Meet Kate

I am not a chef.  I can't do that really fast chop-chop-chopping of vegetables (although I am learning) and I can't make Pain au Chocolate or Baked Alaska.  I don't wear chef whites (but do have a pinny) and none of my kitchen things match, but I CAN cook.  I also LOVE hosting.  Fussing over guests and waiting on people makes me very happy indeed.

Working in several pubs and kitchens and various restaurant establishments I have picked up a lot of my cooking know-how by just being plain nosey and peering over the shoulder of many a chef.  Starting at 14, peeling 25kg of potatoes every Saturday night for £2 an hour was where I found myself learning some skills (you should see me with a peeler)!  I then went on to work in a Thai restaurant, Pizza restaurant, Mexican restaurant, Cocktail bar, Fine dining restaurant, as well as nipping to France for a few months to work in a team of 5, cooking three meals a day for 300 people.

Ultimately, my 6 year stay in Italy was where I learnt the most.  Eating out 3, sometimes 4 times a week in many different types of restaurants - this was OBVIOUSLY before children!  I tasted hundreds of different flavours (including tripe, chicken feet and horse) and learned about which food went with what.   My Mamma-in-law and Nonna-in-law taught me lots of things and showed me lots of tricks and secrets, which I attempt to pass on through various workshops.

So, after 5 years of wanting to do something of the foodie kind, I braved it and opened my front door to host my first ever ‘Supperclub’ in my front room.  This was a huge success and it helped me build up a steady customer base, gave me lots of opportunities to practise my cookery and build my confidence.  Then all of a sudden I outgrew my kitchen!  

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Having found a perfect venue inside the YMCA in Bridgwater I began to employ people (2 out of 3 of these first employees are still with me), and gradually we built up a bigger following, soon becoming a hub of the local community.  As our team of passionate like-minded people grew, so did my passion for people and different cultures and ways of life.  We began to invite several rough sleepers in for a quick drink and something to eat, then created a pay it forward scheme.  We began working together with the YMCA with certain projects, like community meals and employment of young people residing with them.  More recently we have reached out to different ethnic communities, migrant families and other cultural groups, to come and educate us about their homeland and demonstrating their cuisine.