My name is Daisy Colquhoun, and I'm a private chef and caterer based on the coast of East Kent.

Cooking for the people I care about has always been one of my love languages. I started as the queen of all things sweet, even running the bake off at my secondary school. Then an older brother's teenage appetite taught me to cook steak in every form. By 18, I was something of a beef Wellington connoisseur.

In 2021 I trained at Ballymaloe Cookery School in Ireland, and it's still one of the highlights of my life. Ballymaloe's produce comes from its own land or from just down the road, and cooking with it showed me how much better food tastes, and how much better it is for you, when it comes from the right places. Those principles shape everything I cook today.

After Ballymaloe, I worked as a chalet chef in Verbier for one of the resort's most esteemed companies, cooking for guests in a fast-paced, high-end setting.

Since then I've catered summer parties for 20 to 30 guests, intimate dinner parties, and two three-day retreats. The most recent was a founders' retreat, cooking every meal for 16 guests across three days, from breakfasts to a formal three-course dinner.

How I cook

• Seasonal and local first. I build menus around what's at its best right now, sourced as close to home as possible.

• Real food, made from scratch. Whole ingredients, cooked with care and without shortcuts.

• Every guest considered. Dietary needs and allergies are planned into the menu from the start, not added as an afterthought.

• Hands-on from start to finish. I do my own prep, because the details matter.

Why Dine and Conquer

Dine and Conquer was born from the realisation that food will always be a huge part of my life. After recovering from a serious illness, I decided to put what brings me joy first, and nothing does that like cooking for others and bringing events to life.

My aim is simple: to bring fun, happiness and joy to people's plates, lives and faces.