Warwickshire’s best loved restaurant, the multi-award-winning Café Vin Cinq, brings you CVC Kitchen, the perfect solution for all of your business lunches, celebrations and events. Our outstanding handmade buffet cuisine is now delivered directly to you, throughout the day, at the time you choose.
Dan was born in Rugby, and his earliest culinary influences came from looking forward to his mother’s roast chicken with smoked bacon, after playing Rugby on a Sunday morning. He completed his apprenticeship at the Greyhound in Lutterworth, and then swiftly moved to London.
At the age of 19, he started working at the 5* hotel, Four Seasons, in Canary Wharf, under the watchful eye of executive chef, Marco Bax; the focus of the hotel was north Italian cuisine. This is where Dan met Else-Marie: Else-Marie worked in the pastry kitchen, training under chef Dominico Di Clemente.
Else-Marie grew up in Pretoria, South Africa and her earliest culinary influences came from working as a waitress at San Francisco Coffee Roasters. Once she finished school, she moved to Durban to study at Christina Martin’s School of Food & Wine. Thereafter, she moved to London where she joined the team at the Four Seasons Hotel.
After working together for 3 years, Dan and Else-Marie decided to move to Cape Town, South Africa. There they worked at some of the most prestigious restaurants in Cape Town at the time, Madame Zingara, Cara Lazuli, The Greenhouse at the Cellars-Hohenhort and The Table Bay Hotel. After 2 years in Cape Town, they returned to London.
Dan went on to work for legendary and world-renowned chef, Albert Roux, at the authentically French restaurant, Brasserie Roux in St James’s. Following his time with Alber Roux, he went on to join The Thomas Cubitt, a modern British gastro pub in Belgravia. The Thomas Cubitt soon expanded into a group of high-end gastro pubs in Belgravia, opening sites in Knightsbridge, Marylebone and Pimlico, known henceforth as Cubitthouse, at which point Dan became the group head chef.
Else-Marie went on to run the pastry section for Michelin starred chef, Andre Garrett, at the Orrery, Marylebone, and then, another Michelin starred Chef, Chris Staines at Foliage, Knightsbridge. After her time there, she joined the Cubitthouse group as executive pastry chef.
Around this time, Dan and Else-Marie got married and started their family. Wanting to run their own business, they decided to move to South Africa and take over The Dairywood restaurant. The restaurant was situated in Hermanus, a sleepy seaside town outside Cape Town; it was home for them and their children for 4 years, before deciding to move back to the UK again.
Dan worked as group head chef for Open House, London, running the Percy & Founders, The Lighterman and The Larder kitchens with Executive Head chef Diego Cardoso. Else-Marie joined their sister company, Boxcar, where she was head chef of the Boxcar Baker and Deli.
After his time in London, Daniel took the opportunity of becoming executive head chef at Café Vin Cinq. Bringing together his years of experience to our beautiful restaurant in the heart of Rugby, where Else-Marie now joins us for the next big adventure … CVC Kitchen.
