Clare Smyth is a British chef and operator of a Michelin-star-winning London restaurant, Core. She also appears in With Love, Meghan’s Season 2, and as it turns out, she’s been friends with the Duchess of Sussex for years. Smyth organized the meal for the Sussexes’ wedding reception at Frogmore House. Not only that, but Smyth took an interest in the Together cookbook, and she even accompanied Meghan to the Hubb Community Kitchen in November 2018 (those photos are below). Well, the Times of London profiled/interviewed Smyth this weekend, and Smyth is perfectly pleasant about Meghan, which pissed off the newspaper and left them scrambling to editorialize and bad-mouth WLM (because Smyth refused to do so). Some highlights:
Meghan’s knife skills: From the moment she stepped into the spotlight, the Duchess of Sussex has shown herself to be full of surprises, but the thing that most impressed Clare Smyth, a British chef, was her knife skills. “She’s pretty good at filleting a fish,” says Smyth, who runs Core, a three-Michelin-starred restaurant in Notting Hill, west London. “Meghan is actually really good at cooking and she’s creative, with a good palate,” says Smyth, who teaches her how to make a “very healthy poached halibut with seasonal vegetables and bone broth” in a forthcoming episode.
Her years-long friendship with Meghan: Smyth’s relationship with Meghan goes back several years. The duchess and duke were regulars at Core before Megxit and they hired her to cook for 200 guests at their private wedding reception at Frogmore House in Windsor. Does she consider Meghan and Harry to be friends? “Yeah, I would do … I’ve known them for a long time,” she says, after some careful thought and another long pause. “We stay in contact.” Meghan “personally reached out” to ask her to be on the Netflix show “right from the beginning, but we couldn’t get the timings to work”. Eventually, she flew to California late last year.
What she “taught” Meghan on WLM: “The idea was to teach Meghan how to do fine dining and what goes into that, rather than just something you can make at home,” she says. They went to the fish market to buy fresh halibut and picked loads of herbs and vegetables from the Sussexes’ garden in Montecito. “It was about showing her that level of detail and giving her tips on presentation and skills … she was really interested in that,” Smyth says. Meghan also wanted to recreate Smyth’s speciality sourdough recipe served at Core that the duchess “loves” — but Smyth had to explain that it used a 20-year-old starter. “I told her the process would be too long for the show,” Smyth says, so they made Parker House bread rolls, another Core speciality, instead.
The Sussex wedding reception menu: At the time of their wedding, it was widely reported that Smyth cooked wagyu beef burgers for them. It is a rumour that clearly irks her. “It wouldn’t take a lot to figure out that we probably didn’t cook burgers,” she says, rolling her eyes and gesturing around the 54-seat dining room. At the wedding, she actually served some of Core’s signature dishes including “potato and roe”, a jacket potato that takes 25 hours to prepare (24 of it for marinating), and roast chicken with a twist — a nod to Harry’s proposal, which apparently took place while he and Meghan were roasting a chicken on a cosy night in.
Smyth defends WLM: Smyth is so uncomfortable discussing MasterChef that it is unclear how she will cope with appearing on a programme as widely mocked as With Love, Meghan. The first series was subject to heavy criticism when it aired in March, with critics describing it as boring, vapid and “an exercise in narcissism”. The line-up of guests for the second series, which includes Chrissy Teigen, the American model turned celebrity chef, has been labelled “underwhelming”. “I’m not bothered about that at all,” shrugs Smyth. “It’s a show that’s quite sweet and nice … It’s easygoing and lighthearted.”
This is such a fascinating case study of a British person who refuses to pay the “Sussex tax” with the British press. That tax being “you have to say at least one negative thing about Harry and Meghan before you talk about anything else.” Smyth doesn’t play along, and I think it’s cool that she actually made the effort to fly to California to film an episode of WLM. It’s good exposure for her as well – she might very well be a famous chef in the UK, but WLM will give her international exposure. Incidentally, I keep seeing those pathetic stories about “why aren’t A-listers appearing on WLM??” A lot of Meghan’s guests are very serious food-industry people, and it’s awesome to see them on this show, and not on the Food Network’s Cupcake Death Battle.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Netflix.
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- LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 21: Meghan, Duchess of Sussex with chef Clare Smyth (R) as they visit the Hubb Community Kitchen to see how funds raised by the ‘Together: Our Community’ Cookbook are making a difference at Al Manaar, North Kensington on November 21, 2018 in London, England.,Image: 534664098, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR SEVEN DAYS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289, *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: /Avalon
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- LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 21: Meghan, Duchess of Sussex with chef Clare Smyth (R) as they visit the Hubb Community Kitchen to see how funds raised by the ‘Together: Our Community’ Cookbook are making a difference at Al Manaar, North Kensington on November 21, 2018 in London, England.,Image: 534664100, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR SEVEN DAYS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289, *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: /Avalon
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- LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 21: Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and chef Clare Smyth pose for a group photo with members of the Hubb Community Kitchen after visiting to see how funds raised by the ‘Together: Our Community’ Cookbook are making a difference at Al Manaar, North Kensington on November 21, 2018 in London, England.,Image: 534664102, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR SEVEN DAYS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289, *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: /Avalon
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- LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 21: Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and chef Clare Smyth visit the Hubb Community Kitchen to see how funds raised by the ‘Together: Our Community’ Cookbook are making a difference at Al Manaar, North Kensington on November 21, 2018 in London, England.,Image: 534665877, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR SEVEN DAYS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289, *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: /Avalon
Good on Clare for tackling this rat because they’re just full of bile. Yet they can’t help interviewing her 🙄
Reminds me of their attempts to bring down others like Waight Keller down to the gutter level because they happen to both respect Meghan.
“The duchess and duke were regulars at Core before Megxit
“it is unclear how she will cope with appearing on a programme as widely mocked as With Love, Meghan.”
Oh please fuck right off you Murdoch piece of shit. The issue is your contract with the Rottweiler and the Lazies. Why don’t you focus on them instead?
Good morning, good people!
I’m so excited! I was reading this thread when the email popped up:
AS EVER late summer DROPS TOMORROW!!
Confirmed just now on As ever Insta:
9:00 am Pacific Time, the next As ever drop hits, celebrating Season Two of WLM.
There will be a new fruit spread! And they are shipping out my gift of the Apricot Spread, which I’ve been *very patiently* waiting for, yay!
Just thought I’d share the happy news. Back to your regularly scheduled Sussex Success programming 😎🍯🐝
This popped up on my Insta and my first thought was “Kaiser will finally get her apricot spread”.
Still can only lurk and not buy from Germany, but I am happy for all of you restocking tomorrow. While I watch Season 2. Followed by a rerun of Season 1. Followed by Season 2, LOL.
@blogger the phrase “Smyth is so uncomfortable discussing MasterChef that it is unclear how she will cope with appearing on a program as widely mocked as With Love, Meghan. ” is actually worse as they are comparing the recent of issue of both male presenters being fired from the show, one for horrific sexual behavior to female staff and contestants to appearing in WLM.
I wrote this on another article today but will repeat: these people are the worst. They are the ones who criticized the show as”vapid” etc and then they turn around and try to make it sound as though those were the reviews from other, serious and actually unbiased people.
It sucks for them that people can see right through their propaganda.
Why did they even bother interviewing Clare if all they wanted to do was spin this into another unhinged hate article on the royal who is no longer taxpayer funded?
I know. All the criticism of #WithLoveMeghan came from the UK press and their associates but they are repeating this as if it was a worldwide consensus. This is exactly the tactic that they used in the “Netflix dumps the Sussexes” lie. They create the lie, repeat the lie incessantly and hope that it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy.
Yes!! It’s a sweet and nice show that’s easygoing and lighthearted. its not meant to change the world. It’s meant to make you feel happy and make you want to try something new and different in the kitchen or with fresh flowers etc.
I love how they tried really hard to get her to badmouth the Sussexes and she just wouldn’t.
It is a beautiful show to watch. I have watched worse things on YouTube, yesterday I watched a guy scramble eggs on a Blackstone grill, cooking shows are just very relaxing 🤓 I also bought a cuisinart toaster after seeing it on Meghan’s show.
Her comment about the British media’s “Meghan Tax” is disturbingly accurate, and it reveals their shoddy agenda all too clearly. When you have nothing honest to say about a woman, and must resort to cheap slander to “keep her in her place”, it shows the essential emptiness in your argument.
Cupcake Death Battle lol. The saltiest she got was when she said, “It wouldn’t take a lot to figure out that we probably didn’t cook burgers.” Which was awesome. Highlighting another lie told by the British press.
The British media only wants ” A-Listers” on the show so that they can dig into their social media and past interactions with Meghan to write stories about, and in the future if they don’t appear on something, don’t promote something, or don’t wish her a happy birthday they can claim that they hate her now.
I think it’s great that she is showcasing chefs that a lot of people who aren’t really dialed into the industry may not have heard of, doing basic recipes that most people can replicate at home. It gives for lack of a better term some respectability to the recipes, that makes them elevated but still accessible.
They never want to get into the fact that the show was ” widely mocked” by them, but still managed to be the highest rated culinary show for Netflix this year. They refuse to wrap their head around their lack of control. We said it was bad and you should hate it, how come you didn’t listen to us?
Also, I think it’s hilarious that a Michelin starred chef is so complimentary about Meghan’s cooking ability and palate, while that unwashed looking guy is always questioning whether or not she deserves to have a show.
Having industry insiders like Clare gives Meghan a whole lot of legitimacy. Simples. Meghan attracts classy, hardworking people at the top of their game because she is one herself.
Sucks to be that drug-addled chef whose notoriety can’t mask his lack of talent.
I think its a really interesting blend of guests on the show – from Meghan’s personal friends like Abigail Spencer and Daniel Martin to professionals like Clare Smyth, Jose Andres (both of whom are also M’s friends clearly but they obviously are well known chefs as well) to people who are new to Meghan like Roy Choi (but also have legitimate cooking credentials.)
So its not all “Meghan playing mahjong with her BFFs” but its also not all “Meghan learns a new recipe from a professional chef.”
I also like that Clare Smyth confirmed what some of us said a few weeks ago regarding people like her and Andres – that she was asked to be on the first season but couldn’t get the timing right. So it makes sense to me why they filmed the second season so soon – they probably had a window of time for some of these guests and wanted to film it while they had them.
All of the people who actually know Meghan (as opposed to those who have never met her yet have an opinion) have said the same thing. She is authentic and lovely with a very good work ethic.
I’m already looking for to season 2, now I’m even more excited as poached halibut sounds amazing!!
this is where the British press (and depressingly it’s not just the frothing tabloids, it’s the respectable papers too) have been hoist by their own pêtard: they begrudgingly concede that Meghan’s show is just a bit of lighthearted, highbrow homebody content (begging the question, what did they expect???) ….but then pivot to, oh, but, it’s more than that, it’s a plot for world domination, or, no, it’s less than that, it’s vapid, or mocked, or…. What have you. They desperately need to blow this woman up to the proportions of the stay-puffed doughboy in Ghost Busters so they can shoot her down, but Meghan has never pretended to be anything other than what she actually is, which is, an actress and a lifestyle blogger / influencer who loves to cook and married a prince. In one of the semi-sane pieces that Marina Hyde wrote (so sad, when she went rabid re: Meghan, I had to stop reading her, and I was a huge fan) about the whole imbroglio, was one in which she observed that being threatened by someone with Meghan’s California lifestyle vibe was like being threatened by a piece of kale. Which is to put Meghan down, in yet another way. And yet, there is a truth embedded in her put-down, which is, if you find Meghan threatening, you have some deeper questions to ask yourself. Why does one woman’s happiness, self-respect, and contentment actually trigger these people *so* badly? …..I leave the question open. Because it’s a question they should have asked themselves.
“Why does one woman’s happiness, self-respect, and contentment actually trigger these people *so* badly? …..I leave the question open. Because it’s a question they should have asked themselves”
Because they’re jealous. They have awful husbands who have affairs or leave them for their male lovers. They have to work and write their awful pieces because they never had the financial success Meghan had as an actress, and now Meghan’s rise is meteoric after trying to bury her.
As for the deranged Marina, the Guardian has added more to their anti-Meghan stable. They seriously have lost the plot for continuously attacking the royals who have left and are no longer publicly paid, while they steadfastly refuse to cover why the taxpayer funded heir is on a foreign billionaire’s yacht and why he refused to attend the VJ80.
Serious loss of credibility for the Graudian. Not a serious newspaper anymore.
In a way I don’t think it’s about Meghan at all. Those people are making an example of her, punishing her and showing what will happen to anyone else who is non-white who might consider joining the Royal family in the future. They are policing a white supremacist institution.
It’s widely mocked by the people who mock her for just breathing. So the mockery just becomes meaningless. Oh you think the show is vapid? Yeah but you also think everything about her is absolutely the worst thing ever so um no surprise there.
@Parkrunmum
“…………………..but Meghan has never pretended to be anything other than what she actually is, which is, an actress and a lifestyle blogger / influencer who loves to cook and married a prince.”
I have to push back hard at this description. If there isnt enough space to list all of M’s skills, abilities, capabilities, accomplishments and achievements, then one prolly shouldnt start. In Spare, at their first date, H writes that M’s CV was “dizzying.” And then he went on to list some of her achievements [see: Spare, Section 3, Chapter 3].]
When trying to encapsulate M’s dizzying career, its best to start with the fact that she’s a Type-A personality. A quick chatgpt search lists the core characteristics of Type-As as:
• Competitive & achievement-oriented.
• High-strung / intense
• Work-driven.
In this article with Clare Smyth, the RotaRat says M is “full of surprises.” [insert rolled eyes here] As if those f*ckrs havent scored the ‘net and hv seen, watched and listened to every vid and every interview and every public appearance M has done since she was a child.
PS:
There is and has never been anything to admire about Marina Hyde as a writer. Or a woman. Or a human being.
Thank you Kingston. That description, even if well-intentioned, came across to me as so astonishingly belittling and dare one say it, tabloidesque (considering M’s vast experiences, particularly her charity work and UN work) that it gave me pause. She is so much more than that description, and she was way more than that long before she met and married her prince.
CAN YOU IMAGINE WHAT SOME PEOPLE WOULD COMMENT IF MEGHAN WAS AS DUMB AS KATE 😳😳
I am so happy to once again see a cooking/lifestyle show like WLM that provides beautiful, homemade decorating ideas along with achievable recipes and fun ideas for the home. The Food Network should take note because I am sure I’m not the only one who is sick of watching stupid cooking competitions where the contestants must make 5 course dinner in 30 minutes with only sweetbreads and fruitloops.
this is to @HennyPenny, I hear you, 100%!!!! I am not a pro in the kitchen, by any stretch, and I’m *so* grateful to the people who make it feel achievable, feasible, and just a bit fun. I mean…. I do not get the whole pressurised macho world of baking a roast while whipping up a soufflé and filleting a whole salmon and purée-ing the veg like a Hindu deity with arms to spare. Just give me a lovely little dish to try, and I will work up my courage to try it, and hope not to screw it up. Cooking has lost its connection to real life, the day to day struggle to keep it all together that most parents endure. It’s not an Olympic event. My son does watch cooking videos on YouTube as a young teen in the same mood that he watches video games. It’s been commoditised and gamified to inanity. Meghan brings it back to reality. That’s what they’re missing when they accuse her of being showboaty. It’s actually the opposite, it feels like something you might actually achieve. But they don’t *want* to understand her appeal to normal people without an axe to grind.
This is exactly it 😍
Well, Clare is A-list in the culinary world and a total class act.
I like that Meghan has real chef’s on WLM. That is were you get good new tips for cooking. Having so called A-listers or celebrities on your program just produces some gossip.
Saltine Isle royalists have been waiting with tongues hanging out, for M to be seen on red carpets at every HW event, hobnobbing with movie industry starts and movie makers and other movers and shakers in HW, jsut so they can tear them to shreds.
They get so frustrated and angry with M, especially, for not living down to their expectations and what they tell their sycophants.
And it equally frustrates and angers them to know that H&M are equals with the movers and shakers in a wide range of industries and are out there being investors and job creators and deal makers and influential voices and are just as comfortable in their skin among the recipients of their generosity.
Late to the party- I finally was able to watch WLM season 1. I don’t see what all the criticism is about. It was perfectly enjoyable and ( dare I say) peaceful. I love what she does and how she does it on this show. Looking forward to season 2. I say – onward and upward.
Season 1 was so inspiring I had SEVERAL soirees in my beautiful downtown apartment for a couple weeks straight. Looking back, I am thinking where did I get this energy from?
I have liked Clare Smyth ever since reading this piece about how she manages a three star kitchen without shouting: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/aug/03/clare-smyth-worlds-best-female-chef-im-not-going-to-stand-and-shout-at-someone-its-just-not-nice
Thanks for this. She really is extraordinary.
Eeeeeeeeeee!!!!! I just got an email – my apricot spread is on the way!
They say they’re also going live with new products tomorrow.
Same! Just saw my email as well!
YES me too!!!!!! and it says more seasonal items coming tomorrow!!! YAY!
Cannot wait!
I find it so telling that Clare Smyth is still friendly with H&M.
She catered their own private party, the second reception after their huge, beautiful but drama-filled wedding, the party just for them and their friends & loved ones.
If that wedding wasn’t the most stressful event in Meghan’s life up to that point, I’m a green iguana.
So to stay friendly with your chef, after so much pressure? What does that say about our Princess Meghan, the woman who’s reported to be a bully, a whisper-screaming stiletto-stomping dictator who makes poor little staffers cry with just one 5 am email?
I can’t think of one single person, not directly beholden to the Left Behinds, who has actually worked with her, who doesn’t speak highly of her. And Harry is clearly just a good egg all the way through.
Meg has always said it best: Love Wins.
Wow the show hasn’t even aired yet and they are already interviewing guests. Meghan’s reach is amazing. I can’t wait to see what S2 looks like.
“Underwhelming”??? In what backwater of the world would Chef Jose Andres be considered underwhelming?
He’s an icon who (unlike Trump) truly deserves the Nobel Peace Prize.
And to have your knife skills favorably described by a chef of the caliber of Clare Smyth would be a life goal for most people who love to cook.
WLM isn’t meant to be a showcase for “A-listers”. It’s not a talk show and it’s not there to promote other people. I’m actually excited to see her chef episodes and it looks like fun. These bitter people could never admit to themselves that Meghan is curious, personable and has a great work ethic. They will try to talk to everyone associated with her snd try to make it negative. Anyway I’m excited to be getting my apricot jam and all the fun stuff happening tomorrow.