Our resident chefs...

Tim Bestwick

Coming from Stoke-on-Trent Tim's interest in food began with his first taste of Staffordshire Oatcakes. From there his passion for food has taken him all over the world, working in the USA and Japan, and travelling throughout Europe, South East Asia and North America looking for exciting culinary experiences. Be it eating at The French Laundry, drinking Sake in Kyoto with Geishas or eating snakes and deep fried Tarantulas in the jungles of Cambodia.

In 2010 he moved to the Lake District to join the LucyCooks'Team.

"Working at LucyCooks is a great experience and way to share my passion for food, people can talk to us, see the kitchen, feel happy, and take away some fantastic experiences."

Janet Garlick

For those of you who've visited Lucy's on a plate, you'll know Janet as 'Queen of the Desserts'. Janet has been instrumental in developing Lucy's range of puddings. Since 2006 she has been Head of the BBC Department (that's Bread, Bakes and Cakes for those in the know). She's masterminded many of the gluten free puddings as well as the sweet stuff in general that Lucy's is famous for. Lucy's on a Plate has just been named 'Best place to eat dessert outside of London' by the Remy Martin awards... which is in no small part due to Janet's talent. We're very lucky to have Janet here at LucyCooks, now sharing her knowledge and skills with anyone who wants to create fabulous baking.

Drew Norris

Drew was born in Norfolk and as a ‘forces child’ moved around the country and also abroad. This along with his mother and Grandfather’s (a navy chef) influence made him find his love of cooking and helped him to be the creative chef he is today.
In 1979, whilst still at school, he began his career in hospitality as a part-time waiter at the Petwood Hotel in Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire. Even then he knew that catering would be his life.
Whilst training at Boston College in the 1980’s he worked as a commis chef at the Petwood Hotel on such events as weddings, fine dining and the Dambusters 40th reunion. From here he has worked his way up through the chef ‘ranks’ with stints in Nottingham working at the Victoria Hotel and for Whitbred’s in turn helping to open restaurants in their night clubs in Nottingham, Cambridge and Peterborough, returning to Lincolnshire as Head Chef at the Golf Hotel.
After 5 years as head chef he moved his family to the Lakes and took the position of Senior Sous Chef at the Old England hotel – then a Forte Blue Ribbon and was an integral part of the team that got the hotel it’s first Rosette. Here Drew also gained Gold and Bronze awards in the Lakeland Salon Culinaire.
Moving from the Old England after eight years he obtained the Executive Chef position at the Derwentwater Hotel and Manor in Keswick. This was an exciting time and he loved every minute. Building a strong team of 11 chefs from across the globe and having students come from all over the world to study with him. At this time he also imparted his chef ‘wisdom’ to many local students at Kendal college where he did a spell of teaching!
Now working at Lucy’s for the past 2 years as the Head Chef of our Outside Catering department he has brought this division of Lucy’s to a new level. His professionalism, humour and love of the catering world along with exciting new dishes, his attention to detail and the desire to fulfil the customers needs means that every wedding, dinner party and picnic are finished to the highest quality.
Drew loves spending time at LucyCooks as he can share his catering knowledge and abilities and also have a good natter!!

Guest chefs...

Martin Blunos

Martin Blunos is one of the country’s greatest chefs. Having held two Michelin stars for more than fifteen years, this blond haired, walrus-moustached Baltic giant of a man has a wicked sense of humour and is a most colourful character. In each of his restaurants he earned two prestigious Michelin Stars. Food writers, critics and contemporaries were regular customers and Martin’s eclectic cooking attracts journalists of leading food publications from all around the globe. Unlike many of his peers, Martin hasn’t learnt his craft from other master chefs. He went to college in Cheltenham, did a spell at the Strand Palace Hotel in London, a season in Switzerland and many cruises on a Greek tycoon’s yacht before finding a job at Lampwick’s in London’s Battersea Road, where the main competition came from Nico Ladenis in his early nouvelle cuisine phase. In addition to his cooking Martin is much in demand for public appearances, talks and demonstrations, he has appeared as guest chef at the Gourmet Food Festivals in Johannesburg and Capetown, South Africa and recently returned from Mexico where he attended and consulted for a new food event organised by the British High Commission. Martin recently appeared in the new Channel 4 series ‘IRON CHEF UK’ and Channel 4’s Cookery School, ITV series Daily Cooks and Australia’s most popular show “Master Chef Australia.”

Furgus Drennan

Fergus Drennan was catapulted into the limelight thanks to the 2007 BBC Show ‘Road Kill’, which showed the British public how to make a meal out of the creatures that are victims of British traffic on the roads. This programme provided the platform upon which he was christened ‘The Wild Man of Food’ or ‘Fergus the Forager’ to his mates! These names sit well with a forager extraordinaire who, as a child, wandered the countryside with a copy of naturalist Richard Mabey’s classic book, ‘Food for Free’ in his hand and who also lived in a tent whilst at University, living off the food that he found in the surrounding fields. The programme also led to him being awarded the ‘Ethical Cuisine’ Award from PETA Europe (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) – something the 95-99%-of-the-time vegetarian was proud to accept. Wild food is Fergus Drennan’s staple diet, whether that is a bit of squirrel, some fairy ring mushrooms or wild garlic herbs and he has, in the past, supplied foraged foods to restaurants including The Ivy and Jamie Oliver’s ‘Fifteen’. He is now a full-time forager and environmentalist and strives to teach others the joy of living on wild food, devising wonderful dishes such as Seabuckthorn Cheese Cake to tempt us to do so! One of his missions has involved teaching the town of Sandwich in Kent how to live just on the ingredients foraged in the local area and he is one of the handful of people in the country who can literally make a living from the land. Fergus has also made two attempts to live solely from wild food for a whole year, the most recent attempt ending in June 2010. He believes it is possible and will one day hope to prove it. In the meantime, Fergus’s goal is to encourage us all to reconnect to the landscape and explore its gourmet potential, once we have spent a day rummaging, picking, searching, digging and hunting. Fergus has all the trappings of a media star, plus the really wild reputation that goes with celebrity status. His wild events are certainly not-to-be-missed!

Valentina Harris

Celebrity Chef Valentina Harris is the noted authority on Italian food and food culture and a member of the International Association of Culinary Professionals. Valentina currently hosts cookery schools in Italy, the South of France and throughout the world where guests combine a truly wonderful holiday with an exciting`hands on` cookery and wine experience. A prolific author of over 40 Italian cookery books, Valentina makes many TV appearances and is always in demand at top food events both presenting, organizing and giving cookery demonstrations. She lectures extensively across Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Africa Valentina is the Curator of Food for the Vintage Festival at Southbank, London Summer 2011 in conjunction with Wayne & Geraldine Hemmingway and was recently awarded a Gourmand Cookbook Award 2011.

Clippy (aka Michelle McKenna)

Clippy is the founder of Clippy’s Apples, a unique awarding winning brand focused on British-apple based preserves. Her products are sold nationally through Ocado, Harvey Nichols, E.H. Booths and Fortnum & Mason and - of course - Lucy’s Cooks. Over the past 15 years Clippy has travelled across the globe, savouring the delights of diverse cultures; from apple butter to green figs picked from Atlantic rooftops and from bohemian cafés to camping under the stars. These memories have inspired Clippy’s taste buds and in her ‘Preserving the Nation’ workshops no two preserves are the same – from ‘Bramley & Rosy Raspberry curd to Marinated Goats’ cheeses infused in saffron & garlic oil. This is why BBC Countryfile recently commended Clippy as “pick of the best… preservers” in the UK. Her passion is infectious and her talent for preserving anything is impressive, if you stand still long enough, she will ‘preserve’ you!! Gillian Cowburn Cumbria’s famous foodie described Clippy as “The star of the show, Clippy is so enthusiastic about her subject, it’s impossible not to be encouraged in your relish endeavours”. Come and see ‘The Master Preserver’ in action!