While everyone else was moving to the UK to do their OE, I gravitated to Italy in 2004. I had worked for a Sardinian and a Napolitana at a restaurant called La Gabbia in my late teens and early 20s and was drawn to the way those men ate, drank, dressed and waved their arms when they talked. So I got a job working in Sardinia for an exceptional chef who was catering for wealthy Europeans visiting their summer homes or having a break from their superyachts. After that I moved to Rome, where I worked at private parties, nannied for the UN's head interpreter and did some nights pouring pints in an Irish bar.
Rome was a dreamland because I lived a stone's throw away from the Colloseo, eating out was affordable and I was spoilt for choice when it came to restaurants. I would walk the streets at night and learn new areas and history and I got in with a local crew who would take me to places I would never have seen as a normal expat.
I've been back to Rome many times since then and my favourite restaurant is still Da Valentino on Via del Boschetto. The food is simple, seasonal and sourced from trusted suppliers, which is the ethos of my latest business, The Realness. The menu is small but what they do, they do well.
This recipe, for pasta pomodoro, is one of my favourite Italian dishes. It's simple, flavourful and features my favourite ingredient, capers. Capers make life good.
