The broadcaster and chef Gizzi Erskine and journalist Leonie Cooper have teamed up with a host of rockstars to launch a “chaotic” new food show.
Messy Lunch will feature the likes Blur guitarist Graham Coxon and Rose Dougall from the Pipettes, with episodes set in some of London’s most glamorous and historic restaurants, from Sweetings to the Ritz. Modern venues will feature too, including Tom Brown’s Island, and Town.
Coxon and Dougall, a couple, also created a jingle for the show. The Standard can confirm it sounds good.
Erskine and Cooper said the show would be a “clever way of showcasing these dining rooms in an original, intimate, and wildly fun format, celebrating what happens when great conversation meets great food in the places that define London’s culinary scene.”
Musicians on the bill also include Baxter Dury, Jason Williamson from Sleaford Mods, Los Angeles punk sensation Kate Clover, and Mike Vigilante of Swedish rock band The Hives.
Possibly the most enticing episode features Frank Carter, from hardcore punk band Gallows and now fronting a version of the Sex Pistols, who Erskine takes to the two Michelin-starred Ritz restaurant in Mayfair.
The Messy Lunch format will see Cooper, the restaurant critic for Time Out, first interview the head chef at each restaurant before Erskine sits down with the artist to enjoy a slap-up meal.
Erskine said the riotous meals were not only a way to grill some of the biggest names in music but an opportunity to celebrate what happens when conversation meets great food in places that “define London’s food scene”.
She added: “I’ve witnessed a huge shift in how people look at our industry. The idea of chefs as rock stars isn’t just a cliché — the ‘rock-and-roll’ stories coming out of kitchens are every bit as wild, inspiring, and revealing as those from the music world.
“Hearing how music shaped chefs and their careers gives a completely new dimension to the culture around restaurants.
“Because we have real, long-standing personal relationships with most of the talent involved. The interviews are genuinely intimate and there’s a no-holds-barred honesty to them that you only get when people trust you — and it’s resulted in conversations that feel alive, funny, raw, and properly new.”
Erskine also said London’s restaurant scene was in rude health. “Despite how the media often frames it, the London restaurant scene is anything but dismal,” she explained.
“What we’re trying to do with Messy Lunch is show the reality — the energy, the chaos, the creativity — with the clatter of knives and forks and real punters in the background. It’s London’s food culture as it’s ‘actually’ lived.”
The first episode of Messy Lunch will launch on YouTube on February 1. For more information, visit @messylunchshow
