Jesse Burgess rates our lemon chicken and sesame chilli oil cucumbers

Dish

Jesse Burgess, co-founder of TOPJAW and star of Apple TV's 'Knife Edge: Chasing Michelin Stars,' joins Angela Hartnett and Nick Grimshaw on

Key takeaways

• Michelin-starred restaurants face immense pressure during review season, highlighting the emotional toll on chefs.

Main topics

• Knife Edge: Chasing Michelin Stars – second series
• Michelin star culture and chef pressures

Notable quotes

"I don't like that you're telling me you're such a good saucier. It's now the expectation."

Conclusion

Jesse Burgess leaves Dish with a mix of humor, honesty, and deep respe

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:00) Some kefir is just good for you. Tim's kefir is something else entirely. Made the Greek family way with 12 live cultures that help support your gut and naturally lactose-free. But the real surprise, one spoonful and suddenly you understand the difference. Thick, creamy, silky. Discover delicious. Greek family kefir from Tim's. Explore the full range in Waitrose selected stores subject to availability. Speaker 2 (0:30) RB Organic, part of Burgess Farms, is the sole supplier of organic carrots to Waitrose and has been one of its trusted partners for over 30 years. I'm Chris Negus and I manage the RB Organic farm in Norfolk, where we grow the Dutch organic carrots for Waitrose, which will be harvested daily this month. They are an organic crop. So we work in harmony with nature which helps us produce fresh, exceptional tasting carrots. Speaker 1 (0:54) Available for a limited time. Pick up a pack at Waitrose today. Selected stores apply. Subject to availability. Speaker 3 (1:01) Coming up on Dish Speaker 5 (1:02) with Jesse Burgess. I Speaker 4 (1:04) was having nightmares of just running out of booze. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I ordered 1,086 beers. Do you know how many were drunk? How many? 260. No. Speaker 5 (1:13) The other food opinion was marmite and honey is the best toast topping. Yeah. I agree. Don't you? Yeah, it's a rarity. Sorry, Speaker 4 (1:19) calm Speaker 5 (1:19) down, Jess. It's a rarity, but yeah, absolutely delicious. The rest of yours was quite sausage forward. You would love Angela to make... Well, Speaker 4 (1:29) that's what we've got. I'm a sausage focused guy. Speaker 5 (1:33) Dish from Waitrose is a Cold Glass production. This podcast may contain some strong language and adult themes. Speaker 5 (1:46) Hello, welcome to Dish from Waitrose. I am Nick Grimshaw. And I'm Angela Hartnett. Hi, Angela Hartnett. Hi, Nicholas Grimshaw. How Speaker 3 (1:53) are you? Very well, thanks. And Speaker 5 (1:54) you, good self? I'm good, I'm good, I'm good. I thought I was going to see you for longer on Sunday. Speaker 3 (2:01) Oh, yes. Speaker 5 (2:02) Basically, on Sunday, Angela's doing this great charity dinner, the Mother Teresa of kitchens. put on this great meal with Action Against Hunger. Yeah, like Sugru South Downs. And Sugru South Downs, this great vineyard in South Downs. No idea where or what the South Downs is, but I was there. I'd never heard of it until Sunday. Never heard of it. Brilliant. So south of down, I presume. No idea. Basically, it was a charity dinner that you did in November. At the end of the dinner, Ange said, it was hazy, but Ange was like, if you pay for this, you get this dinner in August. Lunch in August. So I was like, great, let's do it. Completely forgot about it. Loads. And then remembered on Tuesday, I was like, oh, look where that is. I thought it would be at Murano. Speaker 1 (2:53) I Speaker 5 (2:53) thought it would be at your house. But no, in the South Downs, on a vineyard, we went out and it was Angela, Luke Holder, and Jess Philby. Speaker 3 (3:01) And Speaker 5 (3:02) they cooked this incredible lunch outside. We had like melon and ham. We had some deviled eggs. Yeah, with bataga. With bataga. And then we had veal. Yeah. Which was softened in buttermilk. Speaker 3 (3:18) Yeah, yeah, yeah. Have you ever had veal before? I have Speaker 5 (3:20) had veal, but that was, I never would order veal. Yeah. But I loved it. It was so delicious. With a parmesan cream. Speaker 3 (3:28) And then loads of Speaker 5 (3:29) veg on the table. Loads Speaker 3 (3:29) of Speaker 5 (3:29) veg, great potatoes. It was fun lunch. It Speaker 3 (3:32) was Speaker 5 (3:32) really good. Speaker 3 (3:32) Great for charity. So thank you for your contribution. Well, thank you. Speaker 5 (3:35) Delicious. So delicious. We have today Jesse Burgess joining us on Dish, who you may know from Top Jaw, which has been going for like 10 years on Instagram and on TikTok and stuff, where he will interview people on the street about... the best places they've eaten. Or they do sort of guides as well to different cities. Yeah, Speaker 3 (3:55) like Speaker 5 (3:55) San Speaker 3 (3:55) Sebastian, Paris, and stuff like Speaker 4 (3:57) that. Speaker 3 (3:57) Yeah, Speaker 4 (3:57) you go to Speaker 3 (3:57) Bilbao and you've Speaker 5 (3:58) no idea where to go. Jesse will tell Speaker 3 (3:59) you. Speaker 5 (3:59) Jesse's your man. And he's also got series two of this show to talk about, which is all around chefs and the sort of pursuit they're on to either get a Michelin star or to get their second or their third. Speaker 3 (4:11) So that's as many as you can have. Yeah, three, yeah. Speaker 5 (4:13) Three is enough. Three is enough. The show's called Knife Edge, so Jesse will be here to tell us all about that in Speaker 3 (4:18) a Speaker 5 (4:18) second. First though, I've... got an email and you've got a letter. Got an Speaker 3 (4:22) email from Freya. Speaker 5 (4:24) Freya got in touch with us. Dish at Waitrose.co.uk if you want to email us ever. Saying, Dear Dish, brackets, Angela and Nick. This feels silly to type out and even slightly depressing, but it felt right to acknowledge the role that you've played recently in my life. I'm 30 years old and I've recently undergone chemo. for breast cancer and your episodes a highlight of each week, whether I was feeling rough and timing my activities to an episode, in 40 minutes, I could get... all of my tasks done and get back to bed. Or on the weeks when I felt good, I could take the episode out for a walk and a coffee. I know it's like my mates chatting in my ears. You guys kept me company on some fairly dark days. And for that, I'm so grateful. Lots of love from Freya. Oh, Speaker 3 (5:13) thank you, Freya. I hope you're doing Speaker 5 (5:15) all right. I hope you're recovering well. And I'm glad that we could. Speaker 3 (5:19) Help you in that time. Be there and provide them, for sure. Speaker 5 (5:21) And if you do want to get in touch with us, dishatwaitrose.co.uk is the way to do it. Thank you, Freya. Glad we could be there. Oh, bless Freya. Yeah. Speaker 3 (5:30) And then I have this lovely letter. You've got a letter like the olden Speaker 5 (5:33) days. Speaker 3 (5:33) Look Speaker 5 (5:33) at Speaker 3 (5:33) this. Proper olden days that arrived at Murano. and it's from a lovely little girl called Elizabeth. And she said, Dear Angela Hartnett, I do not write or contact by letter very much, so this is a good opportunity to get to know me. I'm Elizabeth Kingston, I'm 10 years old and a really big fan of your Dish Waitrose shorts. So I think she means the little clips obviously online. And she's put Dish in big, like, bold letters, bless her. My letter is to inform you that I am offering, if you still do it or not, to be a guest who gets to ask questions. One example would be, favourite way to eat eggs? My answer, French toast made by my dad from Elizabeth Kingston. I'd Speaker 5 (6:17) like to receive all letters like this. Oh, it's so sweet. Oh, well, thanks, Elizabeth. So Elizabeth likes Speaker 3 (6:23) to eat eggs made Speaker 5 (6:24) by her dad, French toast. Yeah. First French toast answer. Yeah. Good one. Thanks, Elizabeth. Yeah, email us or write a letter and send it to Morano. We're going to Speaker 3 (6:34) keep this letter in our archive of letters. I think we have two. Yeah. And both actually from children. Yeah. I mean, that's the world we live in these Speaker 5 (6:42) days. Speaker 3 (6:43) Oh, dear. Speaker 5 (6:44) Well, thank you, Freya. Thank you, Elizabeth. Speaker 5 (6:48) Time to welcome a wonderful guest today on Dish. The sort of perfect person to have on speed dial if you need someone's advice for where to eat, where to drink. Of course, a man who knows the best spots in London and finally has made it to us. Jesse Burgess is here. Hi, Speaker 4 (7:05) Jesse. Welcome to Dish. Thank you. That might be the largest round of applause I've ever had. Do Speaker 3 (7:12) you want another one? Yeah, go ahead! Speaker 4 (7:19) Shall we just keep it going through the fall? Every time you speak. I just started thinking, I should have an audience on Top Shore. That Speaker 1 (7:25) would Speaker 4 (7:25) make Speaker 1 (7:25) me Speaker 4 (7:25) feel really nice. In the street. Just Speaker 3 (7:29) a crowd following you as you go around. Speaker 5 (7:32) So Speaker 3 (7:33) how many episodes do you record in a day? As you say, they're quick. I expect about 20. No. Speaker 4 (7:42) 20. They're just queuing up. One in one hour. Matt Damon's next. Come on. Speaker 3 (7:48) Quick. Out of here, Damon. Go Speaker 4 (7:50) on, next. 19 more. When we were just doing chefs at the start, maybe we did like 10 in a day. Still quite a lot, isn't it? I know, I Speaker 3 (7:58) know. Speaker 4 (7:59) 10's Speaker 3 (7:59) a lot. But Speaker 4 (8:00) now we don't normally ever do two. Yeah. Because it's among other things. Otherwise it gets a little bit... Yeah, that's true. You've Speaker 3 (8:08) got Speaker 4 (8:08) yours Speaker 5 (8:08) next. I know. Literally next. We're going to do it after this. Speaker 4 (8:12) Yeah. Speaker 5 (8:12) I always love when you said, where's your favorite coffee from? And she said, the blue one. Yeah. The blue one. And then she said, cafe zero. Yeah. Meaning, cafe nero. I love the blue one. Jesse will testify that this was very Speaker 4 (8:26) off Speaker 5 (8:27) the Speaker 4 (8:27) cuff. Speaker 3 (8:28) And I dropped my phone and I had things flying out of there and everything. Speaker 4 (8:32) Do you still have the case on your phone where you open it up? No, no, I've got this. Oh, God. Speaker 3 (8:37) You see? Speaker 4 (8:40) You need the bookcase. Speaker 5 (8:42) I've Speaker 3 (8:43) got the plastic hammer. Speaker 4 (8:44) Now, am I allowed to look at this menu? Speaker 3 (8:46) You can look at the menu. Yeah, Speaker 5 (8:48) you can do whatever we like. Yeah, we're starting with an IPA. Speaker 4 (8:52) Yeah. Because we heard Speaker 5 (8:53) you like a hazy Speaker 4 (8:54) IPA, which is what we've gone for. And then, I mean, we can talk about food now if you want. Do you want to? I don't want to derail your interview. I just felt like it was just, it's there, winking at me. Get into it. Have a look at the menu. I'm into food. Yeah. Speaker 5 (9:07) Jesse, you've been busy. We've just been hearing before we started, you've been everywhere recently. You've been in Frankfurt, you've been in Brazil, you've been filming everywhere, spending a lot of time in kitchens. The main glamorous destinations are Frankfurt and Brazil. Frankfurt and Speaker 4 (9:20) Brazil. Speaker 5 (9:21) Not too shabby. Where have you been? Where have you been everywhere? Speaker 4 (9:24) Well, so, combination of doing Top Jaws, at the start of the year, we were in... Miami and LA and Mexico City. Mexico City. Oh, Speaker 5 (9:33) wow. Speaker 4 (9:33) And then, yeah, with Knife Edge, we were doing Brazil, Germany, all of the Nordics, different spots in America, other parts of Europe. Speaker 5 (9:42) Yeah. So you spent Speaker 4 (9:43) a lot of time in kitchens. How's the Speaker 5 (9:44) dish set up from that perspective? Speaker 4 (9:49) It's sweet, isn't it? Well, Speaker 5 (9:52) we also have a bit of cheers, not only on this show, which we need to talk about, but I believe it's anniversary time. Speaker 4 (9:57) Wedding, yes. Yeah, why don't you just, yeah, it's had a one year first year. Yes, congratulations. Thank you very much. Made it. Yeah. Made it. Rest is Speaker 5 (10:05) easy. That's Speaker 4 (10:07) it, Speaker 5 (10:07) done. And what was the food discussions around the wedding? Speaker 4 (10:10) We divided and conquered, right? So certain things were Tory's department, certain things were my department. Right. The food. Was my department, yes. Okay. Do you know Robin Gill? Of course, very well. He's wonderful, and he has a restaurant in London called Darby's. He has a couple, actually. Yeah. But like his main one is Darby's. He cannot make anything that isn't delicious. And he doesn't do wedding catering or catering at all, really. But I said to him, would you cater my wedding? He said yes. And he did the canapes, things like beef shing croquettes. He actually calls them like Big Mac Nuggets. He did these like nori seaweed crisps with crab on top. Oh, yes. He did dressed oysters. Fancy, right? When Speaker 5 (10:53) we Speaker 4 (10:53) sat down, because I think sometimes at weddings, you're hungry. And I was like, I just don't want anyone to be hungry. Yeah, Speaker 3 (11:00) of Speaker 4 (11:00) course. So you walk in and there was food on the table. Some people sit down, Henry VIII style, and there was things like incredible crudités, the bread he makes. whipped like smoked cod roe, which is just beautiful. And then for the mains, he was bringing over like full lamb shoulders per four people. He made a lamb maguez ragout with Speaker 1 (11:24) like Speaker 4 (11:25) a crispy top, which is incredible. And these like light summery courgette salads and things. And then, did you want this much detail by the way? I do. This Speaker 5 (11:32) is exactly Speaker 4 (11:32) what I want. Speaker 5 (11:33) This is the whole podcast. I really do. Your wedding breakfast. I really, really do. And he had Speaker 4 (11:38) like these bright like... burrata peach salads and I'm forgetting things but just I said to him just overdo it yeah Speaker 1 (11:46) like if there's Speaker 4 (11:46) food still on the tables that's a good sign like I just want people to ram it in yes but yeah that was just awesome and then we had black bear burger doing our evening food nice yeah which was if people weren't full enough what Speaker 5 (11:57) did you have Ange on your wedding day because you were sharing Speaker 3 (12:00) yeah Speaker 4 (12:01) Come on. Speaker 5 (12:02) Well, I had the same as Speaker 3 (12:03) you. I had the table. And Margot, you know, Margot Henderson, she gave me the best advice. I said, oh, I don't know what to do. And she goes, just choose the food you love the most and then plan your wedding day around that time of year. And I loved the summer. So we had like these great asparagus and crab salads. We had bold plates of tortelli on the table. We had big ribeyes of beef. And just again, all on the table, all coming at the same time. And I think that's what my fear, I said, want people