Sophie Budd from Taste Budds

 

From Cornwall to the Kimberley, Sophie Budd has cooked with celebrity chefs and for rock stars and established herself as an authority on minimising food waste and cooking with a conscience.

Sophie trained in the UK and was making her mark on the food scene even before graduating culinary college. She won a national cooking competition and at 16, worked in the kitchen of much-loved TV chef Rick Stein where she peeled, shucked and filleted her way through some of the UK’s best seafood.

After college she worked at Michelin starred restaurant Pennypots, cooked for Queen drummer Roger Taylor from UK to Mallorca on his 125ft superyacht Tigerlily, had her first head chef role at 21 in a busy 16th century inn on the Roseland Peninsula and subsequent head chef roles in London before returning to Cornwall to work as chef de partie at Jamie Oliver’s soon-to-open Fifteen Cornwall.

It was at Fifteen that Sophie found a purpose and passion for food. She became the pasta, gnocchi, and risotto chef, cooking alongside Genarro Contaldo, learning everything she could and falling in love with Italian food and produce. Jamie taught Sophie that being a great chef was one thing but being able to teach was another skill set entirely.

She learnt a kitchen could transform people and provide them with a new purpose.  Seeing nine of the 21 underprivileged youth from Fifteen graduate and enter the world as great chefs motivated her to continue combining food and teaching.

These days Sophie’s heart is divided between the UK and Australia. What was intended as a working holiday to WA in 2007 became a permanent move and 'Taste Budds Cooking Studio' was born.

Over eight years, thousands of kids, adults, friends and corporate groups have cooked together at Taste Budds, learning to create a variety of cuisines. Sophie and her team have also catered for some amazing gigs, cooking backstage for Adele, Fleetwood Mac, Sting and Paul Simon.  Cooking alongside legend Antonio Carluccio at Rick Hart’s showroom and Marco Pierre White at Western Australia Gourmet Escape are career highlights.

Taste Budds has been a mobile business since 2019, allowing Sophie to accept invitations to food festivals and events in some of Western Australia’s most spectacular locations.  She’s now a sought-after celebrity chef in her own right, and WA has claimed her as their own.

Sophie loves creating meaningful team building cooking experiences through Taste Budds, teaching groups to turn bruised or ugly fruit and vegetables rescued from supermarkets into delicious meals, feeding community members in need at Tranby Homeless Centre in Northbridge.

Expect to see Sophie pop up at Australia’s most iconic food festivals feeding, entertaining, and showcasing the incredible local produce WA and Australia has to offer and bringing communities together with food.

Sophie is an ambassador for Beta Spuds and Chef Ambassador for Hart & Co.

Warm, authentic, and brimming with talent, Sophie Budd makes every event truly memorable.