Angela Hartnett

The chef-patron of London’s Murano has just opened Hartnett Holder & Co in the New Forest’s Limewood Hotel. She tells Alicia Miller how her Italian roots have given her a taste for Sicilian holidays

I hate to be one of those people governed by food,

but it does make a difference when I’m planning a holiday. My next trip is to Padstow in Cornwall – where you’ve got Paul Ainsworth’s Number 6 (number6inpadstow.co.uk), Rick Stein’s Fish and Chips (rickstein.com) and, across the water, Nathan Outlaw’s in Rock (nathan-outlaw.com). Plus there’s the trip down: I’ll stop at Mark Hix’s place in Dorset (hixoysterandfishhouse.co.uk) and Mitch Tonks’s The Seahorse in Devon (seahorserestaurant.co.uk).

You can visit cities time and again;

you get to know them, but always discover new things. I go to Paris every year, and visit L’Astrance (00 33 1 4050 8440) which has three Michelin stars but is totally unpretentious. One of its signature dishes – though I do hate that phrase – is foie gras and lemon curd. I’ve been going for 10 years, and it’s still the same manager and sommelier.

I still make capellini like my grandmother taught me.

Growing up, summer holidays were spent visiting family in Italy – one of my earliest travel memories is taking the train from London to Venice with my brother. My aunt lived in Lignano, by the sea, so when we went there we always ate a lot of fish. My grandmother was in the hills in Baldi, where it was about the meat.

Finding a good ripe peach in this country

is like finding a block of gold, but it’s not like that in Italy. Sicily is my favourite, because it’s still quite undiscovered: beautiful, but slightly run down. The cuisine is so fresh. The pasta is light because it’s eggfree, and there are plenty of vegetable dishes, with combinations such as aubergines with capers and raisins. Because the produce is great, I rent out a place and cook for myself.

There’s a great restaurant in San Francisco

called Quince (quincerestaurant.com). It doesn’t have a bar area so you have to walk around the block until your table is ready, but it’s worth it. I love Alice Water’s place too (chezpanisse.com).

I could spend a whole day in Eataly

in New York (eataly.com). The city’s Italian food is excellent; it tends to be spicier than here, as there are more southern Italians. I go to Torrisi (torrisinyc.com); during the day it’s a café, at night they do a set menu. Of course, American cuisine is great too – Gramercy Tavern (gramercytavern.com), Shake Shack (shakeshack.com)…

Living in East London,

I often eat at St John Bread and Wine (stjohngroup.uk.com). I’m looking forward to trying Beagle (beaglelondon.co.uk) – the chef, James Ferguson, used to work for me. Brawn (brawn.co), Moro (moro.co.uk) and Japanika (japanika.co.uk) are other favourites. I’m not big on bars, but we have a great local called The Golden Heart (020 7247 2158), run by a woman named Sandra who’s been there about 20 years.

If I wasn’t a chef

I’d be a forensic pathologist. You know, the person that says, ‘he was killed at 9pm, with a knife, in the kitchen.’ Though I don’t know about the goriness – I can happily bone a pigeon, but I’m not sure about handling a crime scene!