Light Dinners

We hired Chelsea to be our evening waitress – a 19-year-old the size of a toddler, brimming with energy and cheer. She lived in a big house in Palmers Green with her brother; five sisters; their various partners and friends; a dog; a parrot; and her mum, Adele, a gifted chef and a free spirit who had had a few restaurants in South Africa before she moved her brood to north London.

These kids grew up in Adele’s restaurants – serving, cleaning, chopping, chatting – so Chelsea had no trouble fitting in at Honey & Co, taking the job in her stride. She and Rachael fell instantly in love, and Rachael took her on as the little sister she never had. For the first few weeks they were inseparable. They would approach tables together, Rachael always introducing them in her northern accent: ‘I’m Rachael, this is Chelsea.’ They would go out after work to a spot down the road that they called ‘the vibrating pizza place’ and stay up all night drinking cheap wine in Fitzroy Square.