One of the biggest things we had in common when we first met was our love of food. We loved going for long lunches and chatting for hours. I remember thinking at the time that it might not be a bad idea to sharpen up my cooking skills if was going to impress an Italian. Little did I know that this passion to learn to cook would eventually take me to Leiths School of Food and Wine in London where I would study for a year and complete my Culinary arts diploma in Food & Wine, gaining a distinction. I suppose it was a talent that I found I had later in life. Dreams of opening a bistro or bakery have followed as well as having the space to grow our own food, maybe we could find something where we could combine these things together? It was one of the catalysts for us to take the plunge and change our life by moving to The Barn. Even so, once we made the leap of faith we both said that we wouldn’t grow anything in our 1st year especially as we had no idea of how to grow a bean never mind coping with an industrial sized Poly-tunnel! Also thoughts of opening Café Mistry had to take a back step with all the outdoor work and renovations that needed to be done. Nevertheless we didn’t take our advice (with the veg at least) and I think we pretty much grew and cropped everything in our 1st year. Call it beginners luck but it certainly gave us the food growing bug. We believe that the only way to learn is to make mistakes and we made a few for sure. However, we managed a bumper crop of fruit and veggies including Potatoes, Onions, Spring Onions, Tomatoes, Courgettes, Squash, Broccoli, Carrots, Beetroot, Broad Beans, Spinach, Green Beans, Artichokes, Strawberries, and even Melons! It certainly inspired me to create some fantastic dishes, as they say, cooking is easy when you have good fresh ingredients.

Moving forward to 2024 and we have decided to take the (exciting) plunge of opening our very own Micro-Bakery. Barn Bakes @ Our Life At The Barn specialises in Neapolitan Pizzas, Wild Yeast & Traditional Breads, Cakes & Pastries. These are available to order for our guests during your stay and is available to order for local pick-up delivery.