Matt Williamson and Claire Thomson, Fat Hen’s husband and wife cooking
team, are passionate about local food grown or foraged with care. They met whilst
cooking together at the Chelsea Arts Club 7 years ago and went on to work in
various kitchens in England and abroad.
Matt and Claire met Caroline whilst they were living and working at the Gurnards
Head in Zennor. Matt headed up the kitchen at the Gurnards Head, which is now
a well established and popular gastropub in west Cornwall, winning all sorts
of foodie accolades including the Good Hotel Guide’s best dining pub for
2009 and featuring in Diana Henry’s new Cookery book, “Gastropub,
the second helping”.
Whilst pregnant with her second child Caroline met Claire at pregnancy yoga
and developed a friendship which evolved into a working partnership. During
her maternity leave Caroline began to forage for the Gurnards Head in Zennor
and supplied them with wild produce on a weekly basis. The Gurnards Head were
very open to wild food and were great at meeting the challenge of incorporating
the interesting and unique flavours into their menu.
Matt and Claire now cook for Fat Hen and teach people how to create these rustic
restaurant quality dishes from food they can forage in the wild. The wild produce
is backed up by locally caught wild meats, sustainably caught fish and organic
ingredients where ever possible.
When Matt and Claire aren’t cooking for Fat Hen they live and work in Bristol
where Matt is the executive chef of the Lido Restaurant in Clifton. He has overseen
the set up of this new and exciting restaurant, which features Mediterranean
and Middle Eastern style food using the best ingredients sourced both locally
and from Italy and cooked in a wood fired oven. Claire works as a chef at Quartier
Vert, a restaurant and cookery school which focuses on simple provincial European
cooking using local, organic ingredients.
