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Beryl Bainbridge at Trattoria Lucca |
Hold the veg for Beryl
Novelist Beryl Bainbridge and former MP Lord Chris Smith tell Peter Gruner what they love about their favourite eateries
YOU won’t find novelist Beryl Bainbridge in a vegetarian whole food restaurant, sipping organic fruit tea, and picking at nut cutlets in shitake mushroom sauce.
With a mischievous twinkle in her eye the popular Camden resident, famous for her fags and fry ups, makes it clear she has very little time for the modern obsession with eating foods which are allegedly good for one.
Indeed, she’s been known to whisper conspiratorially to Luciano or Franco, the two brothers who run the Parkway Italian restaurant, Trattoria Lucca: “D’you mind awfully, if I don’t have vegetables with my meal? Thank you so very much.”
Beryl loves the Trattoria for its wonderful family atmosphere, friendliness and good humour among the staff. And her favourite meal? “Why, liver and chips, of course. I love liver because it really is good for you, and their chips are perfectly delicious.”
But no side dish of green vegetation, if you please, she insists. “I think eating greens is such a waste of time. I want the chips and the liver.”
Paolo and Virginia, originally from Tuscany, started the restaurant 30 years ago. Their sons now run it.
For those with more adventurous tastes there is a small a la carte menu which includes classic dishes such as Bressaola, Prosciutto e Melone, Mozzarella and Tomato Salad, Sea Bass in Fennel Sauce, Pollo Sorpresa, Penne all Arrabiata, Fegato alla Salvia, and Tournedos Rossini.
When she’s not busy on a book, Beryl enjoys a traditional breakfast. In her youth, as a struggling repertory actress, she would set off once a week to collect her 15 shillings dole money from Angel, Islington.
And only once a week could she afford to treat herself to a glorious plate of fried bread, egg, sausage and tomatoes.
Today, she’ll go to Goodfayre in Parkway, on the corner of Arlington Road, for a slap up fried breakfast and a decent strong cup of tea or two. “Lovely”. She added. “It’s my favourite meal – apart from the liver, of course.”
Over in Islington, Lord Chris Smith – the former Islington South and Finsbury MP – likes a bit of spice delicately added to his plate and says he is currently a fan of Vietnamese food.
His first choice is the Viet Garden in Liverpool Road. Chris said: “It’s the best Vietnamese restaurant I’ve come across in many years. I go there as often I can. “They do very good soup and noodles and I’ll usually have a fish or chicken dish.”
The restaurant is run by two sisters who like to recommend the pork kho, a flavoursome and slow-cooked meat, popular with regulars.
And there’s also the deep-fried duck egg and the golden pancake starter.
Bun xa noodles with lemongrass and tossed with salad and chicken, is a winner, as is beef in tamarind sauce.
Chris mentioned the Fig on Hemingford Road, a continental restaurant with “imaginative combinations” of food, as another choice.
He’s particularly partial to the beef. He’s also fond of the Almeida restaurant for their wonderful sausages, pate and delicious halibut.
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