Our story

Every great journey begins with a story.

Growing up I’ve always loved the outdoors, wildlife, camping and adventures but like most young people, I never really appreciated food properly straight away, all I wanted was to eat well and then carry on with whatever it was I wanted to do next. Mealtimes at home, although important to my parents and we always sat at the family table, were for me merely a set time in the day, usually 6pm where we all sat down for tea before carrying on with our own jobs, hobbies, tasks, or leisure activities. As a family we used to holiday every summer in France on large campsites, fully set up family tents with whistling kettles a basic gas cooking hob and a set of plastic table and chairs outside. It was my brother and I’s job each morning to walk to the camp shop and buy the fresh baguette and croissants for breakfast that we would often nibble the end off whilst walking back to the tent. Another holiday favourite was to walk along the French pine wood that led to the beach collecting pinecones as we walked. We would pick a spot either in the woods or on the sand dunes and tuck into a hot “poulet et pommes frites” or chicken and chips as we would say.

The earliest interest in food other than just eating it was with my dad, who has worked in hospitality and catering since the age of 14, he was working at a local catering college at the time. I had accompanied him to work one day avoiding school for a reason I can’t remember, however during the day my dad took me down to the college’s kitchen where I was faced with a piece of machinery I’d never seen before, a potato rumbler! All you did was throw a potato in what looked like a silver cement mixer, turn it on, a rumbling noise happened and then out popped a perfectly peeled potato! I thought it was great and must have peeled a whole sack full before I had to stop.

This was the start of my interest in food and many years down the line learning skills both at home and in a professional kitchen I now combine the love of the outdoors and the love of cooking and try to produce as many tasty meals outside as possible as I’m a firm believer in that not only cooking but eating outside taste better!

Our approach

My vision is to combine the love of the outdoors with the love of cooking. learn to cook and eat healthy, quality, sustainable, local produce. use what the land provides, support our local producers, respect the outdoors and its wildlife, make use of seasonal fruit and veg, encourage people to care about what their eating and where its come from, but most of enjoy it and what better way than to enjoy it than in the great outdoors.