Laura Smith, Chef

Laura has been part of the catering team at The Causeway Retreat since February 2008. Her previous professional experiences include working as a personal chef to private individuals, delivering large scale and high class catering at events such as weddings and directors’ lunches, preparing meals in private holiday chalets and even cooking on steam trains.

As a professional chef she has firm principles in cooking tasty and nutritious food, using the home-grown produce that the island provides to the greatest extent possible. Mealtime is an integral part of the daily routine which helps to create and promote stability and naturally she feels that this is an extremely important element of the healing and recovery process.

She says that she really enjoys working for The Causeway primarily because of the family atmosphere that living on an island with both colleagues and clients can foster. This helps the staff and clients all bond extremely effectively and she really likes this aspect of the job. Through regular interaction with clients she tells us that she feels very much a part of The Causeway Retreat and what it has to offer, something not often available in back of house roles.

When she’s off the island Laura loves to travel, skydive and play squash. In her spare time on the island she is also a particularly keen amateur photography, which is where, she tells us, working at The Causeway Retreat has another big plus point - it is after all a very photogenic little island.