About Me
The story so far ......
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The Early Years
I am a 55 year old self taught chef with over 25 years experience in the trade.
In my early years I drifted between jobs until I eventually settled as a microbiology technician in a diagnostic laboratory. A couple of degrees later and I was running my own lab in industry as part of a larger role in Quality Assurance.
However, I am not built to work for other people so when the opportunity arose to go into partnership with my father running a somewhat grandly titled “Country Club” in North Devon I grabbed it with both hands, and that is where my journey in catering began.
The Learning Curve
Those years in North Devon were a steep learning curve. There is a world of difference between a home cook and catering in a commercial kitchen as I was to find out. Fortunately because of our location it was never too busy, and the venture was as much a renovation project as it was a hospitality business.
Nevertheless, I had some fabulous times there, met a lot of fantastic people and learnt a tremendous amount about the catering industry. Yes there were some mistakes made along the way, but overall I thoroughly enjoyed my time there and have many fond memories of the place.
When the time came to move on and go our separate ways, Carol and I decided that hospitality was what we enjoyed most and that running a pub was what we wanted to do, so we set about searching for somewhere suitable and eventually fell in love with a community pub in South Brent on the southern edge of Dartmoor National Park.
Gallery
The Pub Years
We spent 16 glorious years in the pub, changing it from a wet led village local into a destination food pub along the way. We did a huge amount of work adding accommodation, extending the restaurant and adding a function room.
The menu changed from a very basic pub grub menu to a more modern European style, not high end cooking but good quality food prepared using carefully sourced local ingredients.
There were many challenges along the way – the change in licensing laws, the smoking ban, cheap alcohol in supermarkets and peoples changing social habits amongst others. As time went on it got more and more difficult to keep things going and eventually we were forced to call it a day.
The Good Ship Venus
After leaving the pub I took up a job as head chef at the Venus Cafe which is located on the beach at Blackpool Sands near Dartmouth in South Devon. I worked there for almost 2 years before embarking on our adventures.
A totally different style of catering again, high volume quick turn-around food. Another learning curve for me, but one I also thoroughly enjoyed. And what a location! One of the most stunning beaches in Devon, if not the whole country!
Meet The Family
Carol and I have just celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary, although we have been together for over 30 years. Zeus is a rescue dog from Cyprus and joined our family in 2016.
We have 2 children, Aden and Stephanie (nicknamed Small) and our delightful granddaughter Ivy.
Why not have a look at my other sites....
Helping you save money on your everyday bills
Balancing finances isn’t easy. Often there doesn’t seem enough to go around, or there’s little left for the important things in life.
We would all like a bit extra to spend on the things we want to do, and it’s possible with a bit of thrifty living. This site is packed with hints and tips to save money, allowing you to do more of what you want.
Answering p-mails the world over
An ex street dog from Cyprus, an ex-pub dog from Devon, ex ex-overnight security dog and now enjoying my time travelling with my mum and dad.
My hoomans and I explore the world in their big white box on wheels, although that work fing gets in the way sometimes. So far we have travelled mostly around Europe, but have also been to Morocco in Africa.