When I first started seeing Mattie, there was a constant dinner party at his mum’s house,” recalls pastry chef Ravneet Gill. “There were loads of people there all the time, being fed with massive bowls of home-cooked food and a big block of parmesan.” There was an open-door policy, with pastas and roast meats on heavy rotation, confirms her now-husband and fellow chef, Taiano. And it’s this sentiment that has carried through to the couple’s restaurant, Gina, which opened in Chingford, east London, earlier this year, a process they documented in their newsletter, Club Gina.
Named after Taiano’s late mother, it is very much a neighbourhood joint, Gill points out, with the food – from pithiviers and vol au vents to Gina’s pasta with tomato sauce, half a roast chicken with little gems and aioli to share on Sundays, and slabs of “Ravi’s” chocolate cake – an extension of how the couple like to eat.
“We’ve never not had people around,” says Gill, who grew up in an Indian family nearby. His is half Italian, half Jewish. “Our cultures are both very much about food and being around the table,” she says. “At home, it depended on the time of day but there was always something to eat: samosas and pakoras in the afternoon, and full-blown curries and rotis in the evening.”
Entertaining together, though, happens more by accident than design. “We don’t do it deliberately,” explains Gill. “We just gather a group of friends through various conversations throughout the day, and they end up at our flat.” A definite perk of having chefs as friends.
So, what can you expect from dinner at Gill and Taiano’s? “First, take your shoes off,” insists Gill. Bring a bottle: “We don’t drink.” If you also come armed with “deli things” that the couple can crack into after you’ve gone, then all the better. “We always make a nice table and get a playlist on,” adds Gill, but it’s very much food-focused, “so don’t be late because I will have made sure the food is ready for your arrival”.
There will be crisps, of course, but otherwise think sharing bowls of pastas (“You’ve got to do it well, though,” warns Taiano) or a nice joint of meat to plonk in the middle of the table with some sort of potatoes, usually dauphinoise – “Just something slow cooked that you can put in the oven and sort of forget about,” says Taiano, with their braised lamb shoulder (see below) being a prime example.
But who’s in charge when the two chefs cook at home? “I mostly do the food,” says Taiano, although it won’t exactly be a surprise to learn that Gill – who is also a judge on Junior Bake Off, taking over from Prue Leith in 2021, and former pastry chef at London institution St John – is always on dessert.
This, she says, doesn’t need considerable planning, but don’t do anything daft like try a new recipe for the first time just hours before everyone turns up. “You just want a big sharing dessert,” she says, which in the winter months could be a choux tower (“They’re easy”); the giant of the crowd-pleasers, sticky toffee pudding; or even a toffee apple self-saucing pudding (“Everybody loves that”).
That said, having people over all the time was “getting quite mental in the flat”, admits Gill, especially when the self-confessed cleaning obsessive was often faced with a three-day clean-up operation. “Mattie cooks these incredible feasts, but the kitchen is then turned upside-down,” she sighs. “He made a Thai meal and there was sticky fish sauce down and inside all the cupboards … I just couldn’t believe it.”
The arrival of their son, Donnie, two years ago also changed things: “It’s difficult in a one-bed flat; we can’t have noisy guests because we don’t want them to wake our son – I can’t wait to get a house and have doors!”
In the meantime, their entertaining itch is being scratched at Gina. “We thought, oh we’ll just have a restaurant, that will be easier,” laughs Gill. Their generosity has hit their profits, though. “We did get into trouble last month, because our comp bill was just too large – but it is in our nature to be hospitable.”
It’s a statement her home fridge might disagree with right about now. “I was thinking yesterday that we haven’t cooked in our home since we started the restaurant … If you open the fridge right now, there’s a box of Ferrero Rocher, some milk, rhubarb jam, a sourdough starter, and Pierre Marcolini chocolates,” adds Gill. “It’s really empty. Well, empty, but very clean, of course.”
As told to Anna Berrill
Braised lamb shoulder
Prep 10 min
Cook 2 hr 30 min+
Rest 30 min Serves 4-5
2 tbsp duck fat
1.8kg lamb shoulder on the bone (or ½ lamb shoulder), removed from the fridge an hour before cooking
Salt and black pepper
1 large onion, peeled and diced
2 large carrots, peeled and cut into 5cm pieces
2 celery sticks, roughly chopped
4 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
A few sprigs of rosemary and thyme
2 plum tomatoes from a tin, crushed
250ml white wine
500ml fresh chicken stock
Everything can be made two to three days before and reheated to serve. The dish will benefit from sitting in the fridge for a few days. If you do this, the fat will set on top of the liquid in the pan, making it easier to remove before reheating.
Heat the oven to 180C (160C fan)/gas 4. In a heavy-bottomed deep casserole dish or pan with a lid, heat the duck fat until smoking – be careful.
Season the lamb all over with salt and pepper, then add the meat to the pan skin side down, placing it away from you to avoid splattering. Let it brown on one side before repeating on the other, then remove from the pan and set aside on a plate.
In the same pan, add the onion, carrot, celery, garlic and herbs. Season, then stir over a medium heat until they turn golden. Stir in the crushed tomatoes, cook for two minutes, then add the white wine and bring to the boil. Pour in the stock and 200ml water, and bring back to the boil.
Return the lamb to the pan and cover with parchment, followed by the lid. Place in the oven for two to three hours, until the meat is tender and soft when probed with a knife.
Let the lamb rest for half an hour before removing from the pan, putting it on a plate. Skim the fat from the top of the braising liquid and discard, then ladle the juices over the lamb. Serve with the hot dauphinoise on the side. A bowl of buttery greens would be good, but optional.
Dauphinoise
Prep 15 min
Cook 1 hr 15 min
Serves 4-5
1kg potatoes (we use king edwards), peeled and thinly sliced to 2mm thick
300ml double cream
300ml whole milk
½ tbsp chopped rosemary and thyme
3 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
Salt and black pepper
Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/gas 6. Alternatively, you can bake the dauphinoise at the same temperature as the lamb, but you will need to add 10-15 minutes to the cooking time.
Place the potatoes in a large bowl of water to wash off any excess starch, then drain. In a large, deep pan, combine the double cream, milk, herbs and garlic, and season with salt and pepper. Gently heat the mixture until it’s steaming, but not boiling.
Add the sliced potatoes to the pan and stir to coat them in the cream mixture. Bring to a gentle boil, then pour the mixture into a gratin dish (we use a large, round, shallow 26cm Le Creuset pan). Cover with a piece of parchment, ensuring it touches the surface of the potatoes, then bake for 45 minutes to one hour, or until the potatoes are tender when pierced with a knife and show no resistance.
Remove the parchment and return the dish to the oven for a further 10 minutes to get a nice golden colour on top. Let the dauphinoise rest for a few minutes before serving.
Brown sugar meringues with coffee cream and cherries
Prep 25 min
Cook 2 hr
Makes 6-8 large meringues
For the meringues
5 egg whites (150g)
¼ tsp cream of tartar
230g soft dark-brown sugar
2 tbsp cornflour
For the coffee cream
200g mascarpone
60g caster sugar
A pinch of flaky salt
1 tbsp instant coffee granules, dissolved in 1-2 tbsp warm water
400ml double cream To serve
200g tinned cherries in syrup, drained, or fresh cherries, pitted
50g grated chocolate
Heat the oven to 120C (100C fan)/gas low, and line two large baking trays with greaseproof paper.
Put the egg whites and cream of tartar in a large, clean bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, then use an electric handheld whisk or the whisk attachment on the stand mixer to beat the whites on a medium speed until frothy. Add half the brown sugar, whisk until thick, then add the remaining brown sugar and whisk on a medium until really thick. Add the cornflour and beat slowly to combine.
Using a large metal spoon, dollop the meringue on to the lined trays, leaving space in between each. You’ll end up with six to eight meringues.
Bake for an hour and a half to two hours. Test they are ready by gently lifting one off the paper: it should feel light and come away easily; if it’s resistant, it needs longer.
Cool completely on the trays. They will keep in an airtight container for up to three days.
To serve, gently beat the mascarpone with a wooden spoon. Add the sugar, salt and dissolved coffee granules, and mix well. Add the cream, then whisk to a stiff cream.
To serve, spoon the coffee cream on to the meringues, top with the cherries and finish with a grating of chocolate.
