I always had pipe dreams of writing a book, so first thank you must go to Daisy Parente my agent for spotting this might be a thing. Thank you to Ellen Parnavelas my editor at Head of Zeus for giving me this chance and being so supportive. Jessie for designing such a beautiful book and Heather for stepping into the breach.
Thank you to people in the food world for welcoming, encouraging and inspiring me when I was just starting out and to the present day; namely Alison Swan Parente, Olia Hercules, Jeremy Lee, Bee Wilson, Margot Henderson, Anna Tobias, Rachel Roddy, James Whetlor and Michel Roux Jnr for being both inspiring and encouraging.
Words of help, advice and encouragement were readily available locally and I am very grateful to Tony Renwick, Shaun Hurrell, Terry Laybourne, Nick Grieves, Charlotte Harbottle, for taking the time to help me when I was starting out.
Thank you to photographers Garrod Kirkwood, Wiesia Bjoko & James Byrne who have captured and shown an interest in the place from the beginning. Taking charge of the other photos for the book was entirely terrifying, I'm so glad I had your talents to supplement. To Caroline, and then Lou for allowing me time away from the restaurant to actually write a book; Lou is the best right-hand woman you could wish for and has become indispensible, a hilarious joy and talent. And everybody in the Cook House team today, you are the best. To all my lovely customers who have supported Cook House from the beginning, thank you for coming; a thank you from you and a couple of kind words are the reason I do all of this. To my parents, sister, family and best friends for being such willing recipients of all food and drinks I decide I want to try out, it's a tough job but someone has to mop it up.
To Adrian for being my harshest critic and biggest supporter, he is always striving for everything to be perfect and spurs me on even when I feel deflated. I wouldn't have been able to do any of this without him. I count myself very lucky to have found such a lovely partner in cooking and life, and to Flo for being amazing (she made me say that).
To all the cookbooks I've read and restaurants I've eaten in and enjoyed, for making me want to achieve something great.
To food that makes you laugh with joy, as really, that's what it is all about.