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(Picture: BBC/ Shine TV/PA Wire)
The moment you find out you’ve scored your dream job, is always going to be a surreal experience – but one you’ll never forget.
Grace Dent remembers exactly where she was when she got the call confirming she would be a new judge on MasterChef – and it certainly wasn’t the most glamorous moment.
‘I was in the chemist, going about my day doing really boring chores,’ the restaurant critic tells Metro. ‘I got the call and I had to go out into the street. I was so emotional, I couldn’t speak, which isn’t like me as I usually like to keep my emotions in check.’
The 51-year-old recalls promising the director it was the last time they’d ever hear her cry, but it’s not surprising she found herself welling up, given how much she loves the show.
‘I’ve been watching MasterChef since I was a little girl and there’s a reason it’s such a juggernaut and keeps on going and delighting people, it’s an important part of the nation’s fabric and it’s a complete joy to be involved.’
Filming for the new series of the cooking competition is currently underway, bringing Grace together with fellow judge, Anna Haugh, an Irish chef who has appeared on everything from Ready Steady Cook and Hell’s Kitchen to Saturday Kitchen.
The pair are replacing Gregg Wallace and John Torode as hosts and Grace is honoured to be part of an all-female judging team, especially in such a male-dominated industry.
‘It’s incredibly special to hopefully be inspirational to thousands and thousands of younger women and show them that it is possible to be moved up to these positions,’ she says.
‘But I also hope people also see that, while it is exciting to have an all-female team, Anna and I are more than just two women. We have decades of experience between us and we’re bringing this massive, intense expertise about food to the job.
‘I’ve written almost a million words on food and then you’ve got Anna – she’s a very, very high caliber chef. Putting us both together is brilliant and I think it’s bringing a real power force to this show.’
Grace reveals she and Anna are both ‘having the time of their lives’ working on MasterChef and have become fast friends, with a ‘joyous’ dynamic.
‘We’re on a very intense filming schedule, but Anna has this twinkle in her eye that just makes me laugh every day,’ she shares.
‘Together we’re fun, happy, supportive and empathetic to the contestants, but also very much trying to get the best out of them.’
When she’s not filming MasterChef, Grace is continuing to review restaurants, and is currently focusing her attention on the food scene outside of London.
Grace Dent's most disastrous restaurant review...
Grace penned her first-ever restaurant review in 1998 and has critiqued countless places over the last two decades.
During that time she’s experienced the good, the bad and everything in between when it comes to food, but her most disastrous dining experience had her life flashing before her eyes.
She tells Metro: ‘I don’t think I’ve ever told anyone this before, but I nearly choked to death at a restaurant in Miami.
‘A piece of egg shell got stuck and a complete stranger had to give me the Heimlich manoeuvre.
‘Everybody else in the restaurant was just casually watching while I was choking before this very tall man stood up, confidently walked over to me and gave me the Heimlich.’
The worst part? She didn’t even complain about it.
‘I was very British about it, so polite,’ she recalls. ‘I had a near-death experience and I didn’t say anything to the kitchen. They came over to ask if everything was ok and I went, “oh yes, everything’s fine”.’
‘London became so pricey and difficult that so many wonderful chefs have now dispersed across the UK and are pitching up in places like Aberystwyth, Abergavenny and Larne, so you end up going there.
‘I’m excited that I can eat so well outside of London now and love eating in Leeds and Manchester.’
For those in Manchester, she recommends heading to Winsome and Bangkok Diners Club, both of which she thought were ‘absolutely outstanding’ when she visited.
Londoners, don’t panic though, she’s got recommendations for you too and her top tip is to head to Marylebone.
But before you roll your eyes, hear her out…
‘Marylebone and the area around Marylebone high street gets overlooked because people assume it’s full of posh, exclusive and perhaps slightly cold restaurants, so people go to places like Shoreditch instead, but I don’t agree.
‘I think Marylebone is really great at the moment and I really, really rate Kudu, which is a new South African restaurant. It’s on Moxon Street which is one of my favourite places to go.’
She also urges people to head to Dough Fest, a free two-day London food festival by Monopoly Go, that’s serving limited-edition doughnuts, ice cream, and pizzas inspired by the game.
The event is taking place over September 27 and 28 and to mark the occasion, Grace teamed up with the baking legends at Bread Ahead to create a doughnut she describes as being ‘a bit extra’.
Called the Double Down, it features double chocolate, double mango, double chilli jam and will be available alongside a ‘sumptuous’ array of doughy treats including a tiramisu and harissa sugar doughnut, a Turkish delight-inspired rose jelly doughnut, pizza from Napoli on the Road and plenty of soft serve ice cream.
And there’s one thing on the festival menu that Grace says is an absolute must eat.
‘Obviously the doughnut that I invented is the best, but I’ve tried everything on the menu and I have to say, please do not leave the festival without having the Mega Heist Miso Corn ice cream.’
Whipped up by Soft Serve Society, this is soft serve ice cream with a creamy blend of miso, caramel, and corn.
MONOPOLY GO! is bringing its Culinary Season to life with Dough Fest – its first real-world festival at the Truman Brewery in East London on September 27 and 28.
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