Head Baker at Average Doughs Bakery , Leybourne Chase Sports Pavilion , West Malling
FOOD + DRINK
MEET THE CHEF :
GEORGE ROSE
Head Baker at Average Doughs Bakery , Leybourne Chase Sports Pavilion , West Malling
What led to you becoming a chef ?
Several jobs , both in hospitality and in other industries , didn ' t really leave either myself or my partner Lucia satisfied . But more generally , just a love of food and drink , which seems like a silly thing to say because who doesn ’ t love food and drink ? Back when we used to have spare time , we ’ d spend it discovering bakeries and coffee shops . We previously both lived in London where we were spoilt for choice with them and it ended up just becoming a part of our everyday lives – morning walks for a coffee before work or grabbing a fresh loaf of bread for breakfast at the weekends . Moving back to Kent made us miss what we had in London ; there just wasn ’ t anything similar near us . So we decided to take the plunge and open a place ourselves !
Where did you train ?
We ’ re both self-taught bakers – we had a handful of kitchen jobs between us when we were teenagers , but no formal training or education . I ( along with most of the people in the UK ) learned to make and bake sourdough during lockdown . It wasn ’ t easy for me then , and it still isn ’ t now . Scaling up to produce bread for a micro-bakery has been a lot of trial and error , but I ’ ve enjoyed the challenge – just when I think I ’ ve nailed it , the next batch proves me wrong . Lucia has always enjoyed baking cakes , first learning how to make a Victoria sponge with her mum at a young age and still using the same recipe today .
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