The Last Supper: No Angels actor Derek Riddell on his love of The Ivy and why there will be no fondue for his final meal
I’m full of the cold so if this really were my last supper I don’t think I’d be able to taste anything. I enjoy cooking but as soon as I became a parent that kind of went out of the window. I have nine-year-old twins, so dinner tends to be me thinking ‘Oh god, what can I make that everyone is going to eat?’ My meals are just what they’ve left.
I wouldn’t describe myself as a big foodie but I have a soft spot for The Ivy. I like restaurants that are comfortable and not too busy and not too fussy. You can have a cheap meal there, you can have an expensive meal there – it’s very adaptable. My partner took me for my first meal at The Ivy and I’ve eaten there with my mother when she was down from Glasgow, so I have lots of happy memories associated with it.
I love cooking curries, and Asian food in general. My partner and I spent two and a half months in India before we had the kids – I remember thinking I couldn’t possibly eat curry for breakfast every day for over two months but I absolutely did. I picked up a bit of a taste for the different flavours involved.
For my last meal I’m going to skip a starter as I have a real sweet tooth and I want to go out with a couple of desserts. So I’d kick it off with The Ivy’s roast chicken with dauphinoise potatoes in this lovely jus – you know what you get with The Ivy, it’s always going to be a great meal, and this dish is really nice and comforting, which is what I’d want from my last supper. I’d have a nice bottle of rioja on the go, too – I always find myself going back to rioja, it’s a nice easy drinking wine that I’m never disappointed with. That’s what I usually drink at home.
People often say they would have their mother’s home cooking for their last meal but, to be completely honest, my mother wasn’t the greatest of cooks. She had a few classic 1970s staples like chicken katsu curry and beef olive casserole, but they were nothing to write home about. Both my mother and stepfather were real Francophiles and sometimes the fondue set would get dusted off for dinner parties. But it’s just bread and ham dipped in very, very heavy cheese, so it’s not for me; I don’t even own a fondue set.
For dessert there would have to be chocolate involved, especially alongside the red wine, which is a favourite flavour combination of mine. I think I’d go for a chocolate mousse – I was working in Brussels a couple of years ago and eating in the little French style bistros and they have these pre-prepared mousses in the fridge that have this lovely melt in the mouth consistency. Then I’d get a crème brûlée. Classic. I don’t want any messing about with it, no raspberries or blueberries, just a good old fashioned crème brûlée with burnt sugar on top. I might feel a bit sick after two desserts but I’m hoping it just makes me fall asleep.
Then I’d take a double espresso with some sambuca in it. It’s all been a bit French so it would be nice to get some Italian in there too.
• Derek will next be seen in Fantastic Beasts:The Crimes of Grindelwald, out November 16