In the new series of Meghan Markle's Netflix show With Love Meghan, which premieres tomorrow, the Duchess will be seen whipping up a feast with Clare Smyth, who has been voted the world's best female chef and is the first in the UK to achieve three Michelin stars.
The two women share a special bond: not only did Clare cater for Prince Harry and Meghan's 2018 wedding reception dinner, but she also tells HELLO! how her exclusive Notting Hill restaurant Core, where she recently hosted David Beckham's 50th birthday party, provided a safe haven for the couple when they were dating and living at nearby Kensington Palace.
© Amelia AllenInviting us to Core for an exclusive interview and photoshoot, she reveals that the couple personally phoned her to ask her to cook for their guests at their evening reception at Frogmore House - and reveals what guests ate.
"That was a phone call that wasn’t expected," says Clare, 46. "We hadn’t even been open for a year, so it was an amazing thing to be part of.
"Harry and Meghan had a lot of pressure on them, and this was somewhere they could come, like a home. They’re really lovely people and we had an awful lot of fun working with them. They were very easygoing, laid-back and gracious, and the team loved them. Both of them love food and Meghan is passionate about restaurants. We have seen them since and stayed in touch."
The couple went to the restaurant for tastings, eventually opting for Core’s signature dish – potato and roe, or potatoes cooked in seaweed, cured for two days and served with fish roe and dulse beurre blanc – followed by roast chicken stuffed with sage and onion.
They were very easygoing, laid-back and gracious, and the team loved them. Both of them love food and Meghan is passionate about restaurants.
“That was the dish they cooked when they got engaged,” Clare explains. “There was a huge amount of pressure because everything had to run like clockwork, so we had practice runs to make sure we got it all spot on, but we had an amazing team to pull it all together.”
© WPA PoolClare even makes an appearance in the new series of the Duchess’s Netflix lifestyle show, With Love, Meghan, in which the pair cook Core’s poached halibut and Parker House rolls – bread rolls made with milk and butter.
She says: "It was great to catch up with Meghan and spend time together in the kitchen. We went to the market, cooked one of my restaurant’s dishes and just had fun. It was light-hearted, relaxed and a special experience."
The Core concept
Since Core opened in 2017, the 54-seat dining room has been booked out three months in advance. The seven-course tasting menu with wine pairings costs £420 per head.
Dishes include roasted cod with Morecambe Bay shrimps, Swiss chard and brown butter, and duck with cherry, almond and Madeira sauce. There are also innovations like the Notting Hill Forest dessert, inspired by Clare’s autumn walks with her dog, Storm, and made using coloured pastry leaves and mousse flavoured with nuts, woodruff and mushroom.
"It sounds strange, but if you get the balance correct, you get this lovely harmony. It’s like couture in fashion; you’re always creating something new," says Clare, who is happy to be a role model for young female chefs.
"I never saw the job as being about male or female. I’m a chef, and I stand on my own, but it’s important for women to see other women succeed," she says.
"I came up with the name Core in my sleep," she adds. "It translates into ‘heart’ in lots of languages, and it just felt right, as if I was starting something new and fresh and from the heart. Restaurants are about connections between people, and the relationships you build with the people who grow things for you and the customers who become part of your family."
To read the full exclusive interview, pick up the latest issue of HELLO! on sale in the UK on Monday. You can subscribe to HELLO! to get the magazine delivered free to your door every week or purchase the digital edition online via our Apple or Google
