Chef Anna Tobias at Home: Arsenal, Eggs, Jean Cocteau, and Sarah Lucas

Anna Tobias is one of London’s chef’s chefs – a well-respected cook with one of the clearest culinary identities in the city. Her restaurant Café Deco is the quietly brilliant culmination of Tobias’ work, since 2008, with a succession of London’s most celebrated chefs – across the world’s of Modern British and European cuisine: Jeremy Lee at Blueprint Cafe and Quo Vadis, Margot Henderson at Rochelle Canteen, Ruth Rogers and Rose at the River Cafe, and a virtuoso beige food residency at P. Franco in 2018.

Tobias, who lives with her partner, in a flat in Newington Green, is low-key, wearing her talents lightly and always cooking with an unmistakable sense of self. She is a passionate follower of Arsenal football club, card player, wine lover, and one of those rare chefs who loves to cook at home with her friends. Here, she shares with Something Curated‘s Adam Coghlan a selection of the things she treasures most.

Photographed by Michaël Protin.

Bottle opener

Anna Tobias: When we opened Cafe Deco, my manager Benedict, gave everyone on the opening team a bottle opener each. I chose this one because it was the same colour as the awning outside. There’s also a tile, some of which are on the floor of the restaurant, that is a similar colour, which I later learned was called Deco green.

Jean Cocteau works

AT: This drawing by the poet, playwright, and artist Jean Cocteau was in my grandmother’s house in Normandy. Before that, it had always been in my house when I was growing up. When my father was leaving after my parent’s separated this was the thing I wanted. My ‘divorce settlement’!

AT: This was commissioned for the EU and were my aunts. I’m not sure she knows I have them but she’s obviously not missing them. It includes some stamps, which say, ‘these stamps are offered to everyone who believes in Europe.’ My grandparents on my dad’s side obviously really liked this artist.

Arsenal playing cards

AT: A double sentiment with these. Arsenal are a big part of my life – I’ve been going [to the Emirates stadium] since 2013 on my own for every home game.

I also play a lot of cards with my partner. It partly holds our relationship together, but also threatens to tear it apart as well. It gets quite competitive but it’s a nice thing.

I always have a pack of cards when we go to the pub just in case; and it’s always a good alternative to to flopping on the sofa and a good way of winding each other up.

Ashtray / boiled egg pan

AT: So this was other grandmother’s – on my mum’s side. It’s absolutely perfect for two boiled eggs. Apparently though, it used to be an ash pot for cigarettes, or for emptying the ashtrays into at the end of the night. That side of the family were Serbian – they moved to London after the war.

Hand-written recipe book

AT: All of my recipes from my first job, when I worked at [Jeremy Lee’s] Blueprint Cafe in 2008, to now are in here. It’s actually a Moleskine address book. Before smartphones, you had to write down the recipes: pastry, creme pat… everyone had their own little book. At the River Cafe, I didn’t use it. But then again at Rochelle Canteen I did. We use all these recipes today at Cafe Deco.

I’ve typed them all out now because it’s falling apart and the pen is disappearing.

We now have versions of these at Deco so we keep things written down.

Ring

AT: I’ve had this ring for about 15 years, I think. I got it after a cousin of my mum’s died quite unexpectedly. She left all the young people in the family, also unexpectedly, an amount of money. I was in my early 20s and decided to get a ring made. It’s probably not something I would do now – it seems quite extravagant. I’m now thinking about the future and I’d have probably saved it. But I’m so glad I did it. I love it.

Sarah Lucas signed print

AT: I had a year abroad as a student in Vienna – in 2007. There was this Sarah Lucas show on at one of the museums in the city and I bought this postcard of Self Portrait with Fried Eggs. I thought she looked so strong in the image – an image of a strong woman. I remember being like, ‘woah.’

I’ve since done dinners for Sarah Lucas – she’s lovely. I actually did a dinner when I was cooking at Rochelle Canteen and working for Arnold and Henderson in … Vienna – it was full circle. She had this exhibition called ‘nob’ and they’d printed the covers for the books the wrong size so Mel [Arnold] and Margot [Henderson] decided to use the uncut prints as tablecloths. And at the end, I took one and got her to sign it. She drew some breasts on it and it sits above my toilet.

All photographs by Michaël Protin.