I have worked in many kitchens and also front-of-house. I owned a café in Fitzroy, Melbourne called Café Rosamond – I still dream about it (coffee machines that turn into fountains, furniture made of bread rolls) and although the dreams are bonkers, I think of the beautiful space, dear customers and staff with much fondness. I believe in hospitality (at home) and Hospitality (the industry), the people I meet there are wondrous and share the generosity gene; some of my dearest friends are old customers and café collaborators. Cooking and eating and pals are inextricably linked and I like to write about the fun times and fun foods.
I am a not a trained cook nor did I learn at the apron of my mother – it is not to say she was a bad cook, just a disinterested one. However, I did learn from Mum that if you just want to eat scones for dinner you should just eat scones, and that sometimes all you need in your repertoire is the recipe to a perfectly puffed eclair with chocolate sauce. I have learned to cook through reading and watching and asking. I grew up with gracious aunts and generous parents, a childhood of seersucker tablecloths stacked with an array of cakes and my shelves stacked with many, many cookbooks.
My career is as varied as the clients I keep, having worked in hospitality, arts administration, publishing and as a freelance writer and editor in the not-for-profit sector. I enjoy thinking about and working with words and the difference a well placed full stop can make. Grammar adventures aside, I am a proud mum to a beautiful kid and I live in Sydney but work remotely for clients everywhere.
