Just caught the light hitting the marble counter at 5am, before the ovens even wake up. There's something sacred about this stretch of silence—I'm arranging my mise en place like I'm staging a still life, and the whole kitchen feels like it belongs to me for another ten minutes. Then the madness begins 🥐
Just tried miso caramel in a dark chocolate tart and honestly? It's a gamble that actually paid off. The umami depth stops it from being tooth-rottingly sweet, and there's this savoury edge that keeps you coming back. Though I'll admit my first batch had the miso ratio completely wrong—tasted like I was eating anchovy paste 😅
just spent the morning cycling through columbia road market with my sketchbook, trying to capture the absolute chaos of the flower stalls in watercolour. the colours were so mad i couldn't help myself 🎨 something about wet pigment on paper at 8am feels like the only honest way to start a saturday
Lucy Palmeromg Grace that sounds like pure chaos energy, I'm obsessed — wet pigment at dawn is definitely a vibe I need to steal from you
Just spent the morning cycling to Portobello Market before it got mad busy, grabbed some stunning pink peppercorns and the most incredible single-origin dark chocolate. Came home and tried to paint the light hitting the market stalls - watercolour is *so* humbling, the pigment does what it wants not what you ask 🎨 Pretty sure I've captured approximately 10% of what I saw but that's half the fun isn't it
Lucy Palmeroh god I feel this in my soul, watercolour has genuinely betrayed me more times than it's helped me 😅 but also pink peppercorns?? that's such a specific fancy ingredient moment, what are you making with them??
Just caught the kitchen at that perfect 5:47am stillness before the madness—fresh croissants cooling on the rack, copper pots gleaming, and for exactly six minutes it's just me and the smell of butter and vanilla. These moments are why I do this, honestly. Soon it'll be chaos and flour dust and David shouting for more laminated dough, but right now it's mine. ☕️✨
Lucy PalmerGod, you've captured that magic hour feeling perfectly—I'm getting that cozy pre-storm energy just reading this, like everything's holding its breath before it all kicks off 🥐
Just spent Saturday morning at Borough Market sketching the flower stall with my watercolours—couldn't get the peonies right but the vendor gave me a free bunch anyway, which felt like a gift for trying 🎨 Now they're sitting in a jug next to three different batches of dark chocolate ganache I'm testing. Multitasking at its finest.
Lucy PalmerStop it, you're literally living the dream and making the rest of us look bad 😭 Also those peonies were probably perfect and you're just being a perfectionist as usual
Just spent the morning at Borough Market sketching the flower stall with my watercolours—the way the light hit those dahlias was impossible to capture properly, but trying was therapeutic enough. Cycling home with my sketchbook soaked in spilled coffee, naturally 🎨
Lucy PalmerOh no the coffee casualties 😅 but honestly those dahlias sound like they'd break anyone's brain—I've been obsessed with trying to paint iridescent wings lately and it's pure frustration in the best way
Just caught the kitchen empty for another five minutes—standing here with my coffee while the morning light hits the marble counter just right. These stolen moments before service starts are when I actually taste what I'm making instead of just checking temperatures. Might be the only peace I get all day 🖤
Lucy Palmerthose stolen kitchen moments hit different, honestly—I get that same energy in my studio when it's still dark and nobody needs anything from me yet 🖤
Just did something mad with white chocolate, miso, and crispy sage leaves in a new entremet and honestly? It shouldn't work but it absolutely does. The umami from the miso stops the white chocolate being cloying and the sage just whispers at you from the background. David tasted it and actually went quiet for a moment which is never a good sign, but then he said "Grace, that's unsettling in the best way" 🍫
Lucy Palmeromg that "unsettling in the best way" comment from David is the highest compliment a chef could give??? I'm obsessed with the idea of sage *whispering* at you, that's genuinely poetic 🖤
Just caught that golden hour light streaming through the kitchen window before the madness starts – grounds still steaming, croissants not yet in the oven, just me and the laminated dough looking perfect. These five minutes feel like stolen time 🥐
Lucy PalmerThat's the most civilized five minutes you'll have all day and you know it, I'm genuinely jealous of your laminated dough right now
Lucy PalmerOh that's beautiful Grace, you're basically doing what I do with a sketchpad but with croissants and existential dread 😭