My name is Brian Mellor. I've been a professional chef for 40 years, and this is where "Chef Brian Mellor" take's a back seat and I just get to be 'Dad!' Supporting you in your kitchen.
Dad's Kitchen & Garden has been taking shape in my mind for a couple of years. The trigger? My garden. I started planting things, they grew, and — as chefs do — I looked at everything coming up out of the ground and asked the obvious question: what can I do with that?
Can I cook it, pickle it, ferment it, jam it, shred it, scorch it, throw it on the barbecue, whack it in a cake, fold it into some carbs? You just can't waste it, can you? My daughters put it plainly: "Dad, you have to talk about the garden side of things too." So here we are!
A bit of background
I've spent four decades cooking professionally, now based in Cheshire in the North West of England, and I made it my business to experience as many different types of food operations as I could. Restaurants, yes — but not just fine dining. Bustling brasseries, country inns, hotels, carveries (not those ones!), preparing fresh food for 2,000 covers a day in staff restaurants for blue-chip companies, and private dining for their international clients. From counters to corporate and Michelin, it's all there.
Education and training became a real passion along the way. In 2000 I set up my own consultancy and training business, which took me onto ships to work alongside galley crews, into universities navigating their modern challenges and historic dining traditions. It also took me into food safety and quality audits for private companies and casual dining concepts, alongside a major project with the Food Standards Agency.
Around the same time I stepped into the world of food festivals — first doing cookery demonstrations, then hosting cookery theatres for festival organisers, working alongside nervous chefs and well-known faces alike. I also created workshops with the 'Visit' bodies to help chefs and producers deliver informative, practical demonstrations.
2001 saw me establish the Young North West Chef of the Year competition. I'd been fortunate enough to be involved in competitions over the years and wanted a platform for the young chefs in the region to shine. They didn't disappoint and continue to shine!
Many of you will know I opened a cookery school in 2011, which gained national recognition and several awards — until I was forced to close the doors in 2020.
What came next
During the pandemic I started online cook-alongs. What began as a way to stay connected became a proper cooking community — people cooking together through lockdowns and restrictions, sharing something real. Dad's Kitchen will both continue and extend those.
What's coming
Dad's Kitchen & Garden launches in Autumn 2026. Expect live cook-alongs via video, online & face to face cooking lessons . Expect fun, mistakes and laughter, expect experiences and events. Take a peek into my past and behind the scenes now.
More soon. Glad you're here.