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This is the first instalment of a three-part farewell by Montreal Gazette restaurant critic Lesley Chesterman, looking back at the people and places she encountered and lessons learned during 20 years on the beat.

The first chef I interviewed was a force of nature. Her name was Rose Gray, and she was the co-owner of the most talked-about restaurant in London at the time, the River Café.

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I had written my first article about food in the Montreal Gazette in the spring of 1998. Soon after, I ran into a fellow Québécois journalist who had just returned from England and said the food had been awful. Having spent time in the English capital, I thought differently, and called up Gray out of the blue on my next visit, requesting an interview.

To my delight, she agreed, and I made my way to her chic restaurant on the edge of the Thames in Hammersmith. After getting quite lost, I arrived late, sweaty and dishevelled before sitting down to a brilliant lunch of spaghetti with oregano, roast lamb loin and two desserts (or, as the Brits say, puddings): their famous lemon tart and chocolate Nemesis cake.