Tatenda Lovemore.

Self-taught. Fire-obsessed. Belafonte’s Experimental Kitchen began in a Surrey back garden with one stand, one brisket, and one long weekend of stubborn optimism. There was no business plan — only the burning desire to feed people properly.

What started as cooking for friends became cooking for their friends, then their weddings, then their weekends away. Belafonte is the answer to the question every guest kept asking: can you do this at ours? Turns out, the answer was always yes — as long as there was charcoal, curiosity, and enough time.

My approach is simple: respect the fire, source with care, and never let a guest leave hungry. Every menu is built around the room — the occasion, the season, the crowd, the weather — and written only after we’ve talked. I don’t do off-the-shelf; I do off-the-coals.

I cook across the UK from a Surrey base, bringing custom BBQ stands, whole-animal cookery, and a little live-fire theatre to private gardens, weddings, and weekend escapes. Fine-dining technique, backyard soul, and just enough controlled chaos to keep things interesting.

When I’m not over the coals, I’m thinking about the next fire: new stands, new techniques, new ways to make smoke taste like a story.