gets them, are also reserved for catching up on TV shows she’s missed – American cult shows like Curb Your Enthusiasm, for instance – a packet of plain, salted crisps by her side. ‘I’d love to cook dinner for Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David – the funniest men alive!’

Secret Food Haunt

Jonathan Norris Fishmonger, a London-based fish supplier with shops across the city, in Pimlico, Tufnell Park and Victoria Park as well as a stall in Tachbrook Street market. Fish and shellfish are delivered daily from the West Country and Scotland. Fresh fruit and vegetables are also sold at the shops.