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Rowley Leigh: The Andre Simons Awards
Season 25 · Episode 21

Rowley Leigh: The Andre Simons Awards

The Shortlist

Cooking the Books with Gilly Smith · Gilly Smith

January 29, 202617m 21s

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Show Notes

This week, we’re with Rowley Leigh, chef, food writer and the food books assessor for the 2025 André Simon Food & Drink Book Awards to discuss the shortlist.


Rowley is an award‑winning food writer himself, but it’s his mastery of storytelling through the theatre of food that Gilly wanted to know about before we got on to the shortlist. His Notting Hill gastrodome, Kensington Place was all about being seen eating the coolest food in late century London, fashioned by his time with Roux Brothers in the kitchens of  Le Gavroche and le Poulbot, and Joe Allen, Covent Garden’s post theatre supper hang out. Gilly asks how that melting pot created one of the greatest stories of modern British food.


Five out of seven of the shortlist have already been on the show. Click on the links below for the episodes.



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