Marie Mitchell was once a deeply fussy child, so food was never the obvious choice, but having always loved to host, and showing people love by sending them home with a full belly, it morphed into the most natural one.

Marie started hosting bi-monthly supper club, Pop’s Kitchen, back in September 2015, with her dad, Earle, helping in the kitchen and mum, Barbara, on hosting duty. That led to her meeting rum pop-up hosts, Joe and Biko, and the trio began collaborating in 2016. It became obvious they were on to something, and from residencies at Styx bar in Tottenham, and Green Rooms hotel in Wood Green, they soon created Island Social Club.

Biko moved on to pastures new, and Marie and Joe took up residency in Curio Cabal in Haggerston for 2019, supplying thousands of customers rum and roti for the year. The pandemic hit, and shifted plans for many in hospitality, including Joe, and Marie secured a book deal, with her hotly anticipated debut cookbook Kin being snapped up by Particular Books after it went into a four-way auction.

Marie believes the best conversations are to be had at the dinner table, and she is an advocate for social inclusivity, sustainability, and creating spaces for self-care and mental health awareness. Nowadays she can often be found cooking, talking or writing about food.