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Andi Oliver rose to fame fronting the band Rip Rig + Panic with Neneh Cherry in 1981 and working in TV in the 90s. She was a judge on Great British Menu for four series, and is now in her sixth season as host. She also regularly appears on BBC Radio 4’s The Kitchen Cabinet and the Food Programme.
Andi acts, has run several restaurants and presented documentaries, including two with her daughter Miquita. She published a cookbook, The Pepperpot Diaries, in 2023.
What’s the last treat that you bought for yourself?
I went to Sri Lanka in January. That was a treat. Every year, I work really, really hard, but I go on a proper holiday in January. It’s fuel for the year ahead. I power all my batteries down completely, just relax, lie down, read a ton of books. Then when I get back, I’m ready to rock’n’roll again.
Where do you buy your food from?
I live in Wanstead, east London, and we’ve got a proper high street, almost like a little village. There’s a butcher, a really great fishmonger and a wonderful greengrocer. I love it so much. And I also have a food delivery from Ocado, because they’ve got everything.
What’s the best present you’ve given?
I think the holiday I buy for my family every year is a really great present. I do a couple of jobs that I wouldn’t necessarily normally do, so that we can go and have a fancy holiday and an absolutely lovely time. I think actually the best present you can give each other is time. And I know that some people would be like, “No, absolutely not, shoes!” I just think those things are sort of dispensable.
I also bought my friend Nick and his husband a weekend at Paul Ainsworth’s amazing restaurant, No6 in Cornwall, Padstow, and a tasting menu. I never used to have any money at all, so it’s really nice being able to buy people things that you know they’re really going to love. I take great pleasure in doing it.
… and the best present you’ve received?
My daughter bought me a pair of diamond earrings last year, which I haven’t worn because I’m scared I’m gonna lose them. And one of my best friends bought me a diamond nose stud, but I’m also not wearing that yet.
Last year, Garfield, my partner, and my daughter bought me a first edition, signed copy of Beloved by Toni Morrison – that brought a tear to my eye.
Beloved by Toni Morrison
What’s your favourite online store?
Oh, God, me and my online shopping. I’m a nightmare. I buy really nice dresses from Karen Millen. They do quite glamorous stuff, whatever size you are, and everyday things. There’s also an African designer called Öfuurë, and they have the most fabulous clothes. I recently lost quite a lot of weight, so I’m trying to stop myself from buying tons of clothes all the time, but it’s quite hard. I grew up in Soho with tons of drag queens, in the 80s and the 90s – we had a ball. Everybody was just very extravagant and completely of themselves. I’ve never really lost that excitement – I love getting dressed up.
Thigh-high split fringed midi dress
Gemma earrings
What’s your favourite bricks-and-mortar shop?
It’s going to sound so poncey, but I love Fortnum & Mason. Every single time you go in there, even if you get something really tiny, it feels like a treat. And you get that gorgeous little eau de nil colour bag. You buy like four chocolates in there and feel like a princess. It makes me feel special, and treated, and fabulous. I know some things are quite pricey, but you can also spend £10 in there.
What’s the gadget you use most often?
My Ninja food processor. I make a thing called green seasoning every week, which is like a big garlic, herby, delicious kind of paste that I use in nearly every single dish I make. I just make big jars of it and put it in the freezer. Because I use food processors so much, they die, and the Ninja’s the only one that doesn’t die on me.
Ninja 3-in-1 food processor
What’s the purchase you regret the most?
I do sleep shopping! I’m pretty menopausal, so I take sleeping pills. When I’m half falling asleep and lying in bed on my phone, I scroll and shop. I don’t even remember that I’ve done it. And then weird things turn up. I’m like, what the hell is that? I bought a weird Tory wife outfit … Awful! I really need to stop it.
What’s the thing/s you get delivered?
Oh, God, everything. I get my hard goods, like dishwasher tablets and that sort of thing, because I can’t be bothered to lug them around. Clothes. And books. I do like to physically go to a bookshop, because I love a bookshop, but I do also get them delivered. I get Audible as well, so I get them downloaded into my phone. But I like going shopping – I like physically to go and have a shop about.
Where do you buy your underwear?
M&S, M&S, M&S! I love it. Proper knickers, good bra, and you can get little crop-top bra things, or a really great underwired, serviceable daily bra, or something lacy and delightful.
Non-wired crop top
What would you buy with £20 – and £200?
If I had £20, I’d probably go to the fishmonger. At Christmas, I bought this really nice halibut, which was more than £20 actually, but it was really, really beautiful. I love really good fish.
If I had £200 … I do like a really good coat. I bought myself an incredibly expensive Max Mara coat a couple of years ago – it was four and a half thousand pounds. I’m not great at spending money on myself, so I had to have a WhatsApp group to allow me to buy it. Everybody was going, “Go on, do it!” It took me a week [to decide]. It makes you feel like a million dollars, because it cost about a million dollars! But for £200, you could get yourself a pretty good coat. In fact, I bought a great Topshop coat online for £130 – a giant green shaggy fur coat that I really am rather fond of.
Ludmilla tobacco coat
Faux fur green coat
What’s your saved search on eBay/Vinted?
I’m not on either thing. I bought a sofa once on eBay about 15 years ago. And I only went on Vinted for the first time about a week ago, and I couldn’t quite work it out. I’m sure I’ll get my head around it.
[But] if I had a save, it would probably be standing lamps. It’s quite hard to find nice ones. I also love really good, lovely rugs, and they’re so expensive. I’m sure Vinted will show me the way into rugs.
What item do you buy on repeat?
I’ve developed an addiction to Ombar vegan chocolate. They’ve come out with this blond caramelised white chocolate. I literally eat half a bar every day – I’m totally addicted to it. The other day, they’d run out of it on Ocado, but they had it in Easter egg form, so I bought two Easter eggs. I’m like, OK, you’re gonna have to calm down. I’ve got braces on my teeth at the moment, so I can’t really eat loads of things. But I can eat that.
Ombar blond caramelised white choco bar
How do you make your coffee at home?
I can’t have coffee any more, which is deeply upsetting to me, because it just makes me really ill. But I’ve discovered how to make this really nice drink.
I don’t normally like matcha because it’s a bit bitter. Then I went to Ibiza and this woman made me matcha with Valencian orange extract in it, and pistachio, and made this delicious frothy, icy, vanillary drink. And I’ve worked out how to make it hot. You can get green pistachio oat milk, and matcha pods for the coffee machine. And I’ve got a milk frother. So it’s a pistachio latte, darling.
Valencian orange extract
Perfect Ted matcha Nespresso compatible capsules
Rude Health pistachio milk
What’s your biggest spurge?
My incredible friend, TV producer Stuart Prebble, passed away last year. He was an extraordinary man, and I was the officiator of his celebration of life ceremony. I went to [designer] Gabriela Hearst and got this beautiful suit that cost me about the same as that coat. It’s absolutely beautiful. It just hangs in the most incredible way. It’s got this little gold belt. It needed to be like that for Stuart because he was a royal human being. So I don’t regret that at all.
Epona chain blazer
And what everyday item do you scrimp on?
Stuff like kitchen roll. There’s a pound shop down on the corner, and I tend to bulk buy. And I love a nice candle – Ortigia sells these gorgeous ones – but I’m not spending £50 on bloody smelly candles. So I buy cheap facsimiles of them. They’re never as good, and it’s a waste. It’s actually a false economy because they’re kind of shit.
Ambra Nera Alabaster candle
What’s your greatest vintage find?
I’ve got a friend called Zoe Bedeaux, who is an extraordinary woman. Every year, she has a sale at her home, and she has the most incredible furniture, throws … Last year, I got an extraordinary vintage Yves Saint Laurent cloak. It’s grey with this amazing tassel that comes off the hood. I got some incredible Terry de Havilland shoes as well – what a man.
Vintage Terry De Havilland shoes
For more, read How I Shop with Patrick Grant and How I Shop with Nussaibah Younis
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