Abigail Gaynor
CHEF | FARMER, BUTCHER, CHEF
Much of Abigail Gaynor’s apprenticeship as a chef hasn’t been spent in the kitchen at all. She spent two months working with
Goodwood’s farming, dairy, cheese-making and butchery operations before she even set foot in the kitchen to cook for customers at the estate’s Farmer, Butcher, Chef restaurant, which celebrates Goodwood’s organic produce.
This experience has given Gaynor, 19, a keen understanding of what makes the estate’s produce so exceptional – and the
singular benefits of this field-to-fork operation – in which animals graze in the nearby fields before coming to the inhouse butchery, while some of the milk from Goodwood’s dairy is transformed to an array of award-winning cheeses before arriving in the kitchen where the dishes are created.
“I understand the links back to the farm,” she explains, “and you don’t get that kind of hands-on experience on any other courses.” Gaynor’s appreciation for good produce has given her a passion for creating dishes that highlight the quality of their provenance – and sometimes makes her a stern critic of restaurant fare elsewhere. “I’m 100 per cent more fussy now after my training – it’s really bad for whoever’s out with me!”
With a farmer grandfather and a culinary school-trained grandmother in Ireland (who made a superb, home-reared beef stew) for Gaynor, the appeal of cooking was perhaps rooted deep in her DNA. But she only considered professional life as a chef when she was 16 and working front-of-house at Arundel Castle. “I first came into the kitchen to help out, but I instantly
thought, ‘I really love it in here.’”
Nearly two years on, as she prepares to graduate from her apprenticeship, Gaynor’s peers and Goodwood tutors, who have become like a family to her, now consider her an “industryready” chef. “I know how lucky I am,” she says. “Even the other
chefs in the kitchen would love the opportunities I’ve been given, so I try to take on as much as I can.”
This article was taken from the Summer 2019 edition of the Goodwood Magazine.