Meet Our Chef

Having begun his career in a professional kitchen in 1983, Jeff Baker has since cooked for The Queen, Barack Obama and worked alongside some of the world's most respected chefs such as Pierre Koffmann at La Tante Claire, Christian Germain at the Chateau de Montreuil and Brian Turner and Nigel Davis at The Greenhouse in Mayfair.

In 1995, Jeff was recognised for his culinary talents with a Michelin star at Pool Court and held it for 10 years consecutively; a first for the city of Leeds. Jeff was 26 at the time and the youngest ever chef in Yorkshire to receive such an accolade, which he was to hold onto for a decade. He went on to open an altogether more relaxed place in York - the Bistro Moderne.

Jeff's latest role at F&Co involves working alongside our butchers and suppliers to develop game-changing products that are both utterly delicious and easy to cook at home. As well as inspirational recipes to whet our customer's appetite, Jeff writes each how-to-guide that is sent with every cut in our range, to ensure it's cooking to perfection. Jeff's wife Gosia is responsible for all our brilliant food photography, and we have to say, we couldn't think of a better team for the job!

"It has been my ambition for some time to create something original for our growing base of loyal customers. It was the pandemic that facilitated this. While the supermarkets shut off delivery slots, we made a company decision to make sure everyone who wanted to could buy food from us. It was all hands on deck, and it was a Herculean effort on the part of my colleagues. When I wasn't helping to prepare orders, I was in the kitchen preparing meals for the team to keep them going. The staff at Farmison & Co worked around the clock, and I ensured they were fed with nutritious and wholesome food to help keep the wheels on our operation. It was somewhat of a return for me to my restaurant days, catering for hundreds of people - and just like my restaurant days - it was important to me that the food was stunning.

In the weeks that followed, I perfected my recipes. At the same time as demand grew for our food, we were faced with carcass balance conundrums. If everyone buys prime cuts, there's a lot of meat left over still to use. Well, I enjoy working with the less fashionable cuts; often they carry the extra flavour, but require the extra work. They're also ideal for classic dishes, and I worked closely with my colleagues in our butchery to get the right cuts to bring out the flavours of the sauce.

I've prepared some servings suggestions to go with each dish. The aim was to help you at home elevate the saucepan ready ranges into more rounded and luxurious meals with simple additions. For my money, that's much easier than a meal kit, and allows you to be creative in the kitchen."