A cook’s
TABLE Food writer and stylist Rosie Birkett shows us around her London kitchen B y E L L I E S T E WA R T F O R H A B I TAT
Q Tell us a bit about yourself. Can you summarise what you do for a living? A All things food. I’m a food writer, cookbook author, food stylist and cook. Q Is this your dream job? A Pretty much yes. Of course all jobs have their off days but I feel incredibly lucky to do something I’m so consumed by. The beauty of my job is that it’s incredibly creative and I do so many different things, so no day is the same, but each day invariably involves some good food and drink. Q What inspires you to do what you do? A Growing up, it was all about food and cooking. My family are a greedy bunch and we always came together over my mother’s delicious home cooked food. I think this, and the fact I was so aware of us growing our own veg, keeping chickens and fishing etc has had a big influence on my love of food. Q What exciting projects have you been working on lately? A I’ve been doing lots of events and pop up dinners, including a collaboration with the fab cinema supper club, Kino Vino, during which we screened an old Ealing Studios film called It always rains on Sunday set in and around east London; the second was a charity banquet organised by Bristol chef Romy Gill for Action Against Hunger with a load of other female chefs and food writers. We had to serve eight courses to 112 in a hall in Borough Market we weren’t cooking in, so it was very challenging but great fun and we raised over 10k which was amazing.
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Q How would you describe your interior style? A Whimsical, eclectic and natural. I love collecting beautiful objects and handmade treasures such as ceramics, vintage furniture and art. Also, you’ll notice I’m a sucker for a house plant. We don’t have a garden so I definitely like to bring the outdoors in. Q You must spend a lot of time in the kitchen. What’s your favourite thing about it? A I spend at least four days a week in the kitchen. What drew me to our house is that the kitchen is pretty much the whole of the downstairs. It’s open plan and flooded by natural light by a glass ceiling, so I’m really happy cooking here. There are plenty of units for storage and I love being able to display my props on top of the cupboards. I’m very proud of the marble tiling and hexagonal tiles behind the sink, as well as the second hand stainless steel catering cupboard which is an island and storage solution in one. Q What would you change about your kitchen space? A I would love a big range cooker.
A B S O L U T E LY m a g a z i n e s
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