A couple of weeks ago I had the serious career highlight of being sent by Nowness.com to cover Angela Hartnett and New York chef Gabrielle Hamilton’s collaboration as part of the ‘Girls Night Out’ cooking series – a celebration of six of the world’s best female chefs. You can read about that, and see some fantastic photos from snapper Leigh Johnson here.

It’s fair to say both of these ladies are something of an inspiration. Angela Hartnett is the trailblazing London chef who made her name under Gordon Ramsay before going on to buy her Michelin-starred Mayfair restaurant Murano from him in 2010. Gabrielle Hamilton is the chef patron of Prune restaurant in New York, which she has been running for 12 years. Last year she published her candid chef memoir ‘Blood, Bones and Butter‘ to great acclaim, and won the prestigious James Beard NYC Chef of the Year award for her East Village eatery.

Here is an audio interview I recorded with the two women at Shoreditch House, during which they talk about how they came to cook together, their shared love of Italian cuisine, and their views on the male/female chef divide – or lack thereof. Enjoy!

Photo courtesy of Leigh Johnson