Angela Hartnett: “Sometimes I just want my own main course…”

Angela Hartnett loves the thrill of a busy service, she says — the pace and energy of hundreds of covers going out in a few rapid hours; the sort of white hot, adrenalised service which might make the rest of us curl up in a ball in the walk-in fridge. Perhaps that’s why she’s looking forward to returning to cook at Royal Ascot for the first time in twelve years this June, as she leads ON 5, the fifth-floor restaurant at the racecourse with its panoramic views of the track. There’s something unique about the pageantry and energy of the place on race days, she says — from the high-stakes cooking in the kitchen (“you want to make sure people have a great time”) to the frisson of the incoming royal family. “And I like the fact that there’s a dress code and that everyone makes an effort.” A month-or-so out from her return to the finest day in British racing, we sat down outside her Cafe Murano in Marylebone to discuss the pleasures of Icelandic food; the best new restaurants you might not have heard of; and the dish she’d cook for a jockey on the morning of a race.

We’ve got this lovely asparagus dish with cashew nuts and a cashew cream and peaches. And also this beautiful linguine with red mullet. So some great dishes on there — nothing too heavy or wintery; good summer dishes. You don’t want to be sitting there having a beef wellington…

I think we’re brilliant at our desserts. Vanilla tarts. Summer pudding. You don’t see it much — but it’s a brilliant dessert. I love eve’s pudding, which is baked cooking apples with a victoria sponge on top; a warm apple cake. People like Mark Hix have always done all these things brilliantly. But our lamb is perfect, and our pork is perfect, so we shouldn’t be importing any meat. And don’t even get me started on importing shellfish — our langoustines and scallops are lovely.

We’ve become far more seasonal. When I started, no-one worried about putting asparagus on a menu in December, for example. We’re much more honed in on that now — to the point where when rhubarb came in a couple of months back, every dessert had rhubarb in it. We also go through waves. Recently, there was a French bistro wave, and now we’re in the middle of an Italian wave, with so many new little Italian places popping up. And smaller menus are much more common these days, too.

I went to Iceland recently and had two really great dinners. The food was delicious. We went to a place in Reykjavik which was a one-star called Dill. There was a lot of fermentation, but everything made sense in that environment. What I can’t stand is when everyone went Noma-crazy and tried to copy that. Noma works in Copenhagen with Rene doing what he does. Dill works in Reykjavik with this chef, who knows what he’s doing and is hanging deer for a long time. It might be hard to do it in London. Other than that, I’d love to see more British seafood in restaurants.

There’s definitely a trend in London where a lot of restaurants just write a list of ingredients rather than finished dishes. And I’m slightly over going out and everyone having to share everything. Actually, I want to eat my own main course and that’s done. We all go back to that Smithy thing in Gavin & Stacey. “I’ve ordered a lamb bhuna; I’m eating a lamb bhuna…”

I recently ate at Vibrato in Soho. That was exceptionally good. And Frank’s in Canterbury. That was very good. And I also went to Coombesheadd Farm, on the border of Cornwall and Devon, run by a guy called Tom Adams who’s down there with his wife and family, and it’s a working farm. The food is just fantastic. Just brilliant. We had a great time.

Without a doubt, Gordon Ramsay has probably had the biggest impact on my career. I worked with him for so long, and he guided me, helped me set up my first restaurant, and invested in me. And yes, he’s a bit Marmite. People either love him or hate him. But he’s happy with either.

Writing-wise, probably someone like Marcela Hazan. She’s unfortunately died now, but she was an American-Venetian food writer, and the way she wrote her cookery books was brilliant. And Simon Hopkinson — you cannot overlook the influence he’s had on British cooking.

I do always brush my teeth before service. I like to have a clean mouth before I do anything else.

I do like one-pot-wonders in a way. A roasted chicken is a delicious thing, with a herb butter under the skin. Anything you can cut up and put on the table and share with everyone is good. And then drinks-wise, it’s negronis and red wine. I also like a ‘bicicleta’ — white white with campari. We had those at our wedding. It’s a good opener.

Something like a high-protein salad. Something with avocado and mackerel in it; peas, broad beans, asparagus; a great mustardy dressing on there. And some brown rice, mixed all together. And that would see them through.