Home is…
Kent, with Anna, my wife, my daughter sometimes — because that’s what you get with a 21-year-old — and now a baby boy called Sid. Been there two years. Before that we did Canary Wharf, Richmond, Bermondsey, Nunhead, Peckham… I delivered fruit and veg for 20 years, so I know London pretty well.
Favourite hotel?
Home Grown, Portland Square, is where I always stay. I like the fact that it’s a series of lounges, and they just keep bringing you things. I’m trying to get them to stop calling me ‘Mr Wallace’.
Where would you recommend for a first date?
It used to be Le Caprice: posh enough to make it look like you care, but relaxed enough that it doesn’t look like you’re showing off. It’s got a pianist, a bar you can wait at… after being married four times, I’m well versed in the first date thing.
Where do you work out?
A few Virgin Actives, but my trainer is in Canary Wharf. I’m fit as a butcher’s dog — 12 stone 8, under 19 per cent fat — and it’s all down to him.
What’s your London secret?
Sikh temples. You can eat in Sikh temples free of charge in London. Vegetarian food, really good, and lots of it!
Who do you call when you want to have fun?
You can do a lot worse than John Torode. He’s always up for sharing a quality bottle of wine. But if I want to socialise, the MasterChef crew. My last big Oh-My-God-We-Overdid-It-There night was with them.
Favourite pub?
If I’ve been out for dinner and we want to carry on, The Guinea in Bruton Place, off Berkeley Square.
Not many cars go down there, so you get people taking over the whole street. A lot of the old England rugby boys go there as well, so you can find yourself out on the street with Jason Leonard or Jerry Guscott.
Favourite shop?
Susannah Hall tailors in Clerkenwell. Everything comes out of there: trousers, shirts, coats, jackets, suits… everything.
If you could buy any building and live there, which would it be?
The White Tower at the Tower of London. It’s the first thing William the Conqueror built — I’m a big historian — and it’s perfectly situated: views across the Thames and Tower Bridge. And the space you’d have! Plus, you wouldn’t need security because there’s beefeaters everywhere.
Best meal you’ve had?
When my fruit and veg business went under — 20 years ago — I didn’t eat for two days because I was so stressed. Then I went for pie and mash at M Manze on Tower Bridge Road. I had two pies, double mash and liquor. I instantly felt better and started getting my life back together again. So not the poshest, but definitely the best meal I’ve had.
What are you up to at the moment?
I’ve got a book coming out with my wife. I’m working with WeFiFo, doing these events that are about getting communities back in their pubs. No single tables, or tables of two. It’s about getting people eating together again. Then more MasterChef. More Eat Well for Less. More Inside the Factory. It’s full-on.
‘Gregg’s Italian Family Cookbook’ by Gregg and Anna Wallace is out 30 May (£20, Mitchell Beazley)
