Gareth Rhodes, former Executive Chef at Soho Farmhouse and Head Chef at COYA in London, has taken charge of the kitchen at the FarmED Cafe, a farm-to-fork eatery based at the regenerative demonstration farm and conference barns near Chipping Norton.
Gareth hails from Norfolk and his love and passion for food and cooking started when he watched his nan cook in her kitchen.
London was always going to be the place to go and develop his passion and that is exactly what he did. His CV includes well-known London restaurants such as the iconic Rib Room & Oyster Bar, Mju by Tetsuya Wakuda at the Millenium Hotel, Zuma London, the Michelin-starred Italian restaurant Zafferano’s, Tom’s Kitchen with Tom Aikens (Chelsea), La Petite Maison and, more recently, COYA in London.
Gareth’s next move was to Soho Farmhouse, where he had overall responsibility for all food outlets, including the all-day dining restaurant, the Main Barn, serving up to 1000 covers per day, and the Pen Yen Japanese Restaurant, and he oversaw feasts, functions and events.
A stint in consultancy followed, involving menu design and research for high end restaurant operators, plus assisting clients with bespoke supplier research and advising on kitchen design, layout and equipment specifications.
The FarmED centre was opened by HM King Charles, then HRH Prince of Wales, in June 2021 and has since won numerous awards for its eco-architectural design and work in promoting regenerative agriculture and sustainable, seasonal food to mitigate climate change. The FarmED Cafe is open to the public for breakfast, lunch, tea, coffee and cakes and also caters for visitors attending a range of courses and events as well as delegates from organisations hiring the venue for their bespoke team away days.
‘I am excited by many aspects of working in the FarmED kitchen’ says Gareth. ‘You have to be inventive with seasonal vegetables, managing gluts and gaps and with my background in Japanese restaurants I’m really looking forward to introducing Asian-inspired dishes, which pack a lot of punch in terms of vegetables.
'I’m particularly looking forward to tomato season but it’s wonderful working with veg which comes straight from the ground in the kitchen garden here. You can literally smell the freshness of the carrots through the soil. It’s unbeatable in terms of nutrients too. I’m also keen to do more with the amazing pizza oven here. I love cooking with charcoal and wood; it’s how you should cook, how we used to cook and I will be introducing a sourdough programme for breads, pizza and focaccia.’
Sally Pullen, FarmED's Operations Manager and restaurateur, says the team is thrilled to be working with Gareth.
‘The FarmED Cafe has a variety of functions, catering to locals who just want to enjoy a nutritious and sustainable breakfast or lunch, as well as larger groups looking for bespoke catering for their team away days,' she says. 'Gareth’s credentials and experience will bring a whole new flavour to our menus.
'Here at FarmED our mission is to provide learning spaces and events that inspire, educate and connect people to build sustainable farming and food systems that nourish people and regenerate the planet. Our on site cafe showcases how to make the best of the seasonal vegetables that our growers, The Kitchen Garden People, produce on the farm. Working with produce straight from the field is a labour of love with much washing and scrubbing required, (rather than simply opening a ready washed bag of veg) but the rewards are huge, both in terms of flavour and nutritional value. Gareth joins the team at an exciting time of growth as we get busier by the day and is helping us live our mission through making all our own bread, cakes & lunch dishes from scratch. He's creating delicious dishes from a weekly changing harvest and hopefully inspiring our visitors to go home and try new ways of eating their rainbow or five a day.'
The FarmED Cafe is open from 9am-4pm, with breakfast served from 9am to 11am and lunch from 12noon to 2pm.
FarmED was founded by Ian and Celene Wilkinson in 2013, who recognised the need for climate-friendly solutions to the global issues facing farming and food production. It is a not-for-profit organisation based at Honeydale Farm, a diverse 107 acre mixed farm in the Cotswolds.
At FarmED they've created a space for open discussion, debate and research and an opportunity to see regenerative farming and sustainable food systems in action. They believe everything starts with the soil . They want visitors to leave us feeling nourished, inspired, and hopeful for the future of our planet.
FarmED has won the prestigious Ashden Future Farmers Award for climate innovation for its work in demonstrating regenerative agriculture in action, and for helping producers and consumers explore a more regenerative, sustainable future for food in the UK.Last year some 25,000 people visited FarmED and the team is expecting to exceed this number in 2024.
www.farm-ed.co.uk
