The Great Wight Bite welcomes Paul Bellchambers artisan chef, food writer & teacher from The Isle of Wight Cookery School

Paul Bellchambers trained to become a chef whilst working in the corporate world of the IT marketplace. He taught himself to cook and developed a passion for trying many different cuisines, He qualified with a City & Guilds Diploma in Professional Catering, with both theory and practical elements in 2005. He enjoyed a period of work experience at Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons.

Using all the experiences to inspire his ideas for a catering business he started in 2009. Developing the idea of small range of dishes, fresh and for the freezer, he was also asked if he could cater for events. The demand grew he focused on catering for private and business events. The work often extended into managing the event and not just catering.

BBC Radio Oxford invited Paul to broadcast on The Afternoon Show to develop a regular cookery section, talking about seasonal recipes and cooking in the studio. He founded the Wallingford Food Festival in 2011, which ran for five years! The festival was successful, growing visitor numbers to over 6000 over a weekend and winning three tourism awards! Invited by the Women’s Institute, to teach cookery courses at the WI Cookery School near Abingdon, Paul developed a range of courses over several years. He managed the WI Cookery School for a period, learning the complexities and challenges of running a cookery school! He is a member of the Guild of Food Writer’s and served on the committee for six years in several roles.

During the pandemic he moved to the Isle of Wight in December 2020, and developing a new online business, the Isle of Wight Cookery School.

He keeps busy with private clients, a new website, developing courses, and a new podcast about the hospitality sector on the island, it is called FoodandMusicIOW and it is available on all major podcast platforms. Working with IsleofWight.com Paul shares the podcast and shares recipes on the website as well.

You can learn more here about:  The Island Chef.