Louisa O’Connell and Victoria Hessel spent so many years running in overlapping circles that they don’t even remember where they first met. Both north Londoners, they were born a month apart in the same hospital, and attended the same house parties to blow off steam from their respective strict Catholic boarding schools. They officially met at Edinburgh University, and were just friends at first. However, Louisa had an inkling. The proof? She always held onto her 21st birthday card from Victoria, “so there must have been something there”.

Still, it wasn’t until a decade later that Louisa finally made her move, inviting Victoria over what she thought was a group dinner party but was actually a meal for two (starring home-grown celeriac). “I knew how much Victoria loved food and I wanted to

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