Meet the Fordmore Family - Chef Tom

We’d like to introduce you to Tom, who has been Chef here at Fordmore Farm Shop since October 2024.

What did you do before you came to Fordmore?

I’ve been a chef all my life, so it’s all I know! I’ve worked in a few restaurants in Exeter and the surrounding area since I was 15 years old.

What do you enjoy about working here?

The potential for Fordmore is simply phenomenal. As a chef, having a farm shop, a butcher and a fishmonger on site is a dream come true. Your imagination is the only limit when you are surrounded by so much inspiration.

What do you do in your spare time?

I have a 9 month old daughter, so spare time is something of a foreign concept lately. But when I do have time to spare, I enjoy baking, going on walks with my dog and playing nerdy card games with friends.

If you were to recommend one item customers should try from the café/buy from the shop - what would it be?

If you’re in the café, try the Smoked Mackerel Pâté. It’s a new menu addition made in collaboration with the amazing Marcus Bawdon, who runs the UK BBQ School here at Fordmore. The flavours are so deep and intricate, and even as an active pâté hater I can’t get enough of it!

As for the shop, they have recently started stocking Snowdonia Cheese, which I love at Christmas time. But I’d be remiss if I didn’t shout out the butcher’s sausages. We use them on our breakfasts and they’re the best sausages I’ve ever tasted.

Tell us something about you that other people don’t know.

A few people close to me know this, but I starred in a very low budget zombie movie a few years ago! I was catering for the film shoot and was asked if I’d like to be a zombie extra, which made for a very fun and unique work day! It’s on Amazon Prime now and I even have an IMDb page because of it.