#3 Vanessa Maria
On Chinese restaurants in the club, calamari and her Jamaica-meets-Germany palate
Welcome to the third edition of Salt Fat Acid House, a newsletter about your favourite DJ’s favourite food. You can check out the previous mailers with object blue and Conducta.
Vanessa Maria is one of those do-it-all people within London’s dance scene that helps keeps electronic music so fresh and vibrant. The DJ, radio host and podcaster is one of Foundation FM’s regulars (catch her every third Tuesday of the month, 6-8pm) and a charismatic interviewer for Resident Advisor’s podcast series. As a DJ, her style is fast-paced, with that magic ability to connect the dots between breaks and jersey club, baile funk and pop edits that’ll have you frantically searching Bandcamp.
As well as being a super-skilled selector (check out her HÖR and Fabric closing sets), Vanessa Maria is also passionate about helping others break into the industry with helpful TikTok how-tos, and is refreshingly frank about topics such as performance anxiety and mental health. She co-founded Don’t Keep Hush, a platform to get people in dance music talking about what’s on their mind.
Earlier this year, she got “dragged” on Twitter for waxing lyrical about De School’s in-club restaurant that had her happily munching on grilled asparagus and broccoli at 5am (for the record, she knows people like eating chips after a night out, she’s just a big fan of vegetables). Below, Vanessa talks about another in-club dining experience, having two chefs for parents, and her sparkling water addiction.
What are some things you always have in your kitchen?
Jerk seasoning, because I’m Jamaican and I’m German. So with the German side of things, a lot of potatoes… I also love pastry – my mum’s actually a pastry chef and my dad’s a chef. There’s always some baked goods in my house because that’s just what I grew up on. It has to be sourdough or rye bread, or pumpernickel. I always get complaints about the state of the bread in my house, because everyone here likes very soft bread, but the bread is very dense in Germany, it’s very nutritious.
Did you have some amazing meals growing up, then?
I did and I didn’t. Because I think when you do it as a profession, you’re not really wanting to do it at home as well. So we’d have quite hearty one-pot meals, things like schnitzel, sausages. There, traditionally, your evening meal is your lunch. So you have a big meal for lunch, the kids come home from school and you all eat lunch together and then you go back. A lot of people have bread and butter for dinner.
Where do you normally eat out in London?
If I’m in South London I love getting Caribbean food – True Flavours in Brixton, that’s my favourite Caribbean place. I always get ackee and saltfish, it’s really traditional like my grandma made it. I love the whole Dalston strip – Andu Cafe which is an Ethiopian spot and super cheap as well: cozzie livs! The Turkish restaurants are also so good. Umut 2000, the place that got remodelled, it’s now really popping and yeah, that place is amazing.
Is there a meal you’ve had that really sticks in your mind?
The best calamari I’ve ever had was in Dalston, at a place called Zer Middle East Kitchen. It was on my birthday after a DJ set and me and my sister couldn’t believe it. It was like they’d caught it that day, it was just so fresh.
Have you found any good food spots while on tour?
I was playing in Amsterdam and was taken to this place called Sexy Land which was the club, but inside the club there’s a Chinese restaurant. It’s a hidden gem, it’s top notch. There’s only a few tables but it was insane – the food was Sichuan which is my favourite. It was the setting of it: it was a proper club but the restaurant was very traditional, ornaments everywhere, it was so random.
What’s on your rider?
It’s so healthy! I have a Huel on there so that in the morning if I want breakfast I’ll have something. I don’t think I’ve ever got one though, as it’s quite niche! I have fruit, carrot sticks, breakfast bars, but yeah, nothing crazy. I put on high-quality tequila but that’s more for the people I’m with, I don’t really drink that much any more – I’m trying to do this year sober.
What do you tend to drink now, if you’re swerving the booze?
I love sparkling water – that’s a very German thing. I can’t really drink still water. In Germany you don’t drink tap. My granddad used to always have crates and crates of it because it would be insane to drink still water. There’s a bottle of it in every room just in case he needs some! If you go to someone’s house and you ask for water, they’ll pour you a glass of sparkling.
I used to drink gin and tonics, but quite specific: a shot of elderflower cordial, extra ice, extra lemon and a slice of cucumber. That’s my drink. I love a cocktail, so even if I do a normal drink, I have to turn it into something. Also, if I’m bringing a bottle somewhere, I’ll bring Martini Asti. I’m always putting people onto it! It’s this really sweet sparkling wine and it’s only like £10. Every time someone tries it they’re like, ‘Whoa, how did I not know about this!’
You’re having people over for dinner. What are you making?
I love hand food, so tacos, chicken fajitas, or my own version of small plates. Grilled aubergine, houmous, flatbread, skewers. I’m a very lazy cook! I like it to be easy and for it to taste good. I don’t like having to marinate something for two weeks.
Before you go, check out some tracks that have been on rotation on Salt Fat Acid House HQ (which is currently – brag incoming – an Airbnb in Lisbon):