John Torode: 'I don't mind a bit of chaos but I like it with order'
My Happy Home: John Torode talks to House Beautiful about nosing around Taylor Swift's home, 2am toast, and the design trend he is least likely to follow.
John Torode is an Australian-born British chef and co-presenter of MasterChef and Celebrity MasterChef alongside hosting partner Gregg Wallace.
The former resident chef on This Morning also co-hosts ITV's Saturday cookery show, John and Lisa's Weekend Kitchen, with his wife Lisa Faulkner, who he met in 2010 when she competed in and won Celebrity MasterChef. The pair married in October 2019 and recently released their debut joint cookbook, John and Lisa's Kitchen, which blends 'everyday recipes from a professional chef and a home cook'.
John, who has four children from previous relationships, was awarded an MBE for services to food and charity in 2022. He and Lisa live in north London with their dog Rory and Lisa’s daughter.
What makes you the happiest at home?
JD: Knowing that home is safe and calm, and walking through the door and knowing that Rory, our dog, is here. We decided today that we're going to be more like Rory. He wakes up, jumps around, and is always very happy first thing in the morning, and we should probably be the same.
It's where you are comfortable and relaxed and can do whatever you like, whenever you want. You can walk around naked or make a bit of toast at half past two in the morning. When Lisa and I bought our house in north London, it hadn't been touched in 65 years and we did it up from top to bottom. It's a lovely end of terrace – very light and open at the back with a big kitchen, which is the centre of our home and where we spend all our time.
What is your favourite room in the house?
JD: Our garden. I've tried to make it like a room with different little spaces to sit. As an Aussie, being outdoors is really important to me. I need fresh air, space and blue sky to look up at.
What would we find on your bedside table?
JD: A stack of books, a couple of photos, the odd little thing from my children when they were young — a castle made out of clay and a little tea light in a house — and a pair of glasses. I have glasses upstairs and downstairs because the last thing I want to do is go to bed to read without my glasses and have to come back downstairs. It's a bore.
What's the best home bargain you've ever snapped up?
JD: We have plates, cups, platters and all sorts of stuff from charity shops. I love our bone-handled knives and forks, the old ones like my grandmother used to have.
And what's your biggest extravagance?
JD: A slightly quirky half-drinks and half-glasses cabinet. It cost a ridiculous amount of money and is unusual because it's made of wood and cloth. I bought it from the shop just off Oxford Street, which I stumbled across one day after a spin class. I think I was a bit euphoric so I bought it there and then. I didn't even know if it would fit the space but it did perfectly.
Describe your decorating style
JD: Joined up. Lisa and I have each brought things into the house and there are pieces we bought together. Our kitchen has got armoires and glass cabinets and a mix of old and new – such as Lisa's mum's spice rack next to a modern set of measuring spoons.
Have you ever had a decorating disaster?
JD: It still exists. There's a light above our kitchen table that's not fixed properly to the ceiling and I just can't be bothered.
What is the design trend you are least likely to follow?
JD: Minimalist hard surfaces and corners in various shades of white. I couldn't do it.
Do you collect anything?
JD: I've got a huge selection of knives and very nice glassware. They're maybe something my kids might like — something the old man used to have.
Describe the view outside your window
JD: A lawn that needs to be mowed, some wildflowers, a mirror that's falling apart and a couple of roses that need a trim.
What would you buy as a housewarming gift?
JD: These days, probably a candle or an incense holder with some really lovely incense and a box of matches. There are about 30 candlesticks in our house – we love the idea of having lots and lots of candles burning at a dinner table.
What is your dinner party aesthetic?
JD: We have a large central bench in our kitchen where we do all our food prep and when lots of people come around, all the food is laid out and then there's what's called the John Torode system.
The plates are put at one end, you walk around the bench in a certain way to get to everything, then at the end, you pick up your cutlery and go to the table or bench to sit down and eat. There has to be order to everything. I don't mind a bit of chaos but I like chaos with order.
Where do you shop for the best homeware?
JD: Liberty is my favourite shop in the world but not necessarily for homeware. I like Scandi homeware – very practical and clean-looking. I don't go for a particular brand – I like so many as well as a bit of secondhand.
What is your favourite object from your travels?
JD: Years ago I went to Thailand and bought a proper mortar and pestle and a coconut rabbit – a green wooden sculpture of a rabbit with a metal thing on the end of it to scrape the flesh out of a coconut. I've only used it once. Lisa just laughs at it and says, ‘I can't believe you've still got that bloody thing!'
Are you green-fingered?
JD: I'd like to be better at keeping things alive – I probably need to spend a bit more time and concentrate on it. In the UK, unless you're happy to garden in the wet and the sludge, it's always a bit difficult.
Describe your perfect Sunday...
JD: In bed until at least 10 o'clock - if we're not working we like to sleep in. Then probably a walk with a dog.
If you could snoop around anyone's house, whose would it be?
JD: I've got a fixation with Taylor Swift so I'd like to look around her house.
This or that with John Torode...
Eat to live or live to eat? Food is a big part of my life – cooking, eating, entertaining is what I do. I couldn't live if there wasn't food. It's part of my joy.
Quick shower or relaxing bath? Shower. Always. If I'm going to go in water, it's going to be for a swim in the sea.
TV in the kitchen? Absolutely not. Don't be ridiculous.
Entertain or be entertained? Both, but I'm definitely an entertainer. I'm a feeder.
Gadget guru or technophobe? Modern things that you need to plug in? Bugger that. I can't be bothered. But I do have lots of other manual gadgets like mandolins and mortar and pestles. I'd rather chop stuff up with a knife than use a Magimix.
Interior design: DIY or get someone in? Do it myself. I'm not going to get somebody else to tell me what I'm going to like.
Shoes off at the door. Yes or no? Always. Shoes off the door, socks off and barefoot.
John and Lisa’s Weekend Kitchen airs Saturdays from 11.40am on ITV1 and ITVX. Their debut cookbook John and Lisa's Kitchen is available now.
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