I used to come to Kensington Place a lot. We often came as a family - christenings and so on - because my sister Kate is married to the brilliant Rowley Leigh, who used to be the chef here [Leigh is now opening a new restaurant in Bayswater, London]. We're all very greedy as a family; Rowley married into the right family. It would have been awful if he had married into a bunch of anorexics. Kate and Rowley live next door to me so I often peek through the window to see if they're sitting down to eat. Then I'll rush in to borrow something and hope to be asked to sit down. Dining out all depends on my bank account. My boyfriend doesn't like eating in restaurants but I'll have lunch with friends.
I'm not crazy about oysters and offal and brains and stuff like that. It's vegetables that I really like. I worked in the River Café restaurant when it first opened and I used to eat the leftover vegetables on the plates. They were so delicious.
I don't feel my capabilities in cookery are as big as my desire - as with so many aspects of my life. I can cook to please people but it's quite conventional. I make a good sponge cake. I find it hard to follow recipes. It is much better for me to be shown things. I'll rush next door and ask Rowley how to do a white sauce. He might do it but he doesn't like to show me much. He doesn't impart knowledge too freely.
Takeaways are a weakness. I have indulged out of laziness and lack of organisation but it doesn't transmit very well. By the time you get it out of the container, it is always a bit disappointing.
At home when I was young there were sometimes seven of us at mealtimes and I never appreciated what that meant for my mum. We'd have corned beef hash. This was rural England in the Seventies. Not a hotbed of great food. I remember coming to London at 16 and buying orange juice in cartons and taramasalata in tubs. It seemed very exotic. I went to a convent school in Dorset and I'd always go round twice and pretend to be someone else to get another dinner. There was never enough. There was no obesity at St Mary's.
I'm crazy about ducks and swans and geese so I don't eat foie gras. I try to eat organic. I used to love greasy café food but I can't eat that any more. I love baked fruit tarts. I could probably eat a few spoonfuls of condensed milk - it's a hangover from school. Coffee is the first cousin of fags. It triggers off the same response. Always want more. I have to keep it under control. If I ate everything I wanted I'd be fat. I've been to costume fittings where things were a bit tight. But I suppose the parts I play are not romantic female leads. I'd hate to be obsessed with my weight. It's so sad. Eating and food are wonderful.
Food on location is oddly bad. They seem to cater for electricians more than actors and actresses, which is fair enough. But that's oddly undermining of electricians, some of whom might actually want to eat well. We had a marvellous cook on Suburban Shootout, an Indian from the Spice of Life so we got lots of curries and wonderful dhals. Some location cooks seem to have learnt their cooking in prison in six weeks. There are exceptions. Like the Anthony Minghella film, Breaking and Entering, where we had barbecued lobster. But that's because there were several big actors and stars. On the Bertolucci film in Paris, The Dreamers, we had wonderful French food but none of the Italian crew would eat it.
My biggest gripe is that you cannot get a decent cup of tea or coffee on a film set. There are huge urns with stewed tea. If I were a producer I'd spend five grand on a proper coffee machine.
History
The European bistro-style restaurant opened in 1987 and broke the mould in eating out with its inventive but affordable food and buzzy setting. Sam Mahoney took over from Rowley Leigh as chef at the end of 2006.
Popular dishes
Griddled scallops with pea purée; grilled seabass with lentils and salsa verde; hot bitter chocolate mousse with almond ice cream. Three courses £25-£34.
Who eats there
Princess Diana was a regular; likewise David Cameron, who took his wife there on their first date; Pierce Brosnan was spotted recently.
Opens
Lunch Mon-Fri 12 noon-3pm; Sat & Sun 12noon-3.30pm; dinner Mon-Sat 6.30-11pm; Sun 6.30-10pm.
· Kensington Place, 201 Kensington Church Street, London, W8 (020 7727 3184)
