ABOUT
We're the Birds on the Loose - two cooks and our chick game for anything on the Yorkshire food scene and beyond. When we're not busy rummaging through Yorkshire's abundant larder or teaching the lovely folk who visit Malton Cookery School, we're creating pop-up dining experiences in off-the-wall locations around the county - and the quirkier they are, the better!
Hello from us!
Gilly Robinson
When not roaming Yorkshire as a Bird on the Loose, Gilly is the Head Tutor of Malton Cookery School. She's not just a very good cook, she's a very good teacher.
She has huge experience running cookery courses and for several years was senior tutor at the Rosemary Shrager Cooking School at Swinton Park, North Yorkshire, and still works with Rosemary on specific projects.
Gilly has worked alongside some of the biggest names in the food and drink industry managing demonstration theatres at all the major shows.
She is also a private chef, cooking for some of the county's landed gentry on numerous occasions.
She first met fellow Bird on the Loose, Sue on the cookery demo circuit and the pair hit it off straight away, forming their culinary duo over a couple of wines in a Malton pub.
Sue Nelson
Sue is messianic in championing the lot of the Yorkshire artisan producer but for her it’s all about finding out what makes the producers tick in the first place.
In setting up Yorkshire Food Finder and devising her guided food trails around Yorkshire,
Sue has built up an amazing network of producers and chefs. Her knowledge of what they’re up to is vast but she also knows how to use their stuff too, as she’s more than a competent cook, as happy in a bespoke kitchen as in a field doing a demo at some rural foodie event with little equipment and ovens that don’t work.
Sue has amazing knowledge and calls a spade a very large shovel - which is why she and Gilly get on so well - and is fearless in defending the lot of the local producer using their producer in her pop up suppers and cookery demonstrations.
Debbie Raw
Debbie is our lovely Chick on the Loose! She loves to cook, bake, create and decorate.
Debbie, aged 21, has completed her levels 1, 2 and 3 in professional cookery and levels 1 and 2 in cake decorating.
Alongside college, she worked in local restaurants while decorating cakes and selling her own products at local craft fairs.
North Yorks Moors- born Debbie's most recent adventure was taking part in 'Further Back in Time for Dinner', a BBC food and drink programme about food and living from the 1900s to the 1950s. Now back in the present day, Debbie works as assistant tutor at Malton Cookery School helping Gilly teach a wide range of courses and skills using the best local produce.
Debbie is most proud of her intricate cake-making skills - our very own bake-off champion!