MY BEST-EVER CHRISTMAS

RAVINDER BHOGAL, AUTHOR AND RESTAURATEUR

hristmas is about being with the ones we love so I want it to be easy. I stock up on delicious artisan charcuterie and cheeses (La Fromagerie’s truffle brie a must), Fortnum & Mason’s florentines and smoked salmon and pickles from Panzer’s deli. My late father shared his birthday with Jesus, so Christmas is celebrated in his memory – we had birthday cake instead of Christmas pudding and I still do this every year. We join our restaurant’s community at St Marylebone Parish Church for midnight mass then Christmas Day is a late lunch, jazz in the background, a table dressed with clementines, flowers and candles. We drink Pol Roger champagne or Jikoni negronis (vermouth swapped for port and pomegranate molasses) and serve dishes like saffron-infused turkey, panettone panzanella and the prettiest, and easiest, choux pastry wreath (left).(Bloomsbury) is out now.