My favourite restaurant with... Sally Clarke

Sally Clarke studied hotel and catering at Croydon Technical College then, following a stint working as a chef in France, teaching at Leith’s School of Food and Wine and later helping chef Michael McCarty open his restaurant in California, she returned to London to open her own restaurant in 1984. Four years later, she bought the building next door on Kensington Church Street and developed Clarke’s Shop selling freshly baked bread, tarts and biscuits. Her bread is now delivered daily to some of London’s best hotels and restaurant including Blake’s, Searcy’s and Galvin restaurants.

Where would you pay to eat out? "Assaggi, a Sardinian-owned restaurant above a pub just north of Notting Hill or 2 Brydges Place near Trafalgar Square."

Why? "At Assaggi, there is a lovely atmosphere. It’s difficult to get a place but they have said that if I ring up and there isn’t space they would carve a table for me which is sweet. I suppose that’s Sardinian hospitality for you. At 2 Brydges Place, you’re surrounded by opera singers and people from Covent Garden and the orchestra. It’s a fun buzzing place and you can get nice things served like shepherd’s pie and beer-battered cod and stuff. It’s quite homely. I don’t think anyone would go there for the food but it’s one of those places that is like everything all-in - the food, the atmosphere, the service, and quirky dining rooms that all seem to be decorated in different ways. And in the winter it’s rather nice because they light up the fires and so it’s very pretty place. So it’s a bit like a package deal with everything that creates the lovely atmosphere."

What do you eat there? "Excellent seafood at Assaggi."

Who would you take? "Friends and family probably."

Assaggi, 39 Chepstow Place, W2 4TS; 2 Brydges Place, Charing Cross, WC2N 4HP