Nicola Hanmer - Commercial Catering Manager for The Mill at St Catherines Park

This months featured foodie for our first Quick bite of Lancashire food 2015 is Nicola Hanmer of The Mill at St Catherines Park. Nicola and her team are passionate about serving local seasonal food in this beautiful cafe supporting the vital works of St Catherines Hospice. Here is a link to an earlier post re The Mill.

On to our usual questions, which Nicola has kindly answered for us.

• What is your favourite cookery, food book or publication ?

Would have to be anything written by Nigel Slater or Elizabeth David

• What sentence sums up Lancashire Food to you ?

Gradely stuff!

• If you weren’t doing what you do now, what would you like to be ?

Working for Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO) training street children in Vietnam or Cambodia to work in the hospitality industry

• Which piece of kit could you not do without ?

Le Cruset casserole dish – in our family known as the magic pot – as everything you cook in them comes out so much better or my Gaggia coffee machine!

•  Who would join you at your ultimate dinner party and why?

My mum who passed away at St Catherine’s in 1997, Richard E Grant & Graham Norton for a little bit of fun, Mathew Fort, Jay Rayner & Nigel Slater & our own Nigel Haworth to talk about food!

• What advice would you give to your younger self ?

Always give your best and you will never have any regrets

• Describe your style in three words

Passionate, Loyal, Enthusiastic

• What was your latest foodie gadget purchase ?

Does a whole cafe worth of kit count, we recently bought a new kitchen  & 60 covers of kit for our new Mill Cafe at St Catherines Park.

• What is your greatest achievement to date ?

Working for a charity thats very close to my heart and being able to give something back

• What is the worst mistake you have made ?

Someone who will remain nameless!

• Tell us a secret about yourself ? may be something we wouldn’t expect

I was a philatelist at school

                             

If you work in the food sector in Lancashire and are interested in being featured, please get in touch.