With his Four Gables Food Academy stirring up a storm and a successful catering company to boot, Surrey’s David Gillott, 24, is fast becoming the county’s most talked about young chef. Now he’s giving us the chance to chat about food with a new online community which he hopes will buzz as loudly as the beehives on his smallholding.
GRAB A SPOON AND CREATE A STIR! This is the motto of the Four Gables Food Community launched this month by Ashtead chef David Gillott. As a hub where food lovers can submit recipes and share their passion for food, David hopes the community will inspire people to adopt the adventurous Four Gables mindset and get creative in the kitchen. Alongside forums where members can share information, ideas and news about local events, the website will be home to Four Gables TV, bringing recipes to life and showing demonstrations of cooking techniques.
David’s trademark passion and personality are stamped on all his Four Gables projects - he heads up a cookery school, Four Gables Food Academy, and a catering company, Four Gables Fine Dining - and the food community is no different. But David tells me that this latest project was also very much inspired by the people around him.
“The overriding feeling is that lots of local people love food and want to get a bit more involved,” he explains.
Listening to what they had to say, the chef decided to create an online meeting place for people to share recipes and advice but, most importantly, to connect with each other and talk about food.
This entrepreneurial spirit and love of people is the backbone of David’s business, and what drove him to create a cookery school on his Ashtead smallholding.
“The natural course is for a chef to open a restaurant, but I didn’t want to be stuck behind the walls of a kitchen. I love dealing with and meeting people, and being face-on with customers,” he says.
For David, the Four Gables Food Community also gives him a chance to join the conversation and get involved. He is currently writing up over 120 of his own recipes to post on the site, and will be sharing his expert cooking advice on the community’s forums.
“I wanted to give people a place to talk to each other about food, and also to talk to me,” he tells me, explaining how he will also answer cooking queries through the website’s unique Ask The Chef page.
“Members can post questions and either I or one of the other chefs in the Four Gables kitchen will answer.”
The ever hands-on David admits that he will probably do most of the talking.
“I will probably be answering most of the questions as I love to get involved. I want to make it as personal as possible.”
Members will also be able to ask each other questions and offer advice.
“Say if someone wanted to know how to make meringue turn out like a meringue and not like a biscuit, they could pose that question to other members and get their responses,” David explains.
Membership of Four Gables Food Community is free and open to all. After registering, you can build a profile and start posting on the forums.
David has big ambitions for the project, and hopes that the community will grow into a lively and enjoyable space.
“I want it to be a place where there are lots of members chatting to each other and sharing recipes and advice, and their passion for food,” he says.
Well, I personally can’t wait to do as David suggests. Let’s “Grab a spoon and create a stir”.
Tags: surrey food
four gables food community
chef david gillott
