The Lowdown: Diego Ricaute of Palmito

What’s your favourite comfort food?
I really like my mum’s chicken soup. It’s very simple. It’s a clear broth. She puts potatoes in it that she boiled separately and adds them at the end. Everybody in the family learned to make it, and we all make it for our families as well. She makes a peanut chilli sauce to go with it. It’s a very traditional Ecuadorian thing, just chilli, peanut butter, a little cumin and some fresh coriander. I use that at the restaurant sometimes; some people love it.

Are you a coffee or tea person, and how do you take it?
I love tea. I think it’s gone out of fashion, but it should be coming back. My favourite shop is The Tea and Biscuit Club in Arundel. It’s owned by an old English boy; he’s amazing at mixing teas. It’s a hidden gem. I always have a different tea that I take to work from home. I love all kinds of tea, but I really love oolong tea.

What is the best thing about being a chef and restaurateur?
Seeing people happy on a daily basis. With food, you can connect to people in a way that is very personal and in a way that other things cannot do. Food is essential, but it can also be fun. It’s really good to be part of that; it’s basically what made me become a chef.

What’s the next restaurant on your hit list?
Legado in London, the latest restaurant from Chef Nieves Barragán Mohacho. I like her other restaurant, Sabor. I like that way of cooking. The simple way is quite difficult to get right. I love the way that they bring Spanish food into the UK. They make it authentic, they source the best producers, and they keep it how it should be.

What is the best food destination in the world and why?
Galicia in Northern Spain. It’s super underrated. It’s undiscovered. Even within Spain, people don’t go there. It’s wet and cold but very beautiful, like Wales. A lot of Portuguese and Basque people go there. I haven’t had a bad meal there, especially seafood. It’s got the best seafood in the world, at least in the top three. It’s still very rustic, but there are upcoming chefs; there’s lots going on. I think in a few years you’ll hear about it in the same way people talk about the Basque Country and San Sebastian.

What’s the best thing you’ve eaten in a restaurant or cafe recently?
I had a chicken sandwich in Copenhagen at a place called Poulette. They’re quite famous; it’s an Instagram thing. It’s a tiny room and there are four people making chicken sandwiches with brioche, crispy chicken thigh, a little chilli sauce and pickles. It was perfect, it was so good it actually changed my mind about Instagram food. I haven’t stopped thinking about it.

What would be your ideal way to celebrate your birthday, food and drink-wise?
My idea for next year is that I would like to go to Ntounias in Crete in the mountains. I’ve been there twice before, and it’s the best food I’ve had in a long, long time. The chef cooks from his farm on the side of the road. He’s got this little taverna. You’ve got to go there at midday. It costs about 25 euros. It’s slow food, and he cooks over wood. He makes cheese with fresh goat’s milk, then baby goat, and then a little bit of raki. The best thing is that he fries potatoes in olive oil over wood; the best chips I’ve ever had.

Diego Ricaurte is chef/director of Palmito restaurant‍