MY KIND OF COUNTRY
Caterer and café owner, Emily Strange
Why café owner and baker Emily Strange loves her Dorset home
Emily strange grew up on the family farm on the isle of Purbeck in Dorset, and from an early age appreciated good food and hospitality: her grandparents ran a café in the area, as did her mother, where emily helped out with the cooking as a child. she started Love Cake in 2010, selling her bakes at country fairs, supplying cafés and catering for private parties, before taking a leap of faith the following year and opening her own café-cum-deli in the seaside town of swanage. in 2012, Doris, a vintage ice-cream van, joined the ranks and is now in regular attendance at events. We headed to this idyllic part of the Jurassic coast to meet emily – and, of course, Doris!
TELL US MORE ABOUT YOUR HOME...
i bought my Victorian terraced cottage in swanage three years ago, and have renovated it from scratch – it’s still a work in progress. it was virtually uninhabitable when i moved in: i slept on a mattress on the floor for the first few months, and didn’t even have an oven – i ate all my meals in the café for the first two years. the long wait has made me appreciate my new kitchen even more though, and i love having friends over for dinner. my next project is the garden – i would like to grow herbs and vegetables and maybe have a few chickens scratching around.
CAN YOU ENVISAGE EVER LIVING ANYWHERE ELSE?
i really can’t. my heart is in Purbeck and although i love visiting different places, i’m always pleased to come home. this entire area is so special – not only is it beautiful and unspoilt but there’s a great sense of community. so many artists and artisans live here, and the local food scene is growing. it’s really important and gratifying to see it develop.
DID YOU ALWAYS WANT TO WORK WITH FOOD?
i think it’s in my blood. i never liked school, and couldn’t wait to leave. i wasn’t sure what i wanted to do, but i’ve always been creative and had a natural aptitude for cooking and baking, so catering seemed like a natural fit. i never had any formal training, though my mum influenced me in the kitchen when i was growing up.
WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST JOB?
When i was 18, i became a chalet girl in France
– i loved it so much, i did the winter season for five years. early on, i worked with an Australian cook: she taught me so much