Out to lunch with former international model Rosemary Vandenbroucke at Gough’s on Gough

We are sitting in a small private room on the 2nd floor of Gough’s on Gough, the new Timothy Oulton modern British restaurant in SoHo, surrounded by incredible craftsmanship of vintage inspired furnishings from this quintessential British furniture designer. The black leather booth fills the room, overlooking Gough Street and a quirky zebra wall hanging lurks in one of the corners.

Sitting across the booth is Rosemary Vandenbroucke, who was an international model at the age of 14, and who later evolved into a singer-songwriter and actress. She’s in casual attire with no make-up. “I’ve just come from teaching a class,” she says.

These days Vandenbroucke is a certified yoga instructor and a qualified health coach. “I just finished my 500 hours with a flash mob in the middle of one of Bali’s most famous shopping malls,” she says. “It was an hour-and-a-half-long event where we incorporated a journey through the five senses and five elements - we had afra house dance movements, followed by yoga, when I put every one into shevasana [a pose where participants lie flat on their backs while breathing deeply]. We had an amazing electric cellist, playing and entrancing everyone.”

As we peruse the menu by head chef Arron Rhodes, who is renowned for his clean and sustainably sourced ingredients, Vandenbroucke - a recent convert to vegetarianism - eyes the dashi custard with sea urchin, shimeji mushrooms, trout eggs and teriyaki sauce. “I may have to make an exception today and try this,” she says.