Anna Hansen

After washing dishes at the French House as a 23-year-old arrivé in London, the New Zealand-raised chef was hooked on a career in food. She talks to Alex Mead about her Danish roots and Kiwi haunts

My first job in food was almost with Air New Zealand,

but my mum talked me out of it because of the anti-social hours. After that, I forgot about pursuing that kind of career until I moved to England when I was 23 and got a job washing dishes at the French House for Margot and Fergus Henderson. As a kitchen porter, you got involved in the prep side and when Margot agreed to train me, it was the best thing that could’ve happened. And it was good timing, too, as it really felt as if London was starting to reinvent itself on the food front.

I’ve just got back from a trip to Italy with my sous chef

and we visited this amazing butcher in Andria called Lo Scrigno dei Sapori. He put some horsemeat through the mincer, seasoned it with salt and pepper, added some lemon juice and fennel seeds, put it in a crusty bun and handed it over. It tasted like a really good-quality beef tartare. We also went to Antichi Sapori, a restaurant where they use an out-of-this-world cow’s milk ricotta – it’s so rich, smooth and creamy. We ate mule fillet steak there. It’s got that buttery, rich, wagyu feel, but it’s incredibly lean and tastes delicious grilled rare and sprinkled with salt.

For my last big holiday, I went to Pula in Sardinia,

where there’s a place called Su Furriadroxu (sufurriadroxu.it) that’s open only in the summer. You go through a garage door, walk past this big fireplace with suckling pigs rotating on a spit and into a courtyard to eat. You can hear the chefs in the kitchen hacking meat with their massive cleavers – the big chunks they serve on wooden platters. They do a lot of mutton, cured hams and salamis, too, and hard sheep’s milk cheeses.

When I go back to New Zealand, I’m bit of a homebody

and don’t venture out of Auckland. But the last time I was there, I went to Ponsonby Road Bistro (http://ponsonbyroadbistro.co.nz). It serves modern, Mediterranean food with a twist, but it’s not fusion, though, having said that, they do an amazing Thai clam curry. The chef, Sarah Conway, is British and cooks nutritional dishes with lentils, quinoa and rice that are light, seasonal and fresh.

I have never had a bad meal at Public in New York

(http://public-nyc.com). It’s a beautiful restaurant and you’re made to feel special when you’re there – the service is so good. I always have the tasting menu. Every dish is delicate and not fussy, but with some really intricate flavours and a lot of Asian influence.

I love the cold noodles with hot broth at Koya

(http://koya.co.uk). The noodles start off chewy, then you drop them in the broth and they yield. It’s refreshing food and leaves you feeling energised.

When I go to Copenhagen with my mum to visit family,

we tend to order quite traditional Danish food at somewhere like Aamanns (http://aamanns.dk). It’s all about fabulous ingredients such as herrings. And then there’s the rye breads, and the pastries – and, of course, marzipan with everything.