“Pret was a thing I did almost subliminally, often mainly for a few minutes of downtime, sat quietly alone in the middle of dozens of strangers, sharing tiny tables, breathing each others' recycled air and scrolling mindlessly through our phones.”

English columnist, broadcaster and author

Grace Dent is an English columnist, broadcaster, and author, known for her work as a restaurant critic. She has written about food and dining for major British newspapers and television. She is a restaurant critic for The Guardian and, from 2011 to 2017, wrote a restaurant column for the Evening Standard. Since 2025, she has co-presented the BBC series MasterChef.