Meet our head chef, Tim, whose culinary journey spans the globe. With experience in Michelin-starred restaurants and a deep-rooted passion for quality ingredients, Tim brings plenty of creativity and expertise to Full Flavour Events.
What is your background?
I began my cooking career working all over the world. After some time working in the French Alps I then worked in a restaurant in Sydney specialising in the beautiful seafood that Australia has to offer. After gaining lots of international experience, I eventually returned to London, where I worked for some of the country’s best Michelin-starred restaurants and chefs, including Gordon Ramsay At Claridge’s, Alyn Williams At The Westbury and The Arts Club Dover Street. I then moved to the Bath and Bristol area to work for The Bath Priory, established by Micheal Caines and headed by Sam Moody, before setting up Full Flavour Events to offer high-quality wedding catering, private fine dining, events catering, and film set meals in and around bath and Bristol.
What made you want to be a chef?
I’ve always had a passion for great food and would get very excited when experiencing with new ingredients and flavours when I was younger. My Mum, Gran and Nan would cook beautiful food and certainly helped me decide to be a chef. I would watch Saturday Kitchen every week which opened my eyes to the huge possibilities and creativity involved in being a chef. We were lucky enough to go to nice restaurants as a child and would love seeing the buzz of the staff working in harmony to create an amazing guest experience. I was intrigued by the dish arriving and working out what each element was and I was also stunned by the amount of flavour they were able to achieve from various ingredients and via different cooking methods.
Why do you use seasonal and local produce?
I passionately believe that seasonal produce is essential to creating dishes that are full of flavour. In-season ingredients are harvested when they are naturally ready to be eaten, which makes them super tasty! They are also packed full of excellent nutrition. By working with local suppliers in and around Bath and Bristol, we avoid the food miles meaning we buy sustainably and reduce our carbon footprint. It also means we can offer excellent value for money as the seasonal food is much more cost affective than sourcing produce from all around the globe. And the best bit about seasonal produce? It encourages me to get creative and come up with new dishes which is the best part of the job! The seasons naturally help when menu planning as my ethos is “what grows together goes together”. Meaning produce grown and harvested around the same time normally tend to work harmoniously together on the plate too.
How do you come up with new ideas?
We are always on the lookout for new ingredients and food pairings. Whether it’s a trip to the local food market or our suppliers to sample fresh produce. Eating in exciting new restaurants, travelling abroad for exotic inspiration or reading endless cookery books; we love experimenting!
Our customers also encourage us to get creative. If a client has a specific theme for their event, we will work closely with them to create new and exciting dishes that suit their tastes and wishes. We’ve catered for art deco, Harry Potter, cruise ship, and murder mystery events.
What is your favourite kind of event catering?
It has to be said that I love all of the different types of catering that Full Flavour Events offers. But if I had to pick a favourite, fine dining for weddings and private events would be top of my list. I love creating delicious meals for special occasions and enjoy using fresh and vibrant ingredients to paint a picture on the plate – exquisite presentation is so important and a key part of the experience! As they say, we eat with our eyes too!
BBQ catering would come a close second. There’s nothing quite like the emotive sights, sounds and smells of charred meats, grilled veggies and fresh fish sizzling over hot flames – mouth-wateringly delicious! This, alongside fresh sides, salads, dressings and sauces is hard to beat. Any type of shared catering is always great and I love the way it really encourages conversation between the guests.
What is your signature dish?
In terms of my signature dish, this is a question I find hard to answer! This is because it would really depend on what season it is. I love using less used cuts of meat such as beef bavette and blade of beef, plus beautiful fresh fish, shellfish and vegetarian/vegan dishes where the vegetables are the star of the show.
Spring has to be my favourite season offering lighter and fresher ingredients than the winter months. There’s a huge range of produce starting to become available, including wild garlic, asparagus, St George’s mushrooms, morel mushrooms, broad beans, peas, courgette, radishes and rhubarb to name a few.
The dish I would choose for the spring would be: Beef Bavette, potato terrine, broad beans, peas, charred onion, pea puree & wild garlic puree, beef jus.
