CHEFS

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Tommy Browning-Young (with Ann Widdecombe) Saturday 12 – 1pm

Bio: Tommy has been cooking in the South West of England, mainly Devon, for the past 15 years. After growing up in Berkshire he moved to Bovey Tracey with his family and started his first job in a small café near where he lived. Tommy completed a Level 2 NVQ at South Dartmoor Community College, before completing his academic studies with a Level 3 NVQ in professional cookery – This would later give him access to a Hospitality Supervision & Leadership course, which he finished in 2019. During his academia, Tommy worked at the Royal Clarence Hotel in Exeter under Michael Caines and Tom William-Hawkes. Before moving to the seaside town of Shaldon and assisting in the running of Café ODE, which boasted SRA Most Sustainable Restaurant for multiple years. After completing a few years at Café ODE, Tommy moved to Lewtrenchard Manor, on the Devon and Cornwall border (Cream first side!) where he spent 8 years, moving through the ranks to become Head Chef. He gained acclaim for his position here. After his time at the helm of Lewtrenchard Manor, Tommy has now thrown himself into a Development Chefs Role at local fine food specialist Forest Produce. His previous work within the hospitality industry in the south west sets him in good standing to excel at this position! Demo: Far from his usual (but still just as tasty) fine-dining food, Tommy will be challenging Ann to a sausage roll cook-off. May the best man or woman win – The audience will taste and decide!


Nick Pearce,
Masterchef Quarter-Finalist, Private Chef & Supper Club Host
Saturday 3:15pm - 4pm

Bio: A self-taught home cook with a passion for food. Nick was a Masterchef Quarter-Finalist in 2018, which ignited his passion for food further, going on to do two sell-out restaurant takeovers after appearing on the show. Nick also started providing private dining and canapé events locally before Covid put a hold on this. More recently, Nick has decided to pursue this further, and he now hosts Supper Clubs in his own home, whereby people can book to eat his food in an intimate and relaxed setting, quite different to visiting a restaurant. Nick also continues to provide private dining experiences in clients own homes or chosen venue, as well as offering canapés and catering for parties and events across Devon and further afield. For further information, Nick has just launched his website: www.nickpearcecooking.com You can also follow Nick on Instagram: @nickpearcecooking Nick will be joined on stage by Finn Storey from the Abbfest Gin Bar. Finn will be shaking up a cocktail to compliment Nick’s dish. Demo: Beetroot, gin & dill cured salmon gravlax. Homemade mayonnaise turned into a tartare sauce. Homemade quick pickles. Finn will be creating his famous ‘Marmojito’ cocktail to compliment Nick’s dish.


Exeter Gin's Founder Karen
Saturday 1:15 – 2pm

Bio: Exeter Gin, celebrating the rich heritage of Exeter. Award winning we have gained many local, national and international awards including the prestigious 3* Great Taste Award that has been likened by others to getting a Michelin Star. As well as great tasting gin and recently rum, reducing our carbon footprint is and has been a priority hence our eco pouches introduced 4 years ago. Karen Skerratt founder of Exeter Gin has many years experience in the food and drink industry and hosted many award winning events and is passionate about the South West Food and Drink scene spanning back 35 years. For more information please visit www.exetergin.com


Sue Stoneman (BBQ)
Sunday 12:30 – 1:15pm

Bio: Sue Stoneman Award Winning Home Cook and BBQ lady griller. You will find Sue cooking up delicious dishes in her kitchen and on her bbqs using local products. She’s a keen baker and is known for baking on her bbq as well as meat and vegetable dishes! She rustles up bread, cakes, puddings and even a pavlova. She is an ambassador for Kamado Joe, Masterbuilt, BigK Charcoal and a seasoning and sauce company Angus & Oink, as well as food writer and contributes to the UK BBQ magazine, Taste Buds Magazine and for the blog Dining Devon. A real foodie, when she’s not cooking, eating, or demoing at food and drink festivals, she can be found walking over the moors, cycling or by the sea. Follow Sue on Instagram: @sue_stoneman Facebook: @Susan Stoneman Twitter: @Sue_Stoneman YouTube: Cooking with Sue Demo: Sue will be baking scones…on the BBQ!

Latoyah, Food Blogger at Sugarpinkfood
Sunday 1:30 – 2:15pm

Bio: Latoyah Egerton is the creator of the hugely popular blog Sugar Pink Food, where she shares her low-calorie, slimming-friendly recipes. Latoyah was part of the Food Jury on the TV show 'Beat the Chef' on Channel 4, and in December 2022 she published her cookbook Slimming and Tasty. Her blog has been featured in the news multiple times, where she was dubbed the 'Queen of the Fakeaway' as she shares her favourite recipes for satisfying cravings for a cheeky Friday night takeaway. Demo: A delicious and simple weeknight recipe which captures all the flavours of a cheesy garlic bread, for under 600 calories per portion.

Lance Whitehead – Managing Director at Dartmouth Gin and Calancombe Estate Vineyard:
Sunday 2:30 – 3:15pm

Bio: Lance Whitehead established Calancombe Estate Vineyard with his wife, Caroline, on a derelict farm near Modbury in 2012. Over the years, they have planted 23,000 vines, 1,600 traditional West Country cider apple trees and 3,000 blackcurrant bushes, and they now make award winning still and sparkling white and rosé wines, champagne-method cyder and Cassis. While waiting for the crops to develop, Lance bought a German column still and began to make Dartmouth English Gin, which almost immediately won ‘Craft Gin of the Year 2018’ against 120 European distilleries. Since then, this gin has been featured by Channel 4, the BBC and it was chosen as the Gin of the Month by the Craft Gin Club in 2020. More recently, Lance has begun to make Calvados-method brandy from Calancombe apples. Lance served in the RAF Regiment for 20 years, since when he has been working in the venture capital industry as a fundraiser.


Colin Wheeler-James from Ground Up Cookery School
Saturday 2:15 – 3pm

Bio: Ground Up Cookery School is a family business born out of a lifelong love of food and drink, from growing it and finding it to preserving it and cooking it. At home we use a lot of foraged and seasonal ingredients. On our courses we utilise a range of traditional cookery methods including pickling, infusing, fermenting, drying and curing. We then utilise modern techniques and equipment to complement those techniques and encourage you to think differently about your food. Through promoting Foraging, Fermentation, Preserving and utilising Food Waste we have been engaged on a consultancy basis and now work with many large organisations and sporting events to help them reduce food waste and improve their sustainability scores. We have also recently made our TV debut on “Tales from a Kitchen Garden” with Marcus Wareing currently showing on BBC2. We teach you what is available and growing around you throughout the year, share our passion to make the most of available ingredients and get you to think about food in a more sustainable manner. We want to engage, enthuse and empower you to make better food decisions for you and the planet. LinkedIn: Colin Wheeler-James Instagram: #groundupcookeryschool Facebook: Ground Up Cookery (Ground Up Cookery School) Demo: I am making a laminated wild flower and herb pasta, nettle and sunflower seed pesto and garnishing that with fermented honey preserved chanterelles flambeed in our Heath and Hedge Cherry, Chocolate and Hogweed Seed Dark Rum.