This is an event we had to keep under our hats for a few weeks until the media blackout was lifted and we could talk about our visit from a TV celebrity and professional footballers.
It’s not every day you get a speculative call from a location manager at a film company to say they have seen photos of your outdoor kitchen online and wish to use it to shoot a short cookery segment for a brand promotion.
A few weeks of detailed questions about dimensions, electrical sockets, height clearance, equipment, parking, privacy, access and accessories and we had an agreement and most importantly the name of a TV chef (known in TV parlance as “the talent”) – Fred Sirieix. Fred would be cooking handmade burgers and glazed spicy wings with two professional footballers from Chelsea FC - Axel Disasi and Levi Colwill - whose training ground is only a stone’s throw from our Nursery. Whilst cooking and teaching them some food prep tips he would be chatting to them about the food they love and of course their own passion for football.
The crew; a team of about 10 people arrived at 0900 hours, armed with massive amounts of equipment and in a slick, efficient couple of hours they had erected lights, reflective panels, cameras and dressed our kitchen with groceries and filled the fridges with food. They also magically turned one of our empty outbuildings into a storage facility, dressing room and makeup area. This will be affectionately known hereafter as “the Green Room”.
When filming began, a reverent hush fell across the area and not just because of the “Quiet Please, Filming in Progress” signs that had been taped up to the trees! We found ourselves tip toeing carefully across the gravel in order not to make too much noise.
Then at the end of the day, as capably and smoothly as they had created their film set, they dismantled everything and were gone without a trace – a true example of team work.
The film has been released now so we can talk about our brush with fame.
And to Fred – we hope you are enjoying your new fire pit!
If you’d like to see our kitchen in action on a blessed sunny day in April you can see the footage above...or why not pop into Cedar Nursery to see the kitchen for real?
