Our Story

 

Here at The Wagtail Kitchen, food is not so much a business we’re passionate about, as a passion we’ve made a business out of.
 
Our journey began amongst the quiet hills of the North Pennines, rearing pigs and learning about the traditional craft of charcuterie & curing. We took this knowledge to begin building our business, at first touring local markets with fresh hog roasts and homemade paellas at the weekends.  Growing from this into a luxury catering company, before finding ourselves where we are now in the heart of Britain’s beautiful Lake District. All founded with a love of good food and a passion for the traditional values behind the craft of great cooking, since 2019 we are proud to have established our business handcrafting unique recipes for artisan pies.
 
My Grandfather, who upon retirement in the 1950’s, had a smallholding on the East Yorkshire Coast where he grew vegetables and kept livestock. Growing up hearing these stories of keeping pigs and the attitudes towards fresh, home-grown produce, The Wagtail Kitchen is very much inspired by his values. Having grown up hearing these stories passed down through the generations, my inspiration and motivation has also grown to want to continue the story of our family’s relationship with delicious, comforting and heart-warming good food.
 
We believe there is true importance to the stories we pass on to one another and that great food is at the heart of doing so. Whether we’re sat amongst friends for a meal, or revisiting that famous family recipe, the journey that great food takes us down is something we strive to be a part of with you.
 
In valuing our craft as we do, we take care to explore both the importance of traditional making while creating of something original and new. Be it, slow roasting our beef for 4 hours to achieve the utmost tenderness and flavour, to exploring new spice blends and flavours for our vegetarian & vegan cooking. We at The Wagtail Kitchen want to bring you the tastiest, most comforting food for everyone to share.

In choosing our pies, we hope you enjoy sharing this journey with us!

 

 

 

Steve Manders