Ali's story
Ali is an extraordinarily experienced cook and chef in so many different fields it’s almost hard to list.
She is also a true polymath with extensive experiences in several seemingly non related fields.
Combining her many and diverse interests produces her real gift
which is to observe, understand and truly nourish people on every level.
Food
Ali began her love affair with food as a child cooking with monks and lamas in Tibetan monasteries in the high Himalayas.
Back in Europe she trained in bread baking and fine patisserie. Worked on, managed and set up biodynamic farms.
She was awarded a Michelin star in her 20’s for her work at the Summer Isles hotel in the north of Scotland.
Over the following decades she has fed people from every walk of life on every continent.. and even in the air..
She was executive chef for Abercrombie and Kent’s Tropic to the Artic tour which circumnavigated the globe in a month
this had her setting up kitchens on Indonesian mountains, in Mongolian desserts and on coral atoll islands.
She has had several restaurants of her own
and designed and set up many restaurants and food related businesses for others.
Her first restaurant was one of the UK’s first vegetarian restaurants as well as one of its first ‘open kitchens’
where the diners were free to observe all the skill and love that was being poured into their food.
Her most recent restaurant was inside a Buddhist retreat centre in the heart of central London.
Ali has cooked for Kings and maharajas, for lay folk and village people all with equal joy.
In the world's finest kitchens, in the homes of billionaires and working folks
and even in fields with no kitchens at all..
She has nourished every taste and diet- from fine dining to simple wholesome fare
from vegans to keto carnivores and every speciality you can image..
and probably a few you would never believe existed..
Nature
Ali gained a Cambridge doctorate in Ethology (animal behaviour) at an early age
and worked professionally as a naturalist in many forms alongside her cooking career.
She was the senior research scientist on Project Tiger for 23 years
as well as one of the first female Safari guides in Africa.
She has worked in many countries on numerous projects
as consultant, guide, teacher and conservationist.
Her years in the forests of Asia taught her quiet patient observation
while her work as a safari and tour guide taught her how to respectfully manage disparate groups of people
in unusual, challenging, indeed even potentially life threatening environments.
Being responsible for other lives while
ascending to Everest base camp or summiting Kilimanjaro
while sitting with tigers, or walking with Rhino or Crocodiles
or equally while trying to get 30 overly exciting Europeans
onto a train in a busy junction in Tamil Nadu or Katmandu
have all taught Alison a gentle respectful attentiveness
to the needs and natures of her fellow humans.
Spirituality
Ali’s father was a Sanskrit and Pali scholar and translator who took her on many of his travels..
To learn Tibetan in Kalimpong, to research periods in the family home in Zambia
and to meetings setting up Western Buddhist initiatives in Europe.
So she spent her formative years being exposed to many and varied religious practices.
As an adult she was employed by the Indian government for her research work
which in practice meant many years spent with almost zero money and constant visa restrictions.
During the wet seasons when the national parks are closed
she lead tours exploring the multifarious spiritual traditions of Asia
She read voraciously and visited every ashrams and monastery she could find.
Combining
All these skills combine in Ali’s true passion which is cooking for seekers.
From meditation retreats and yoga courses to residential seminars of musicians and artist.
She likes to work as freely as possible. To observe the people, the landscape and the seasons.
To find locally sourced seasonally ripe foods. To conjure dishes in the moment to meet to moment.
In her last restaurant she fed the mendicants on several long winter retreats
in a poorly heated listed building in London with a list of satvic dietary restrictions.
Clean simple food to support deep inner work… until..
just that moment when sponge cake and custard was absolutely needed… ;8)
Ali has also run volunteer programs at many centres and project
so is well accustomed to working with people with very mixed skill levels and natures.
One person may be asked to manage and cook an entire course while another is asked only to quietly peel.
For Ali the kitchen is a place of joy. A place of creative calm
a place to listen to the needs on the larger group and find ways to feed body and soul
a place for all present to find the warm heart of whatever endeavour they find themselves in.
The ethology of work from prep kitchen to forest, from savannah to wedding service.
In the end we are all only really here to serve each other and to create special moments of memory and magic.