Guest Chef Richard Hart from Hart Bakery & Henrietta Lovell

We are really delighted to be able to welcome back Guest Chefs again to the cookery school. This has not been possible in the last couple of years so we are really excited to be inviting Richard Hart & Henrietta Lovell for a Saturday Guest Chef Course here at the cookery school.

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This will be Richard’s second visit to Ballymaloe Cookery School as he and Chad Robertson of Tartine Bakery in California taught a very popular sourdough course here in 2013.

Richard began his career as a chef, working through the ranks of fine dining kitchens in London before moving to California to work with the inspirational Jeremy Fox of Rustic Canyon, Tallula’s and Birdie G’s. While in San Francisco, he became captivated by sourdough bread and has since dedicated his life to baking the illusive perfect loaf. He learnt his craft at Della Fattoria and later at the iconic Tartine Bakery where he worked with Chad and was head baker for seven years before leaving to start his own bakery.

Partnering with Noma, he founded Hart Bageri in Copenhagen in 2018, continuing his love affair with sourdough and all things baked. Richard is currently working on a major book to be published next year by Clarkson Potter, an imprint of Penguin Random House. His next exciting project is a bakery in Mexico City, where he is moving to with his love, the Rare Tea Lady Henrietta Lovell.

Henrietta is known around the world as the Rare Tea Lady. She is founder and master-blender of the award-winning, global brand, Rare Tea Company. Since 2000, Henrietta has been travelling the world, working directly with small independent tea gardens, from the Shire Highlands of Malawi, to the foothills of the Himalayas. By sourcing direct from the farms, she is able to secure unique harvests and ensure that they are crafted using sustainable practices to benefit both the land and the people who live on it.

Henrietta is at the forefront of the tea revolution, working to replace industrial grade bags with the highest quality, sustainably farmed leaves.  She works with chefs and sommeliers to pair flavours and has created bespoke blends for some of the best restaurants and hotels in the world, including Claridges in London and Noma in Copenhagen, The Modern at MoMa, Meadowood in Napa and The Four Seasons in Tokyo.

Her vision encompasses more than excellent tea: her ambition is to source and supply tea that not only enriches the lives of those who drink it, but the land and those who grow and craft it.  The tea trade has historically been synonymous with exploitation and sadly this is still too often the reality. It is her ambition to help tea gardens flourish like vineyards, and for her customers to appreciate tea like fine wine.

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