Meet our Team – Lonnie

October 6, 2026 | Foodie bites | 4 minute read

Interview by Evie-May Ellis

Since starting at The Victoria back in April 2025, Lonnie has brought an endless enthusiasm to his role that speaks not only to his love of cooking, but the enjoyment of his position as Chef de Partie. Shortly after his arrival he won an inhouse competition that encouraged chefs to showcase their skills (read more about his winning Shakshuka dish here), and as I spring this interview on him whilst he fills pastry cases, his characteristic willingness to participate and share his experience tell me that 18 months on, his passion shows no signs of waning.

So, Lonnie, for those of us that don’t know, can you tell me a bit about your background?
Sure sure. Well, I’ve had probably about 15 jobs in my life. I’ve worked a lot of factory jobs and I had a degree in Sports Coaching, so I used to be a PE teacher for a while.

Wow, that’s really different to being a chef! How did you end up in this industry?
Haha yeah, right! I started in the kitchen when I was working Front of House in Devon. The chef went sick for about four months, and because I’d worked there for a long time, I knew the menu and how it worked inside out, so that’s when I started in the kitchen. I was only meant to be helping out really, working on the pizza section, setting up seafood platters and stuff like that. But yeah, it was great and that – that was for me! And it meant I didn’t have to argue with kids all day you know.

And are you still into sport? I know you don’t get a lot of free time (split shifts are standard for chefs – covering breakfast, lunch and dinner, with a three hour break in the middle. Depending on the rota, they can do this shift 3 – 5 (or 6!) times a week) but is sport something you still do when you can?
Yeah, in my free time I usually like to go to the gym, or chat to my friends, or even do some cooking at home. It helps me to relax.

What’s your favourite dish to cook at home?
My favourite thing to cook is very simple at home. I just like fish, a little tomato sauce, and some like crushed garlic and, oh like yeah, some olives and capers and things like that. Nice! It’s different to here, here my favourite dish to cook is…I would say risotto, or anything in the pan. It’s like where you get the different flavours and you can layer them as much as possible. I don’t mind frying and stuff, but I think cooking things nice and slow, and getting to add all the different bits and bobs – it’s good fun.

Can you tell us a bit what an average day looks like for you?
A usual day looks like for me…well, I will come in and say hello to the lads, and then I’ll jump straight onto the prep list that we need to do for the day. I prefer a 7.45am start because if I’m on a 7am for breakfast, you don’t have any time to do the prep, and I like getting all the jobs knocked off the board. It’s quite satisfying. I then get my station organised and you know, we are always working hard to save ourselves some stress later in the day, so you just got to *Lonnie enthusiastically uses hand gestures that indicate continuous motion*

Speaking of which, you are very busy so I will let you go. Just one more question, what is your favourite thing about working here?
Ah being in the kitchen is good fun. We always have a laugh, but we’re always working hard at the same time. I like that I’ve got structure here too. But yeah, yeah, it’s hard work, it’s challenging, but like it’s fun too.

With that I thank Lonnie for his time and leave him to complete his prep list before lunch service, knowing full well that when I see him again for this evening’s service, he will still have that enthusiastic smile on his face.