Hugh Bonneville, Champagne, and Christmas dinner

Beloved British actor and now author, Hugh Bonneville visits Nick and Angela at casa Grimshaw. Hugh has appeared in many iconic films opposite some of the greats of Hollywood, Notting Hill with Julia Roberts, Iris with Judi Dench, The Monuments Men with George Clooney, and the Paddington movies with everyone’s favourite bear. He’s equally celebrated for his portrayal of Robert Crawley in TV drama Downton Abbey and its film adaptations, for which he received Golden Globe nominations, two Emmys and the cast won three SAG Awards for Outstanding Ensemble in a Drama Series. Hugh recently published his debut memoir, Playing Under the Piano: From Downton to Darkest Peru. It’s fair to say that Mr Bonneville rather hit the jackpot, as Angela Hartnett prepares Christmas dinner with all the trimmings. The special occasion calls for oysters and Champagne to start. Followed by a rosemary & black pepper brined wing rib of beef, flanked by sticky pigs in blankets, gratin dauphinois, maple-roast parsnips and carrots, brussels sprouts with pancetta and a red cabbage slaw. All paired with a delicate Muga Selección Especial Reserva and Angela’s special tiramisu for dessert.  In this episode, Angela shares her incredible gravy recipe, Nick expresses his guilt about eating in front of the crew and Hugh tells some hilarious audition anecdotes and how he discovered his mother was a spy. There were no marmalade sandwiches on the menu, but plenty of love for Paddington, who sadly had to decline the invitation. Just so you know, our podcast might contain the occasional mild swear word or adult theme. All recipes from this podcast can be found at waitrose.com/dishrecipes A transcript for this episode can be found at waitrose.com/dish We can’t all have a Michelin star chef in the kitchen, but you can ask Angela for help.  Send your questions to dish@waitrose.co.uk and she’ll try to answer in a future episode. Dish is a S:E Creative Studio production for Waitrose & Partners. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices