The story of Passion
Born in Dumfries in South West Scotland, Fraser, soon developed a Passion for food and cooking. Starting from a young age he would be taken salmon fishing with his Uncle, learning the best spots to find wild salmon, where they would then cook their bounty over little fires, or be taken back home to be cured or smoked.
At school his mind was more practical than academic so when he told the teachers he was going to be a chef they didn’t convince him otherwise. He got himself a job in a local Italian restaurant, whilst studying for his chef qualifications at a local college. The restaurant specialised in local seafood and Pierro the chef owner quickly became his mentor. They would go foraging for local porcini mushrooms and spend early mornings in the fish markets of Ayre. He would then spend hours making pasta such as ravioli, tortellini and tagliatelle.
An opportunity came up in Pierro’s hometown in Italy, and soon Fraser was off working in restaurants in Italy, honing both his cooking skills and the Italian language. The focus was always on fresh quality ingredients cooked with respect. Cooked with Passion.
On return to the UK, Fraser, joined the brigade at Rascass, a Michelin-starred restaurant, under Simon Gueller. After a year of intense 70-hour weeks fine-tuning his skills, he needed a break! He stepped into the role of Head Chef for Rosette Italian Restaurant.
He met Emily, they set off to cook, dance and eat their way around the globe before returning to the UK briefly and setting off to New Zealand to cook for Americas Cook sailing event.
Back in the UK, they took over the running of a little village restaurant. Emily shone front of house, as did Fraser in the kitchen. Accolades and awards came in thick and fast, they married, and then when Emily announced her pregnancy the then-owner fired both. Not a good time!
Fraser took over as Head Chef at a couple of local restaurants before spotting an opportunity to take over a popular conference centre that was looking to expand into the wedding market.
They moved on-site, Emily took over as Operations Manager after her maternity leave finished, and together with a fantastic team, the venue developed into the award-winning Best Wedding Venue in East Midlands.
After 10 years here it was time to move on. The dream was always to run their own catering company, so Fraser went to work alongside other outside catering companies, learning more about the logistics.
Passion Food was set up in September 2019 whilst Fraser continued to work Freelance to ensure a regular income. Thankful for this decision as then COVID hit. Weddings and events stopped so Fraser went off to be a key worker ensuring residents of a local retirement village were fed and looked after.
As restrictions were slowly lifted, Private dining events in people’s homes started to boom. Then a business opportunity came up. A local caterer had decided it was now time for her to move on and offered Fraser first refusal at taking over her future bookings. Fraser got keys to the unit in December 2021 and the rest as they say is history.
Passion Food Events went from 2 weddings in 2021 to 34 Weddings in 2023. Along with the weddings, Passion Food provides catering for private parties, family gatherings, food stalls and corporate events. Fraser now has a team of 5 regular staff, alongside a trusted team of freelancers whom he has worked with for over 10 years. Team Passion.