Elaine Day - from Formula One to Dartmouth

Elaine Day - from Formula One to Dartmouth

Dartmouth Academy’s new catering manager is used to high-pressure situations: she used to cook for racing drivers. 

Elaine Day is a confident, bubbly person who promotes a feeling of confidence – and, in catering, confidence goes a long way. 

Born in Berkshire, she graduated from college in Bournemouth in the early 1980s with a qualification in Catering and Hotel Management. She said she had wanted to work in hospitality & the food industry from an early age. 

“I’ve always loved food,” she said. “The process of creating a great meal: finding ingredients, blending them together, presenting them in an attractive way – it gives me a buzz! And also knowing others have enjoyed the food I prepared, I love that feeling.”

After college, Elaine chose to travel the world, and her adventures were supported by he ability to cook. 

“I travelled in South East-Asia and Australia/New Zealand for two years after I finished college and got jobs in kitchens to support myself,” she said. “This was the most amazing experience for me – I worked in New Zealand, Australia, Malaysia and Thailand, and learnt so much about their food cultures. After that I spent two years working on the ski circuit in Europe. Those four years were hugely influential for me in my development as a chef.”

She then took on the challenge of being a caterer in the fast-moving world of Formula 1. 

“When I was working in F1, it was very different from today,” she said. “Now teams have huge catering trucks and their full menu is flown in. When I was in charge of catering, you would land and then head into town to source what you needed to feed the team and their guests. I had to source food in Japan, Brazil, Italy, and Europe . 

“You never knew what you were going to find and had to be flexible about your menus – because if you planned something you can bet that you wouldn’t be able to find the right ingredients! 

“Those experiences helped me in so many ways: I’m now familiar with alot of international cuisine  - because I had to learn about a new food culture virtually every week – and I’m a great believer in sourcing ingredients locally and finding out how to work with them. If I hadn’t been ready to think  - and learn – on my feet I would have been lost.”

Working for the likes for Ferrari and McLaren, Elaine travelled the world creating top-quality meals for the A-list stars and fans of Formula 1.

But after nearly a decade in that world she decided it was time to step away from the full-on, full-time role. 

“I wanted to settle down a bit and start a family,” she said. “It is a very exciting life, but is very hard work and involved a lot of travelling.”

After a few years bringing up her two daughters, she decided she might like to step back towards catering and set up Entertaining Food in Surrey, where she was based at the time. She found old connections coming out of the woodwork.

“I was contacted by quite a few people I had known through F1,” she said. “It was fun to catch up and work with them again to produce some great events! The business started to grow and I found I still had a passion for creating great food  - I got the same buzz all over again!”

After relocating to Devon in 2008, Elaine continued to develop Entertaining Food, balancing it with her responsibilities as a mother. 

With her children growing up and moving on to University, Elaine decided it was time for a new challenge in her career. She took up the role of Catering Manager at Dartmouth Academy this summer. The role has two challenges: to create a healthy, locally-sourced menu for the school’s children, and work to create a successful commercial restaurant in the new building’s ‘Rainbow Rooms’.

She has already created links with local suppliers and has been working with the staff team at the Academy to create a menu the children will love. They gave the staff a chance to try it over the holidays at training day, and the reviews were stellar!

“I’m delighted that the menu went down well with the staff,” she said. “I was pleased to work with the catering team at the Academy and we all got on really well.

“I am very excited about bringing my experience and knowledge to the Dartmouth Academy table. Being a mother myself I value the importance of a balanced healthy, and affordable, diet for growing minds and bodies.”

“I’m really looking forward to preparing the menu for the children here at Dartmouth in a way I haven’t in my career before. With great food I believe you can inspire people, young and old, and I believe we can create a culture of good, nutritious, delicious food that people can enjoy here at Dartmouth Academy.”•

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