“Coming from a non-professional kitchen background, I never imagined myself belonging in a restaurant,” says Ana Da Costa, whose Fat Tea supper club celebrating her Macanese heritage has led to restaurant pop-ups and events such as Meatopia.
“My food is like your grandmother’s, but far sexier,” says chef Paris Rosina, the first part perhaps unsurprising given she grew up watching the likes of Fanny Cradock, Keith Floyd and the Two Fat Ladies.
Praise for the restaurant’s warmth (“We want it to feel like you’re being hosted at ours,” says Erin) and its small plates – such as crab muffin, brown butter hollandaise, pickled lemon and sea herbs; or bone-in skate with a yuzu buttermilk beurre blanc – soon reverberated beyond the West Midlands.
From the Test Kitchen, a World’s 50 Best regular in her native South Africa, to London’s three-Michelin-star the Ledbury, Ash Valenzuela-Heeger learned from the very best during her first 15 years in professional kitchens.
After three years as head chef at cult London bakery the Dusty Knuckle, Rosina changed tack in 2021, showcasing her retro, comforting yet humble style of cooking at a pop-up, Let Me Fill You Up.
