Cooking from the land that raised me.
Plant-forward, locally rooted catering across Devon, Cornwall and Somerset.
"I run the business, but my heart is in the food."
— DAVE, FOUNDER
I started cooking at fourteen. Waiter first, then into the kitchen of a hotel in Kenford, in Devon, and I never really left. I went to catering college at Exeter College in 1992, and from there I worked anywhere that would have me. Small restaurants. Country pubs. The Grosvenor in Park Lane in London. Eventually Exeter University, where the work took me onto steam trains and boats, into castles and manor houses, through weddings and shows and every kind of room you can think of.
That variety is what built me. I always liked the unfamiliar rooms more than the cooking itself, getting it right somewhere new where no one had done it before. One day in the shower, the name came to me. Field to Fork Catering. Not long after, it was a business of my own. A chance to put my own stamp on what I cared about most.
I grew up in rural Devon, in a house where we lived off the fat of the land. My mum was a keen gardener and grew every vegetable you could think of. We foraged, we preserved, we cooked what was in season. That was simply how it worked.
That's still how I cook now. Plant-forward, vegan-driven, rustic. I love a plated meal, but the heart of what we do is sharing. Grazing boards, carvery boards, food set down in the middle of the table for people to pull from and pass around. Grazing boards remind me of big family dinners. Everyone sat down, everyone talking, everyone sharing. That's the feeling I'm trying to put on every table I cook for.
Ninety-five per cent of our produce comes from Devon, Cornwall and Somerset. Our poultry comes from farms within fifteen miles. We forage through the hedgerows. We pickle, we preserve. Basically how we used to, a long time ago. If it can be grown on our doorstep, it doesn't come from anywhere else.
That isn't a marketing line. It's how I was raised, and it's the only way I know how to run a kitchen.
Alongside running Field to Fork Catering, I've continued to cook at Exeter University. The university brings remarkable visitors through its doors, and over the years that's meant cooking for some unforgettable guests:
01 — A DAY I'LL NEVER FORGET
Her Majesty The Queen and HRH Prince Philip
The Queen doesn't like complicated food, so we kept it honest:
a rack of Devon lamb with a herb crumb, spring vegetables, fondant potato and a red wine jus.
She and Prince Philip thanked us personally at the end of the meal. I shook the Prince's hand. A day I'll never forget.
Every wedding, every birthday, every gathering we cook matters the same. But these are the ones people tend to ask about.
I run the business, but my heart is in the food.
When I walk away at the end of a ninety-hour week and someone tells me it's the best wedding food they've ever had, that's the moment I know I've done my job.
That's what we're working towards. Every event. Every plate.
— Dave
