Given that I love all things French and that I am particularly enamoured with the south of France, having lived there for a year, you can imagine my excitement at going to Tapenade to talk to Laurie Faget. Laurie and her fiancé, Kevin Chassagne opened Tapenade in July last year having created a very provençal-feeling restaurant and French products boutique. I am always desperately wanting to be teleported to the south of France, so I was very happy to sit in a glorious yellow arm chair and hear Laurie and Kevin’s story while surreptitiously clocking the Orangina, foie gras, Amora mustard and packets of Lulu biscuits on the shelves. Laurie has crossed the line between front and back of house and swapped waiter’s knife for chef’s knives and is cooking up food from her childhood in the south of France. C’est genial!