Zurich Legacy Kitchen Cookbook - Book - Page 81
L e g ac y K it c hen
Jono
Robson
My mum, Jo, was incredible, full of life
most incredible months of my life. We took
and joy. She was a very real person, with
her to the Savoy for afternoon tea and to the
absolutely no filter. She ran her own catering
ballet, and people constantly came to see
company, Treats, and I grew up helping her
her. There was this incredible outpouring of
as a waiter and in the kitchen. Her love of
love, and it made me incredibly proud to be
cooking rubbed off on me and eventually
her son.
inspired me to become a chef myself.
She died on Christmas Day. It was
She absolutely loved having the family
incredibly hard, but it felt fitting. For me and
together at Christmas. Every year, she
my brother, Oli, Christmas will always be
would make a delicious winter peppered
tied to her and that winter peppered stew.
stew, becoming the fabric of our childhood.
My dad sadly died six months later.
No matter what was happening, we knew it
Before she passed, we took a trip to
would be on the table.
the Lake District. Oli's wife, Esme, made a
I moved back to London when my
little book of memories from it. We went for
dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. A few
walks, meals and to a spa. It was incredibly
years later, my mum was diagnosed with
happy, despite everything. I still have that
stage-four stomach and liver cancer. She
book, along with mementos around the
was given two months to live and chose not
flat that remind me of them. I'm sad my
to have chemotherapy. She wanted to go
girlfriend will never get to meet them, but so
out on her own terms, with dignity.
much of their influence is part of who I am.
Those months were the hardest, but
I think that's the next best thing.
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