British Vogue - 09.2019

HAIR: DIANA MOAR. MAKE-UP: SARAH REYGATE. NAILS: LAUREN MICHELLE PIRES. DIGITAL ARTWORK: JOHN HEYES. MOFAD; THREE BLUE DUCKS; GETTY IMAGES

VOGU E DA R LI NG

Since being awarded a Michelin star in 2016 for

her mouthwatering Asian-fusion dishes at Pidgin

• her former restaurant in London’s Hackney – the
  Singapore-born, Maidenhead-raised chef Elizabeth
  Haigh (née Allen) has married, had a baby and
  kickstarted Kaizen House, a new restaurant concept
  through which she is “changing the perceptions of
  what it means to be a chef ”. With her new venture,
  the 30-year-old has created a digital platform for
  recipe sharing, overseen pop-ups, and taken up
  residences, serving her delectable fare everywhere
  from Copenhagen to New York – and all with her
  toddler and her business-partner husband in tow.
  Her mission is to make the quality of her working
  environment match her food. “Kaizen House is
  influenced by my son and the recipes I’m developing
  through my experience as a mother. Being a parent
  in the restaurant business isn’t easy,” she explains.
  “There needs to be a lot more maternity support.
  Once I’d had a child, people assumed I didn’t want
  to work. I felt like my career halted, but I’ve come
  back with a vengeance.” Olivia Marks

“My work

in the kitchen

means my hands

need constant

moisturising. I use

Kiehl’s every day,

and I’m a sucker

for anything by

Aesop.” Kiehl’s

Ultimate Strength

Hand Salve, £22

“My husband is

Australian and we

got married in

Byron Bay, at a

restaurant called

Three Blue Ducks.

They have a farm

and I love their

low-waste ethos.

Instead of a

cutting of the cake,

we had a carving

of the beef.”

“Before I was a chef, I was an architect and

wanted to specialise in interior spatial design.

I am drawn to Brutalist buildings like Tate

Modern. I love that space, it’s so iconic.”

“As a

parent,

my

most-

used

emoji

is...

“I live right next door to a

Petit Bateau – my son looks

so cute in a yellow raincoat.

Grimm’s is great for wooden

toys. It encourages more

imaginative play, but it does

mean there are a hundred

bits for me to find.”

Coat, from £74, Petit Bateau

“The last exhibition

I saw was Chow:

Making the Chinese

American Restaurant,

at the Museum of Food

and Drink in New York.

It’s about Chinese

immigrants and their

food, flavours and

history. Fascinating.”

“I never have

time to read, so

I love Blinkist – it

gives snippets of

non-fiction that

you can absorb

in 15 minutes.”

Elizabeth

Haigh

“I’m always

in PolkaPants

in the kitchen –

I even took a

white pair to my

wedding. Chef’s

whites can be so

big but these are

cropped, tight

and more

feminine.”

Trousers, £99,

PolkaPants

Elizabeth wears

dress, £1,250,

JW Anderson.

Shoes, £495,

Christian

Louboutin.

Photograph:

Laura Bailey.

Styling:

Julia Brenard

”

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