97. The Art of Dining: Christina Makris on restaurants with great art collections

Break Out Culture With Ed Vaizey by Country and Town House

This week we’re celebrating the festive season by talking to Christina Makris about fabulous places to eat out. Christina, an art and wine writer, a doctor of philosophy, an art collector, and a philanthropist, has scoured the world to find the best combination of art and food. She’s traveled to 100 cities over six continents and come up with a list of 24 – all collated in a beautiful new illustrated book called ‘Aesthetic Dining, The Art Restaurant Around the World’. She’s dedicated a section of the book to talking to artists, alongside Tim Marlow of The Design Museum, where you can read what artists like Ai Weiwei Anthony Gormley, Conrad Shawcross, Damien Hirst, Gary Hume, David Hockney, Maggi Hambling, Julian Schnabel, Michael Craig-Martin, Peter Blake and Tracey Emin think about food.

We talk to Christina as she’s about to have lunch at The Gunton Arms in Norfolk, owned by the art collector turned restaurateur Ivor Braka. She describes the art there and the glorious, enticing atmosphere, which guaranteed The Gunton Arms made it into the book.

The London restaurants are Langans, The Ivy, Mr. Chow, Scott’s, Hix, Sketch and the members’ club Groucho, now owned by Hauser & Wirth. This is a riveting listen about the best combinations of art and food across the globe from Sydney and Cairo to Zurich and Tuscany and we discuss everything from Peter Langan’s legacy in London to her favourite spots to eat from La Colombe d’Or in Saint-Paul de Vence in Provence to Kronenhalle in Zurich.