Career Highlights

  • 1996 - 1998 - Worked for Cookie Crumbles, teaching over-excited children at parties to cook inspiring food such as chocolate hedgehogs and worm sandwiches.
  • 1998 - Ran the Bowling Green Café on London's Clapham Common, serving fry-ups to the builders and tea-time cakes to the baby brigade.
  • 1998 - 99 - Trained at Leith's School of Food and Wine
  • 1999 - 2001 - Worked at The Sugar Club (then London's finest fusion restaurant), honing skills and exploring ingredients from all over the world.
  • 2001 - Moved to New Zealand to explore restaurant/ café scene. Work included baking cakes for The Epicurean Kitchen café in Auckland, assisting Peter Gordon in a dinner for 300 and private catering. Research into Australasian style cafés and cookery schools.
  • 2002 - Returned to UK to set up Café Divertimenti and the Divertimenti Cookery School, an eclectic and challenging job which has included:

    Setting up and designing both café and demonstration kitchens.

    Designing and implementing a fresh, customer led menu for the café of vibrant salads, fresh soups, simple main courses and plenty of freshly baked cakes.

    Learning to make the best coffee in town.

    Organising and carrying out private catering jobs

    Writing and co-ordinating cookery school programmes.

    Developing recipes and teaching classes, from one hour demonstrations for gourmets on the run; to hands-on masterclasses in skills such as pastry making, or themes such as fresh flavours of the Pacific Rim; and designing the hugely popular Cooking with Confidence series - a range of 6-part hands-on evening classes for absolute beginners to experienced cooks.

    Setting up and hosting corporate team building cookery events

  • 2004 - Opened second Divertimenti Cookery School in London's Brompton Road
  • 2006 - Commissioned by Orion to write The Divertimenti Cookbook
  • November 2006 - Departure from Divertimenti full time, in order to pursue writing, consultancy, teaching (and motherhood).
  • May 2007 - Publication of Divertimenti Cookbook
  • October 2007 - Launch of The Lemon Tree Cookery School
Career Highlights