We met Rose at the Chalke Valley History Festival in 2012, she’s a distinguished food writer, author and journalist for the Sunday Telegraph, Daily Mail, the Spectator and the Times.  I nervously asked if she would consider cooking at one of our guest chef evenings and she accepted with relish.  She made puff pastry from scratch and with such skill and ease I was astounded.  The whole event seemed fairly effortless although that clearly just reflected her experience and professionalism.  The evening was a huge success, with new guests then, still coming four years later.

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Ravinder came and cooked up an aromatic storm at Bread and Flowers HQ on Saturday 18th May 2013

The event followed the success of Ravinder’s pop ups at The Dispensary, Hix Selfridges and Mezza and showcased her exotic tastes, with menus incorporating far-flung flavours from India to Italy and Kenya to Kazakhstan.  Ravinder is an award winning UK TV chef, food writer and stylist.

Her debut book Cook in Boots won the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards for the UK’s Best First Cookbook and was awarded the first runners-up prize of the World’s Best First Cookbook at the Paris Cookbook Fair in February 2010.

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Well the evening went off fantastically well and all the guests had a wonderful time.  Huge apologies to all those we couldn't fit in.  For my part, I had a really educational, uplifting and inspiring birthday.  A 14 hour shift in the kitchen with Tim was an unforgettable treat.  I thought I knew a thing or two about stock, I do now.  And the game faggots were unbelievably good, I still had some in the freezer a couple of months later.  Tim is a serious old school chef, and with many years as head chef at the Groucho behind him, he’s now gone on to open his own restaurant on the south coast.  Congratulations Tim.

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Lucas Hollweg was our first guest chef back in April 2012, so not long after we moved into Longford Farmhouse.  He’s a long time friend of nearly 30 years, a brilliant musician and these days, an exquisite cook and writer.  His attention to detail is second to none and he really pushed himself with his opening menu.  Everything homemade, including the bread which he nurtured regularly throughout the night before and was up at sparrows, tending to the dough’s every whim the next day.  Even the ice cream was home made, I was exhausted at the thought of his work load but we collaborated well and smashed out four fabulous courses to everyone’s delectation.

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