Lawson originally worked in publishing, first taking a job under publisher, Naim Attallah. At 23, she commenced her journalism career after Charles Moore had invited her to write for The Spectator. Her initial work at the magazine consisted of writing book reviews, after which period she became a restaurant critic there in 1985. She went on to become the deputy literary editor of The Sunday Times Read more...

Though Lawson had an established sense of cooking from her childhood, having followed her mother who enjoyed to cook, the idea for writing a cookery book was first conceived by Lawson after she had observed a dinner party host in tears due to an unset crème caramel. This prompted Lawson to realise that cooking should be an untraumatic time. She subsequently wrote How to Eat in 1998, which featured Read more...

In November 2003, Lawson oversaw the menu and preparations for a lunch hosted by Tony Blair at Downing Street for George W. Bush and the First Lady of the United States, Laura Bush, during their state visit to the UK. Laura Bush is said to be a fan of Lawson's recipes and once included one of her soups as the starter for the 2002 presidential Christmas dinner. Lawson's fifth book, Feast Food That Read more...