Chef has sweet ideas for pastry business
A CHEF who has cooking for a football team promoted to the Premier League on his CV has returned to his roots by opening a patisserie in Cardiff.
If you live or work on Station Road in Llandaff North, Valentin’s Cakery will have become a familiar sight over the years. But the shop is about to get a makeover under the new name of Chapter 22 Patisserie – at the hands of a brand new owner.
After a career that has seen him cooking for footballers and celebrities, Craig Marc has returned to his Cardiff roots.
He said: “I’ve been a chef for 17 years, done some amazing things and hit heights I never thought I’d hit. But I plateaued a bit, got a bit bored, and thought I needed a new challenge.
“I started making cakes in lockdown, everyone went a bit crazy over it on Facebook and I was getting orders. It got to the point where I thought: ‘I need to take that risk and start my own venture.’ So I did.
“Since I’ve opened up my new shop, it feels like I’ve come back to my roots. The community is so supportive and there are loads of old friends dropping in.”
The 34 year old’s culinary journey started with a stint at the Vale Resort where he met the Wales football team’s private chef.
Craig said: “I got talking to him and he asked if I wanted to go to Macedonia with one of the youth teams because he couldn’t go. I was like: ‘I’ll do that!.’ I got really good feedback and ended up travelling all over.”
This line of work would soon see him take his skills to the Championship, landing a job with Queens Park Rangers FC. “There was an extra level of pride working with the Wales team but it didn’t quite cap the feeling of working for QPR,” Craig explained.
“I’d never moved out of Wales. Doing that was out of my comfort zone. I grew as a person and it’s turned me into what I am today. I’m grateful for that opportunity.”
QPR’s dressing room at the time was home to some big names.
Craig reminisced: “Working with Harry Redknapp, Rio Ferdinand, Joey Barton, all these people who I idolised as a kid, getting to see those faces every day was just mad. Seeing Rio Ferdinand just blew my mind as a lifelong Man United fan. It was then that it hit, what I was doing.”
He added: “It’s not easy to land those jobs, but when you do, the praise you get is amazing.”
Cooking for footballers was a big leap from Craig’s early work as a banqueting and wedding chef.
He explained: “When you first start, and there are 50 people including players, backroom staff and physios, you think about how you’re going to remember all those orders every day.
“But they literally order the same thing every day for the whole season. [Former Cardiff City, Chelsea and Leeds United striker] Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink took over as manager after Harry Redknapp left.
“Jimmy’s omelette every day would be smoked salmon and avocado. He’d have that every single day. They are so strict with what they have.”
Craig was sat in the stands when QPR beat Derby County 1-0 at Wembley to seal promotion to the Premier League. As the man behind the team’s diet, is he willing to take any credit?
He answered: “I wouldn’t want to say that. But when I was sat in Wembley and Bobby Zamora scored the winning goal, I couldn’t believe I was a part of it. Getting promoted to the Premier League was a crazy feeling.”
Two years ago, Craig found himself in the South of France working at Simon Cowell’s chateau, cooking for a bunch of millionaires after being contacted through Facebook.
Since coming back to Cardiff and opening Chapter 22 in February, there has been a few big names on his order list.
“I almost feel bad name-dropping but I’ve only been in here a few months and got an order for Charlotte Church,” Craig said.
“I’d only been an official shop owner and cake maker for two months. To cook a cake for a celebrity is what I want to be doing. I want to hit the same heights I did when working with footballers, in the patisserie world.
“It’s been ridiculously busy. I haven’t had a day off in a month and a half but that’s part and parcel of opening a business. There will be a lot of long days and unsociable hours, but I’m ready for it all.
“I’ve got quite a good social media presence so there are quite a lot of people who just pop in to say hello, which is nice, and this is just the start.
“I will have a team once I’ve refurbished and officially opened the shop, as I have plans to turn it into a fullblown patisserie. But at the moment, it’s just me. I’d like to open my second patisserie in 2023. That’s the goal. I’d love to outgrow this shop and expand.
“The name ‘Chapter 22’ came to my mind because it’s the year 2022 – the year I’ve decided to go all-in on my vision.”
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