Pod Insights Happy Place Richard E. Grant: Nigella recommends restaurants to me! Take your holiday food and drink seriously About this episode Be honest... do you pick your holiday destination based on the food you can eat there? You’re in good company – that’s just what Richard E. Grant does!
Welcome to The Happy Place Guide To Holidays! In this chat – brought to you by British Airways Holidays – Fearne and Richard share their thoughts on how to take your holiday food and drink more seriously, including asking mates (Nigella Lawson, if you’re Richard!) for recommendations, looking for restaurants with small menus, and testing ingredient quality via a Caesar salad starter.
They also get into a heated debate about whether perusing the aisles of a foreign supermarket is the best way, or the worst way, to spend your holiday! And Richard offers to pack Fearne’s suitcase for a very specific reason...
Plus, Richard explores why grieving can make us more likely to notice the little joys in life, as well as wondering if we all need praise and accolades to some extent.
British Airways Holidays are ATOL protected, offer a 24hr holiday helpline, and allow you to book with a low deposit. All holidays include a generous baggage allowance per person. Go to Ba.com/holidays http://Ba.com/holidays to find out more.
Child on the line is a three-part documentary podcast series celebrating the Volunteer Counsellors of Childline, and the brave children & young people who contact the helpline service.
Listen here: https://www.childonthelinepodcast.com/
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy https://acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.
0:00 Speaker 00 Hi, I'm Natalie Dormer and I'm proud to be an ambassador for Childline. This year, Childline turns 40. To mark it, I've made Child on the Line, a three-part documentary podcast. We hear why children needed a helpline in 1986, how it was built against the odds and the challenges children face today, from abuse and mental health to social media and AI. Search Child on the Line and listen wherever you get your podcasts.
0:28 Fearne Cotton? Hello and welcome to the Happy Place Guide to Holidays, brought to you by British Airways Holidays. I'm Fern Cotton and today I'm chatting to Richard E. Grant.
0:39 Speaker 02 There's a restaurant called La Petite Maison in Nice, right on the seafront. And they, off-menu, have a baguette that is filled with butter, melted butter, and stuffed with shaved black truffle. I've never eaten anything that is quite as good. You have to take out four mortgages and bribe the woman who runs this restaurant, but that is somewhere I would go to.
1:08 Fearne Cotton? So this is, of course, Happy Place, but maybe a little sunnier, a little warmer than your regular episodes. This is the Happy Place Guide to Holidays, an exclusive mini-series brought to you by British Airways Holidays. They're all about helping you take your holidays more seriously, and this series is all about making the most of our travels. In each episode, we're getting to grips with the things that I and you lot, according to British Airways Holidays, love most about going on holiday. Things like getting to actually read a book uninterrupted. Oh, can you imagine? Discovering new passions and taking time out for some much-needed self-care. Today, oh boy, we are going to get stuck in to a real treat of a topic: food and drink.
1:53 Fearne Cotton? And I know this chat is going to resonate with so many of you, because according to a recent YouGov survey commissioned by British Airways Holidays, 69% of us agree that food is an important factor in picking where we want to go on holiday. I wonder if you're one of these people who proper- Crafts their entire itinerary around finding local specialities and viral dishes. High chance of the latter, given 40% of you have tried a dish on your travels that was inspired by something you saw on social media. I'm totally with you. I'm more than happy to put the research ahead of time to make sure I'm finding the most delicious food while I'm away. And I know today's guest, the delectable Richard E. Grant feels the same.
2:37 Fearne Cotton? Now, we had this chat a couple of weeks ago, and can I just say, Richard is the most fun ever. He is such a hoot, and also he's an incredibly deep thinker. So as well as all the delicious food chat, we really got into big emotions like grief. Because all this stuff makes up real life, doesn't it?
3:17 Fearne Cotton? It's very good to see you again.
3:18 Speaker 02 And you.
3:19 Fearne Cotton? Well, you came on the podcast a couple of years ago now.
3:21 Speaker 02 I did, yeah.
3:23 Fearne Cotton? So much to catch up on. It's ridiculous. Have you had a good summer so far?
3:27 Speaker 02 All, yeah, all good.
3:28 Fearne Cotton? Dun Wimbledon?
3:29 Speaker 02 Dun Wimbledon.
3:30 Fearne Cotton? Is that good?
3:30 Speaker 02 Yeah, really good. I'm going again tomorrow.
3:32 Fearne Cotton? Are you?
3:33 Speaker 02 Yep.
3:33 Fearne Cotton? Are you big into tennis?
3:35 Speaker 02 It's the only sport that I know anything about and play.
3:37 Fearne Cotton? I know nothing about tennis.
3:40 Speaker 02 I know who David Beckham is because he's married to Victoria.
3:43 Fearne Cotton? Correct.
3:43 Speaker 02 I did Spice Well the movie with 25 years ago. So I know him, I know who he is. And I knew who George Best was.
3:50 Fearne Cotton? Yeah.
3:51 Speaker 02 Because my father was an alcoholic and George Best was an alcoholic.
3:54 Fearne Cotton? Yeah.
3:54 Speaker 02 So that's about as much. Somebody asked me today who Christian Ronaldo, what I knew about Christian Ronaldo. And I said, I've heard his name, but in the same way that he would know me from a bar of Lifebuoy, so I don't know who he is. So.
4:11 Fearne Cotton? I know nothing about football either.
4:13 Speaker 02 Oh, he's a footballer.
4:14 Fearne Cotton? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, tennis seems, it's a delightful sport to enjoy. There's like a nice social setting, the food and drinks really good. Delightful.
4:23 Speaker 02 Yes, competitive and it's short.
4:25 Fearne Cotton? Yeah, yeah, that's great. So you're gonna go again tomorrow. Have you been chilling in the garden a lot, listening to Barbra Streisand?
4:31 Speaker 02 Streisand.
4:32 Fearne Cotton? Streisand.
4:33 Speaker 02 Yes. Um, yes, because her new album, her thirty seventh studio album that she released at the age of eighty three, ten days ago, I was sent an advanced copy of it two weeks before. And if you're trying to shame me in feeling embarrassed about my
4:50 Fearne Cotton? Are you joking?
4:51 Speaker 02 Addiction to Barbara.
4:51 Fearne Cotton? Not at all.
4:51 Speaker 02 Okay.
4:52 Fearne Cotton? I celebrate it.
4:53 Speaker 02 Good. So, yes, I have been listening to it pretty constantly.
4:57 Fearne Cotton? Yeah, I saw your review on Instagram and I was like, I'm in. I mean, what a voice.
5:02 Speaker 02 I agree.
5:03 Fearne Cotton? What a voice.
5:03 Speaker 02 I agree. There's not many people that are releasing albums of that quality in their ninth decade.
5:09 Fearne Cotton? No, and still able to belt it out.
5:11 Speaker 02 Still able to do it, yeah.
5:12 Fearne Cotton? It's something else. I mean, you've got a full figurehead of her face in your garden.
5:17 Speaker 02 I do. I commissioned a sculpture.
5:19 Fearne Cotton? How beautiful.
5:20 Speaker 02 Yeah.
5:20 Fearne Cotton? I love that. And there's no shame. I mean, I've got.
5:23 Speaker 02 Oh, yeah.
5:23 Fearne Cotton? I have not got cool music taste at all. I, I, I like all sorts of, I'm Hanson, put them in there. I like Hanson. Umbox is an absolute tune.
5:32 Speaker 02 I agree.
5:33 Fearne Cotton? There's no shaming from me. Um.
5:35 Speaker 02 Anything that makes you happy.
5:37 Fearne Cotton? Anything that makes you happy.
5:38 Speaker 02 Yeah.
5:39 Fearne Cotton? Something that makes you very happy is gardening.
5:41 Speaker 02 It does.
5:41 Fearne Cotton? You love gardening.
5:42 Speaker 02 I do.
5:43 Fearne Cotton? Well, I haven't reached that, I know it's coming, but I haven't got there yet. What does gardening give you when you're pottering around your garden?
5:50 Speaker 02 It happens, how old are you now?
5:52 Fearne Cotton? About to turn forty four.
5:53 Speaker 02 Okay. In six years' time, you will suddenly understand that going to the garden centre is not something that you think, oh, this is what old people do.
6:04 Fearne Cotton? No, no.
6:05 Speaker 02 Because you will be old.
6:05 Fearne Cotton? Well, correct.
6:06 Speaker 02 And. There's something, I don't know, psychologically that happens that I think it's because you know that your time, you know, the time is running out on you, you have less time. So planting stuff and seeing it grow and the seasons and things dying, regenerating, all of that stuff somehow, and you have more time for it as well. And usually by the age of fifty, you will get there. You will be able to afford enough space and then you think, well, I've got to fill it and you have more time to do it. So it's all of those things.
6:37 Fearne Cotton? We've got a nice gardening centre near us, the Palm House.
6:40 Speaker 02 Yeah.
6:41 Fearne Cotton? It's a lovely gardening centre.
6:42 Speaker 02 I've spent a huge amount of money in the Palm House.
6:44 Fearne Cotton? I'm sure you have. You've got like a whole tropical tree section around the corner that I only just discovered. It's lovely. We're like going to gardening centres, I'm just not into the planting bit yet.
6:53 Speaker 02 It's, uh, yeah, it, it happens. I had very little interest when I was your age, very young, but it does happen as you get older and everybody in garden centres is silver surfers, as you'll notice. Like going to the theatre, everybody's old. Take your teeth out, put your wigs on and get out there.
7:09 Fearne Cotton? No, I'm, I'm really looking forward to that era of my life and enjoying that. I, I know it's coming. It's so, it's so close, I can smell it.
7:17 Speaker 02 Yeah.
7:17 Fearne Cotton? It's gonna happen.
7:18 Speaker 02 I mean, sort of going back to the earth because you know that that's where you're headed for.
7:22 Fearne Cotton? Right, that's quite bleak.
7:23 Speaker 02 I find that reassuring. I don't find it bleak.
7:25 Fearne Cotton? Really?
7:25 Speaker 02 Yeah.
7:26 Fearne Cotton? Hmm.
7:27 Speaker 02 Yeah. My dad was, you know, absolutely, right from the get go, said, ever since I was four or five years old, he said, heaven and earth are human concepts and nobody's come back from the dead. And I said, what Jesus had? And he said, no, people say that he did, but do you know when the Bible was written? I said, well, yes, in the ancient times. And he said, well, it was written three hundred years after Jesus had died. So if you try and remember what you discussed with Fern on that Monday in twenty twenty five, and what she was wearing, in a week's time, you will have a different idea than what she had about what you talked about. So if it's three hundred years later, chances are, it's not gonna be entirely accurate.
8:09 Fearne Cotton? No, agreed.
8:11 Speaker 02 Yeah.
8:11 Fearne Cotton? But you don't find that thought bleak?
8:13 Speaker 02 No, I find it reassuring that this is it. You only have one chance.
8:16 Fearne Cotton? Yeah.
8:17 Speaker 02 You believe in reincarnation, I know.
8:19 Fearne Cotton? I don't know. I'm sort of open to all sorts. My mum is big on the reincarnation thing. She loves talking about that stuff. I don't know. And I think actually.
8:30 Fearne Cotton? When you lose people.
8:31 Speaker 02 Yeah.
8:32 Fearne Cotton? You do have that stark moment of wow, this is quick, life is fragile.
8:38 Speaker 02 Yes.
8:38 Fearne Cotton? You know, I I've lost a couple of people this year and it's awful and terrifying. But I think it is motivating to live in the now and to embrace every good thing in your life, but also to not be so terrified of the bad bits. You know, it's kind of, it is such a cliche, but I think that's, that happens.
9:02 Speaker 02 Yeah, absolutely true. I agree with you 5,000%.
9:04 Fearne Cotton? Yeah. And I, I loved your Instagram video. I think it was back in maybe April, May.
9:11 Speaker 02 Yeah.
9:11 Fearne Cotton? Where again, you were incredibly honest about grief and you'd had, you'd been out for dinner with friends and you came home and you just, grief just hit you and it is of course undulating. It's not a, a linear ascent to feeling better.
9:25 Speaker 02 Mm hmm.
9:26 Fearne Cotton? How do you deal with those moments when they arrive?
9:29 Speaker 02 Well, I think that I'd been out for dinner with people that I really got on with and they were all coupled up. I was the only solo there and it was driving home and it's a steering wheel stuff. When I instinctively want to turn to my left and speak to my wife and say, this is what, and your phone asked me that and she was wearing that. This is what she smelled like and she had those sparkly shoes on. All of that stuff that you want to download, which I love doing, um, there's silence. And you can, you know, I write, I'm in the habit now of writing with no expectation of an answer.
10:09 Speaker 02 So I'm not, you know, wibbly wobbly about that, but I find that writing to my late wife keeps the conversation going, but because I wasn't.
10:21 Speaker 02 You know, sitting able to write that down, I was in the car just with the radio on and it's not being able to share that with that person. And that I found, I was suddenly sort of walloped by it. And what anybody who's been through grief, you know that it's a it's sort of a passing phase that you have to hit the wall with it. And then the next day you'll be fine again, or maybe in two days' time you'll be fine. So you get habituated to it.
10:48 Fearne Cotton? Yeah, of course.
10:49 Speaker 02 Because you have to.
10:51 Fearne Cotton? You have to, of course. And then even, I guess even like the bits where you're not feeling completely bombarded by grief. That's complicated too, because is there sometimes guilt that you're not grief stricken in moments where you're actually feeling happy or okay?
11:05 Speaker 02 Ah, well, my late wife gave me the guide for that because she said to our daughter and I, four days before she died, try and find a pocket full of happiness in each day. And that, in that little phrase, absolve, I realised, absolves you from guilt in feeling joy and delight in things. Because if you're finding those, if she has, she gave the instruction, do this, it would be rude not to. So I think that that has been an incredible mantra to really live by.
11:36 Fearne Cotton? Yeah.
11:37 Speaker 02 And I try and do that every day.
11:39 Fearne Cotton? Yeah, it's such a good one, whether you're in grief or not, like we have to find these little moments. And they could be so tiny that no one else can see them.
11:48 Speaker 02 Yeah.
11:48 Fearne Cotton? Just something nice when you're out walking.
11:50 Speaker 02 Well, that brings you back to the gardening question that you asked me earlier.
11:52 Fearne Cotton? Yeah.
11:53 Speaker 02 That, you know, when you're younger, and I still feel nineteen, that is the problem.
11:57 Fearne Cotton? Yeah, we all do.
11:58 Speaker 02 Yeah, as you look in the mirror and you go, oh, there's the old grunt looking back at me.
12:04 Speaker 02 Bald along a tooth, is that it's not thinking that, you know, you've got to win an Oscar or win the lottery or have these big things that are going to happen. It's being a sort of cognizant or mindful, whatever you call it, of the stuff that is around you and what you can get delight out of.
12:20 Fearne Cotton? Yes.
12:21 Speaker 02 And that's where gardening comes in, that you can find, that you can get completely like listening to somebody's new album. You go down the rabbit hole of getting distracted by something and gardening forces you and allows you to do that.
12:34 Fearne Cotton? Yeah, I had that with painting.
12:35 Speaker 02 Yeah, well, there you go.
12:36 Fearne Cotton? That's my gardening. I completely have that. I'm in the moment, nothing else exists. It's just, and I so agree with you. Huh?
12:43 Speaker 02 It's like sex.
12:44 Fearne Cotton? Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's just no time. Time doesn't exist.
12:47 Speaker 02 Exactly.
12:47 Fearne Cotton? It's the best. And I I completely get that because I think, you know, I'm I'm in my forties, but I've already definitely landed on that notion of not.
12:58 Speaker 02 Amazing.
12:59 Fearne Cotton? God bless you. Thank you, Richard.
13:00 Speaker 02 Whether it's fish sperm, salmon, fish sperm that you've had injected subcutaneously.
13:06 Fearne Cotton? I keep hearing about salmon salmon sperm you're mentioning on your, I've not had it.
13:10 Speaker 02 Is that what the Kardashian ladies had done?
13:12 Fearne Cotton? Apparently, this is what you do. It's some sperm under the eyes. I've not done it. I I need to. I want to try.
13:18 Speaker 02 Yeah, I think you should.
13:18 Fearne Cotton? I mean, we'll have to go and find a professional.
13:19 Speaker 02 Will you be the guinea pig and then let me know? Just.
13:21 Fearne Cotton? Fine.
13:22 Speaker 02 Shout down the hill to where I live.
13:24 Fearne Cotton? I also don't eat fish, so I feel like that's a bit of a loophole.
13:27 Speaker 02 It's a problem if you're a vegan. I know you are. That you, yeah.
13:30 Fearne Cotton? But anything to look better. So we'll see. I might find a loophole for that one. Um, but I've definitely landed on that notion of.
13:37 Speaker 02 You'll forsake your principles for vanity.
13:41 Fearne Cotton? Yes, correct. Absolutely. Um, I will. I, if someone says to me, oh, you know, what what are your work goals? Or what are your your life dreams if you were to write them down? It used to be.
13:52 Speaker 02 Yeah.
13:52 Fearne Cotton? Be the biggest presenter, blah, blah. It's definitely not that anymore because I know. It, yeah, but it doesn't, it doesn't give you anything. You know, I like being in the moment, having a chat and enjoying like, oh, I had a good day at work. But having, getting an award or being told you're great, I know it won't touch the sides. I know it won't. I know that's not where I'm gonna get happiness. It's just not.
14:15 Speaker 02 Yeah, but I wouldn't discredit those things entirely because.
14:19 Fearne Cotton? Not discredit them. I'm just not pinning.
14:21 Speaker 02 Or saying, you know, you did good. You look good. Um, everybody needs approbation or, you know, confirmation in some way, don't you think?
14:28 Fearne Cotton? Without a doubt, I'm not pinning the entirety of my happiness on it anymore. And I used to, which meant everything was just a roller coaster of, I feel amazing. I feel fucking shit. I feel amazing. I feel dreadful. Now it's just, it's more the, oh, I'm walking by the river, like near where you live. That bit, oh, my God, I'm so, I've never been happier, walking on my own at sunset, by the river. That is happiness. One of your happy places is travelling.
14:54 Speaker 02 Yeah.
14:54 Fearne Cotton? I mean, having a light look on your Instagram, I can see that this year you've already been to, correct me if I'm wrong, France, Rome, New York, India, Kenya, Barbados, anywhere else?
15:05 Speaker 02 Yep. Uh.
15:07 Speaker 02 Morocco.
15:08 Fearne Cotton? Morocco.
15:08 Speaker 02 Yeah.
15:08 Fearne Cotton? I went there for the first time this year. I loved it.
15:11 Speaker 02 Yeah.
15:11 Fearne Cotton? Really cool.
15:12 Speaker 02 It's incredibly vibrant. I'm going on Wednesday.
15:13 Fearne Cotton? Oh, those markets.
15:14 Speaker 02 Yeah.
15:15 Fearne Cotton? I bought lamps, rugs.
15:16 Speaker 02 A shopaholic.
15:17 Fearne Cotton? Yeah.
15:18 Speaker 02 It's just.
15:18 Fearne Cotton? Heaven.
15:19 Speaker 02 Yeah.
15:19 Fearne Cotton? Are you good at bartering? That makes me nervous.
15:21 Speaker 02 Um, I'll have a go.
15:24 Fearne Cotton? Mmm.
15:24 Speaker 02 You know, I'm sure that, yes, part and parcel of it.
15:26 Fearne Cotton? I, I, I can't do it. I was just like, yeah, I'll, I'll take it for that. Or I'll give you more. That seems too cheap. Um, one thing that I think is really evocative, certainly of beautiful nostalgic holiday memories is smell. And I know that you're big on smell. Obviously, you've got your own scent, which is delightful, Jack. Um, what smells really evoke great holiday memories for you?
15:49 Speaker 02 Gardenias.
15:50 Fearne Cotton? What?
15:51 Speaker 02 Gardenias.
15:52 Fearne Cotton? How come? And where, where are you placing them?
15:54 Speaker 02 They are, they are the most erotic smell of anything.
15:57 Fearne Cotton? Mmm.
15:58 Speaker 02 They're also the flower that have so far eluded all scientific extraction. So every gardenia that's on the market, you know, as a perfume is an industrial.
16:09 Fearne Cotton? Oh, really?
16:10 Speaker 02 Concoction. There's no, there's not like you can extract from other white flowers. It's the one that has, so to me, that makes it even more the holy grail.
16:18 Fearne Cotton? So exclusive.
16:19 Speaker 02 Um, yeah. And it's, it's leaves are incredibly luscious and.
16:23 Fearne Cotton? Mmm.
16:24 Speaker 02 Uh, shiny green and then this soft velvety white of the, the petals. And they only last for a very short time when you, when you pick them.
16:34 Fearne Cotton? Let's talk about food as well because it's a huge part of going away, is whether it's trying local cuisine or just indulging because you're on holiday. What's the best meal you've had on holiday?
16:46 Speaker 02 I went, we went to an opera festival in Cortona in Italy and had a bowl of pasta that I've been, again, holy grail. I've been trying to find how they did it and if you can ever repeat that. I've never eaten and it happened to all of us.
17:03 Fearne Cotton? What was in it? What was so good about it?
17:06 Speaker 02 I don't know. I think that elves and goblins had, had come out of the woodwork and they had made.
17:14 Speaker 02 The equivalent of an Italian leprechaun delight that was absolutely unbelievable.
17:19 Fearne Cotton? Hmm. They just get it right, don't they, the Italians?
17:23 Speaker 02 And a small portion of it, which makes you want it even more.
17:26 Fearne Cotton? Yeah, and you have to eat it so slowly and really enjoy every minute.
17:28 Speaker 02 Yeah, it's like you have a tomato in Italy, on the south of France, it is different from having one in our climate.
17:35 Fearne Cotton? Ours are not great. They're less flavoursome. They just are.
17:39 Speaker 02 Yeah.
17:40 Fearne Cotton? Have you tried to recreate that pasta dish at home?
17:43 Speaker 02 No, no, I haven't. No, I'd rather go and have it again in Italy.
17:49 Fearne Cotton? You should. My favourite thing on holiday, and again, it doesn't work in the UK, is not a meal, but it's a combination of olives in a little tiny bowl, a packet of crisps, but completely open, so the packet's flat, and just like plain sort of, they're not even ready salted, they're, whether you're in Spain or whatever, just salt crisps, and a beer. That triangle just seems to be
18:14 Speaker 02 That does it for you.
18:15 Fearne Cotton? Perfect. And especially on a towel on a beach. I can't think of a better scene than that.
18:21 Speaker 02 Bit of sand in the old crisps.
18:23 Fearne Cotton? That is slightly annoying, but I'll worry about that later. It's just that triangle of food, it just works.
18:30 Speaker 02 So you're very easy to please?
18:32 Fearne Cotton? Yeah, completely. Common as muck. It's just a great little, it just works. It's a great combo. Heaven. That's what I'm wanting this summer, for sure. Now, you don't drink alcohol, so what are you drinking away, allergic to?
18:44 Speaker 02 Yeah.
18:45 Fearne Cotton? So what are you drinking when you go away?
18:47 Speaker 02 Oh, I discovered in Morocco, they have fresh squeezed pomegranate juice, which to me is, if there's a champagne of non-alcoholic drinks, that is it.
18:59 Fearne Cotton? Will you have a non-alcoholic cocktail? Or not bothered?
19:02 Speaker 02 Not bothered.
19:03 Fearne Cotton? No.
19:03 Speaker 02 No.
19:04 Fearne Cotton? Seems like a waste of calories.
19:05 Speaker 02 Well, when you see that they charge about twenty bucks for something that's a bit of syrup and
19:11 Speaker 02 three quarters of crushed ice, it's a bit of a rip off.
19:14 Fearne Cotton? A bit pointless.
19:15 Speaker 02 Yeah.
19:15 Fearne Cotton? But specifically pomegranate juice in Morocco.
19:18 Speaker 02 Pomegranate juice, yeah. Oh, pomegranate juice anywhere. But in Morocco, they, you know, they squeeze on the side of the street.
19:23 Fearne Cotton? I don't know if I've tried pomegranate juice. My daughter loves pomegranates.
19:27 Speaker 02 Oh, it's just one of the great things.
19:29 Fearne Cotton? It's a great flavour. It's not too sweet, is it?
19:31 Speaker 02 No, not at all.
19:32 Fearne Cotton? It's really, really good.
19:33 Speaker 02 Really good.
19:34 Fearne Cotton? Have you ever travelled somewhere specifically for the cuisine?
19:37 Speaker 02 France and Italy.
19:40 Speaker 02 And there are countries that I won't go to because the cuisine is, well, I don't like cheese.
19:46 Fearne Cotton? Right.
19:47 Speaker 02 So the Greek islands, beautiful as they are.
19:49 Fearne Cotton? A lot of feta.
19:50 Speaker 02 Um, there's a lot of feta.
19:52 Fearne Cotton? Yeah.
19:53 Speaker 02 And cheese pies.
19:54 Fearne Cotton? Yeah.
19:55 Speaker 02 So I find Greek cuisine less attractive than Spanish, Italian or Turkish is great too.
20:03 Fearne Cotton? Yeah.
20:03 Speaker 02 Yeah.
20:03 Fearne Cotton? So say you're going to France.
20:05 Speaker 02 I was in Turkey.
20:06 Fearne Cotton? Oh, you meant Turkey this year as well.
20:09 Fearne Cotton? Just add that to your list.
20:10 Speaker 02 Two weeks ago.
20:11 Fearne Cotton? There we go. Um, so if you're going to France.
20:15 Speaker 02 Yeah.
20:16 Fearne Cotton? What is that meal that you are dreaming about on the plane there that you wanna have when you land?
20:21 Speaker 02 There's a restaurant called La Petite Maison in Nice, diagonally across from the Opera House on the um Promenade des Angles, right, right on the seafront. And they off menu have a baguette that is filled with butter, um melted butter. And stuffed with black, shaved black truffle.
20:43 Fearne Cotton? Oh, I love truffle.
20:44 Speaker 02 And I have never, I've never eaten anything that is quite as good as that.
20:50 Fearne Cotton? God, that sounds amazing.
20:51 Speaker 02 And if you have it again, it doesn't disappoint.
20:54 Fearne Cotton? The smell of truffle.
20:56 Speaker 02 You have to take out four mortgages to buy one, but and bribe the woman who runs this restaurant. But that is, that is somewhere I would go to.
21:05 Fearne Cotton? Oh, my God.
21:06 Speaker 02 Would walk there from here.
21:08 Fearne Cotton? I think a lot of the best restaurants are the ones that are so simple, where the menu has four things on it, but you know they're gonna be amazing.
21:15 Speaker 02 Yeah. If you walk down the street and you have not gone on any of the apps or the stuff of where you're supposed to eat. And you look at just the size of the menu.
21:26 Fearne Cotton? Yeah.
21:27 Speaker 02 That to me is the best indicator.
21:29 Fearne Cotton? Yeah, you don't want.
21:30 Speaker 02 Almost anything.
21:30 Fearne Cotton? A Bible with pictures in it of the food. That's not what we're looking for here, no.
21:36 Speaker 02 Oh, you're sounding very judgmental and snobby.
21:39 Fearne Cotton? Yes, I am.
21:39 Speaker 02 It sounds like a description of Leicester Square or.
21:42 Fearne Cotton? Correct, exactly, exactly.
21:45 Speaker 02 Okay.
21:45 Fearne Cotton? Um, what other telltale signs would notify you that restaurant is worth going into? So we're saying minimal menu, what else?
21:55 Speaker 02 The moment you sit down, um, the quality of the bread tells you something.
21:59 Fearne Cotton? Oh, yeah.
22:00 Speaker 02 And I've found obviously not, certainly in England or in America, if you order a Caesar salad.
22:08 Speaker 02 Before you order anything else on the menu, you say, well, I'm going to decide once I've tasted this, you will know within one bite if the place is shite a lot and then you can go, check please, I've lost my appetite, I'm not going to order anymore. I found that has been almost foolproof.
22:26 Fearne Cotton? Really?
22:26 Speaker 02 Yeah.
22:27 Fearne Cotton? And what what classifies as a good Caesar salad in your books?
22:30 Speaker 02 One that's been properly made. I made one this morning for two friends of mine from America. And they said, oh, that's that's a proper Caesar salad.
22:38 Fearne Cotton? Yeah.
22:38 Speaker 02 Yeah.
22:38 Fearne Cotton? And I get you with the bread thing. You want the bread to be warm for a start.
22:42 Speaker 02 Yeah.
22:42 Fearne Cotton? And I also, I think I want it like, it's not even been cut up. I want to tear chunks off of it. It's just like a
22:48 Speaker 02 I agree.
22:49 Fearne Cotton? Big chunk of bread.
22:50 Speaker 02 Yeah.
22:51 Fearne Cotton? Oh, it's making me really hungry with really good olive oil and
22:54 Speaker 02 And you know what really annoys me is if they bring around a bread basket with some tongs and then they they ask you to choose what you'd like.
23:01 Fearne Cotton? Just leave it all.
23:02 Speaker 02 Leave the tongs and I'll take one of each onto the plate.
23:05 Fearne Cotton? Correct.
23:05 Speaker 02 And they look at you as though it's the Home Alone poster. Mousin and big O.
23:10 Fearne Cotton? Because I want to be in control of my bread consumption. Pop it on the table, I'll work it out.
23:15 Speaker 02 Yeah, and charge whatever you want to charge, but you know, don't don't be mealy mouthed about it because that's the beginning of the meal.
23:21 Fearne Cotton? I agree. I also think lighting is important for me in a restaurant. Candles imperative. I want little candles everywhere.
23:28 Speaker 02 As you're over forty, you will understand. You haven't been to my house yet, but I've got candles in every single room.
23:34 Fearne Cotton? The best.
23:35 Speaker 02 And I've eaten by candlelight for dinner for the last fifty years.
23:39 Fearne Cotton? There's something quite ritualistic about it, isn't there? Lighting a candle before you eat. I love that.
23:43 Speaker 02 I like it too, and everything looks better.
23:46 Fearne Cotton? It does.
23:46 Speaker 02 And people look sexier and your clothes look good. People's faces look, everything looks great with candlelight.
23:53 Fearne Cotton? Yeah, I love that.
23:54 Speaker 02 Yeah, we should do this interview by candlelight.
23:56 Fearne Cotton? Oh, my God, we should. This lighting is so hot.
23:59 Speaker 02 It's so brutal.
23:59 Fearne Cotton? I mean, it's good when we look back at ourselves on the internet and go, we look great, but in terms of just atmosphere, it's not good. It's not good.
24:07 Speaker 02 There's no salmon pink filtering here. Salmon sperm pink filtering here going on. It's like fluorescent.
24:14 Fearne Cotton? So good. How do you find those good restaurants when you go away? Especially if you're visiting a new country or a new place. I will usually actually ask friends. I'm going to Mallorca this summer and I haven't been since about nineteen ninety seven. So I asked a friend of mine who goes all the time and she gave me, and I said, I don't want to go to like the tourist spots. Tell me all where the locals go, like the good quiet spots. And she's given me a phenomenal list and I will work from that list.
24:43 Speaker 02 Yeah.
24:43 Fearne Cotton? That's the best.
24:44 Speaker 02 And Instagram is good too.
24:45 Fearne Cotton? Instagram's good.
24:45 Speaker 02 Yeah. And I also have been friends with Nigella Lawson for many decades.
24:49 Fearne Cotton? Come on.
24:50 Speaker 02 So when in doubt, Nigella, where do I go here? And she will tell you.
24:55 Fearne Cotton? I bet she will. Have you been to a restaurant that she's tipped you off about?
24:59 Speaker 02 All of them.
24:59 Fearne Cotton? Really?
25:00 Speaker 02 Yeah.
25:00 Fearne Cotton? And they're all phenomenal.
25:02 Speaker 02 Never, yeah, there's never one that's been a dot.
25:05 Fearne Cotton? Oh my god. Has Nigella ever been to your house and you've had to cook for her?
25:09 Speaker 02 Yeah.
25:10 Fearne Cotton? How does, how does that work?
25:12 Speaker 02 You just go, go for it.
25:13 Fearne Cotton? Really? And she's kind of complimentary about it all and, yeah.
25:16 Speaker 02 Well, she's come back, so.
25:20 Speaker 02 I suppose that's a sign.
25:22 Fearne Cotton? Can you remember what you cooked her last?
25:23 Speaker 02 I cooked, uh, those giant Madagascan prawns. It comes from Sandy's Fishmonger in Twickenham.
25:30 Fearne Cotton? Right.
25:32 Speaker 02 And just, uh, barbecued with garlic butter and a bit of chopped chili and rocket salad and yeah, that's about it. And crab linguine, the other one.
25:46 Fearne Cotton? Oh, nice. A classic. Yeah. And she loved it.
25:49 Speaker 02 Well, there's nothing left on the plate apart from the shells. So that's, that's an indicator that the person's.
25:53 Fearne Cotton? I've been really nervous to cook for her.
25:55 Speaker 02 I've known her a long, long time, so that helps.
25:58 Fearne Cotton? She's a legend. I don't think I've even met her before. That's how I avoided her. I don't know. I love her. I'm a huge fan.
26:04 Speaker 02 She's incredibly generous a person.
26:05 Fearne Cotton? Yeah. She's an amazing human being. We love her. Um, British Airways Holidays and YouGov did a survey.
26:11 Speaker 02 Yeah.
26:12 Fearne Cotton? And they found, this is such a pleasing fact, that fifty four percent of travellers are likely to visit a supermarket as a sort of tourist activity. I love nothing more.
26:24 Speaker 02 I love nothing less.
26:26 Fearne Cotton? What's wrong with you?
26:27 Speaker 02 Because I have to go to the supermarket all the time to cook at home, so.
26:32 Fearne Cotton? Yeah, but you get all the different stuff.
26:34 Speaker 02 Yeah, but when I go on holiday, I want to have somebody cook for me.
26:38 Fearne Cotton? Right.
26:39 Speaker 02 In a hotel or in a restaurant.
26:40 Fearne Cotton? But what about for a snack? You're popping out for your olives and crisps. So you're not quite intrigued by the supermarkets?
26:45 Speaker 02 No, no, because supermarket to me is like being at home. So it's like the opposite of the holiday. So no, if it's a souk or, you know, a big open air market. Um, like in France and Italy, all across Europe, yes, I'll go to that. But um, not the old aisles and the tins and the.
27:04 Fearne Cotton? I love it.
27:04 Speaker 02 No.
27:05 Fearne Cotton? I absolutely love it. Me and my kids.
27:06 Speaker 02 Well, we can't live together then.
27:08 Fearne Cotton? No, no, no. You'll be eating, a chef will be cooking for you over here and I'll be picking really shitty kids cereal from a foreign supermarket. But I like seeing all the different sweets, the different types of cereal, the different biscuits. That's a key one for me is finding.
27:23 Speaker 02 And when the labels are in a language you do not understand.
27:25 Fearne Cotton? Exciting. Who knows what's in it? It's a surprise.
27:28 Speaker 02 No.
27:28 Fearne Cotton? No?
27:29 Speaker 02 No.
27:29 Fearne Cotton? Oh my god, you're not in that fifty four percent.
27:32 Speaker 02 No, I'm not.
27:32 Fearne Cotton? Sadly.
27:33 Speaker 02 Sadly. Gladly for me.
27:36 Fearne Cotton? Now, I need to ask you some very serious questions.
27:39 Speaker 02 I'd rather be on the beach or, you know.
27:41 Fearne Cotton? We're same, but I do like to go, especially in a new country. I love it.
27:45 Speaker 02 I've never done it.
27:47 Fearne Cotton? You've never been to a foreign supermarket?
27:48 Speaker 02 I don't think so. I have in France because I had a house there, so, you know, I had to go.
27:52 Fearne Cotton? You have to, yeah.
27:53 Speaker 02 Yeah, but I'd offer a market rather than going to a supermarket.
27:57 Fearne Cotton? Say you went to somewhere really different culturally, like Japan. Would you not be intrigued to go to the supermarket and just buy random stuff?
28:06 Speaker 02 No.
28:07 Fearne Cotton? Gosh.
28:07 Speaker 02 Absolutely not.
28:07 Fearne Cotton? Really?
28:08 Speaker 02 No.
28:08 Fearne Cotton? Okay.
28:09 Speaker 02 Never done. I've been to Japan three times. I've never gone to a supermarket and I never will, fun.
28:13 Fearne Cotton? Right, I feel like I need to stop asking you that same question in a different style.
28:16 Speaker 02 I think you should.
28:17 Fearne Cotton? Okay.
28:17 Speaker 02 Yeah.
28:18 Fearne Cotton? Um.
28:18 Speaker 02 Because I'm on holiday.
28:21 Fearne Cotton? What's the one thing that you do to take your holidays more seriously? Because, you know, we need to go there and properly switch off. What's aiding you in really relaxing?
28:32 Speaker 02 Begins hand luggage only. I've done that for 25 years.
28:37 Fearne Cotton? Wow.
28:38 Speaker 02 Because I like to shop.
28:40 Fearne Cotton? Yeah.
28:41 Speaker 02 And if you need to shop at the other end, you can buy an extra suitcase and get it back that way.
28:49 Fearne Cotton? And what are you buying like?
28:50 Speaker 02 But, oh, just stuff.
28:51 Fearne Cotton? Just stuff.
28:52 Speaker 02 But going to, so I try and travel with as little as possible so that I can buy more stuff at the other end. But I've never gone with luggage, even if I have to go away on a job for three months. I will literally only take hand luggage.
29:04 Fearne Cotton? I have never managed to do that. Even when I went to Newcastle for one night last week for work.
29:11 Speaker 02 We live very near each other.
29:12 Fearne Cotton? A suitcase.
29:12 Speaker 02 Call me, text me and I'll come around and I will pack what you need. You'll tell me how many days you'd need. You'll have one pair of shoes on your feet. You'll have one extra in the suitcase. That's it.
29:25 Fearne Cotton? The problem is. But wait, hold tight.
29:27 Speaker 02 Okay, hold tight.
29:28 Fearne Cotton? One of the big problems is.
29:30 Speaker 02 Yeah.
29:31 Fearne Cotton? And this takes up half a suitcase. Have to take my own pillow. Can't deal with other pillows.
29:37 Speaker 02 Tragic.
29:39 Fearne Cotton? Yeah, so it's a big suitcase because half of it, and it's, it's one of those memory foam ones.
29:44 Speaker 02 Why?
29:45 Fearne Cotton? Because it's the only pillow that works.
29:47 Speaker 02 You've convinced yourself of this.
29:50 Fearne Cotton? Perhaps. I've got that, I've got my eye mask, my earplugs, sometimes take a travel kettle in case I haven't got one.
29:58 Speaker 02 That is, that is insane. But the ear mask and the earplugs take up no space whatsoever. But the pillow.
30:07 Speaker 02 I mean, stuff it up your front so that you look pregnant.
30:11 Fearne Cotton? Yeah, true.
30:11 Speaker 02 You could do that.
30:12 Fearne Cotton? I could do that.
30:14 Speaker 02 But, but taking up a suitcase with a pillow.
30:16 Fearne Cotton? I know, it's so silly.
30:17 Speaker 02 How, at what age did you convince yourself that you needed this special pillow?
30:21 Fearne Cotton? Uh, I think when my sleep got quite bad at about 34 maybe.
30:28 Speaker 02 Is that when you stopped having regular sex? Because if you have regular sex, that pillow will become less of an issue.
30:36 Fearne Cotton? Ow, I need that pillow.
30:38 Speaker 02 Just does.
30:38 Fearne Cotton? It's a really good support on your neck. It's just really good.
30:40 Speaker 02 No, no. Buy one of those things in the airport then that you can blow up.
30:44 Fearne Cotton? It's not my pillow. It has to specifically be mine.
30:47 Speaker 02 Oh, you see, you've gone all anal now and I think that's, yeah. It's self-defeating. You're obviously Dr Freud. You need this, this adjunct to you to go travelling.
31:00 Fearne Cotton? We're apologising, my pillow. This is great. Clara Ampfo is going to be on this series in a bit. And we're going to talk about holidays that are specifically about hobbies and passions. Have you ever been on like a painting holiday, a pottery holiday, or a hobby style holiday?
31:18 Speaker 02 No, because that would involve having to meet total strangers. And that should be the equivalent to me of saying, would you come on a cruise ship?
31:28 Fearne Cotton? It's a no.
31:30 Speaker 02 It's a no. Would you like to go on a guided hunt? It's a no. I'd rather be lost than be guided with those little umbrellas or flag. People sort of following around it. I would.
31:45 Speaker 02 I'd have to pull my teeth out. It is a no, yeah.
31:47 Fearne Cotton? I've never done one, but I nearly went on a walking holiday last year. That appeals to me. I will rebook that trip.
31:54 Speaker 02 But you could walk on your own. You don't need to go and deal with other people.
31:58 Fearne Cotton? Yeah, I guess I'd be less inclined to walk for so long if I wasn't motivated by someone telling me I had to do it. And that was the thinking behind it.
32:07 Speaker 02 But if you, I mean, you paint, would you go on a painting holiday with other people? You just go anywhere in Europe or anywhere in England and just go and paint.
32:16 Fearne Cotton? I maybe would because I think again, it's, it's the, your, that's the time you've set aside to do that. And someone's telling you to do it. So I would then do it. I'd be less accountable if I was on my own, I think.
32:28 Fearne Cotton? I don't know, you're unconvinced, like the supermarket gate.
32:31 Speaker 02 Yeah, it's like, sounds like painted by numbers where you're all going to look at this lovely landscape or vase or naked person and we're all now going to do it and then it becomes competitive with the other people.
32:44 Fearne Cotton? Yeah, maybe. Okay, I'm understanding it's just a no.
32:49 Speaker 02 It's just a long-winded no.
32:51 Fearne Cotton? It's just a long-winded no. And where would you say your holiday happy place is? If you could pin down one place, maybe somewhere you've not even been before.
33:03 Speaker 02 Uh, there's a beach called Macaroni Beach, maybe you've been there?
33:07 Fearne Cotton? No.
33:08 Speaker 02 On the island of Mustique in the Caribbean.
33:11 Fearne Cotton? Oh, I'd love to go to Mustique.
33:12 Speaker 02 Absolutely, because it's got surf, white sand, palm trees, no street vendors, no cafe, no, nothing at all. There's nothing there. There's a couple of picnic tables and that's it. And there are usually very few people on it. And that is, if I have to think about a place that I would like to go to right now,
33:35 Speaker 02 that's far from that supermarket and that hobby trip that you have in mind for me. You know, the hobby trip also sounds like really old age stuff. It's like, oh, we'll get the Ramblers Association. You think, yeah, the people who are the anti-sex from their clothes to their walking sticks.
33:53 Fearne Cotton? That's me. I want to do that. That's a dream trip for me, a rambling holiday.
33:57 Speaker 02 No, no, sorry. I have to be strapped down, strapped down a gag.
34:02 Fearne Cotton? What's that brilliant lady called who wrote the book who her husband invented Mustique? Oh, what's her name? I love that book.
34:09 Speaker 02 Lady Glen Connor.
34:10 Fearne Cotton? Yes, I love that book. That was fabulous. Mustique's got some very good historic stories attached to it.
34:16 Speaker 02 It does.
34:16 Fearne Cotton? Rock and roll, royalty, it's glamorous, quite decadent.
34:20 Speaker 02 Yeah, but I'm talking Macaroni Beach is a beach.
34:23 Fearne Cotton? Yeah, just a lovely beach.
34:25 Speaker 02 Yeah.
34:25 Fearne Cotton? Mmm, heaven. Where is left on your list where you haven't been as yet?
34:30 Speaker 02 I've never been to South America and I've always hoped that I would get a job that would take me there because I've travelled so many places and I'd like to go there.
34:39 Fearne Cotton? Whereabouts? Because it's such different terrain and Costa Rica?
34:43 Speaker 02 Yeah, I don't want to go to Machu Picchu or I don't want to go up in the mountains. Well, yeah, but you like climbing.
34:48 Fearne Cotton? It was good. Yeah, I did a five day ramble.
34:50 Speaker 02 Did you?
34:51 Fearne Cotton? It was really good.
34:52 Speaker 02 Other forty four year old.
34:54 Fearne Cotton? Lots of lame llamas.
34:56 Speaker 02 Phillies.
34:57 Fearne Cotton? Um, it was so good.
34:59 Speaker 02 Do you eat guinea pig?
35:01 Fearne Cotton? I didn't eat guinea pig. No.
35:02 Speaker 02 Oh, yes, it was your vegan.
35:03 Fearne Cotton? Yeah, I wasn't then, but it was offered and I was like, absolutely no way. I don't want that anywhere near me.
35:08 Speaker 02 Yeah, like me in supermarkets.
35:10 Fearne Cotton? I love this. The supermarket was actually fascinating in Peru. It was brilliant. But that is.
35:15 Speaker 02 The guinea pig section of the freezer department.
35:17 Fearne Cotton? Yeah, uh, literally whole. I don't know. I've made that up. Um, but Costa Rica, that's on my list.
35:23 Speaker 02 Yeah.
35:23 Fearne Cotton? I've heard nothing but good things about it.
35:25 Speaker 02 I'd love to go.
35:25 Fearne Cotton? Everything from rainforest to beach.
35:27 Speaker 02 Hmm.
35:28 Fearne Cotton? Gorgeous hotels.
35:29 Speaker 02 Yeah.
35:30 Fearne Cotton? You've got to go.
35:31 Speaker 02 Okay.
35:32 Fearne Cotton? You've got to do it.
35:33 Speaker 02 In the time I have left.
35:34 Fearne Cotton? Yes.
35:35 Speaker 02 The sixty year old veteran had to be pulled away from his gardening potting shed.
35:39 Fearne Cotton? Exactly.
35:40 Speaker 02 To go to South America.
35:42 Fearne Cotton? You've got to do it. Um, Richly Grant, happy travels wherever you end up going next. Morocco?
35:47 Speaker 02 Morocco.
35:47 Fearne Cotton? Morocco. Happy shopping in Morocco.
35:50 Speaker 02 Thank you.
35:51 Fearne Cotton? Thank you for coming back on Happy Place.
35:53 Speaker 02 Thank you very much.
35:55 Fearne Cotton? Oh, Richard, I love that chat. Uh, what a shame. He doesn't like supermarkets in other countries. I, I'm still perplexed by that. How can you not? How can you not be completely intrigued by new labels and different things that you don't quite understand, but we give them a try anyway? Anyway, we're all different. Um, but I loved that and he just made me laugh so much throughout that whole chat. That was just like a jolly, brilliant half an hour. Loved every minute. Now, if you want help taking your holidays more seriously, then you know where to go. British Airways holidays allow you to book with a low deposit and pay off your holiday in flexible instalments. They offer a twenty four hour holiday helpline and all holidays include a generous baggage allowance per person.
36:37 Fearne Cotton? What's more, all British Airways holidays are at all protected, so they've got you well and truly covered. As I said, next time I'm going to be chatting to the wonderful Clara Amfo about getting stuck into our favourite hobbies on holiday. And this is going to be a pretty cool episode, gang. Because it will be coming to you live from the Happy Place Festival in Gunnersbury Park. So you might even be there in person, listening with a lovely bit of street food on your lap in the sunshine. Until then, a massive thanks again to Richard, to British Airways Holidays for making this episode happen, to the producer, Anushka Tate at Happy Place Studios, and to you, I completely adore ya.
Previous How Trinny Woodall deals with rejection: Learning from failure and feedback Next Release yourself from the male gaze: How to have more orgasms! Page updated November 1, 2026 · transcript and summary are machine-generated