Feeding the Soul with Simon Boyle

[Episode 12] Simon Boyle is a renowned chef, philanthropist, and founder of Beyond Food Foundation and Brigade Bar+Kitchen in London Bridge. Simon takes us back through his unusually creative culinary journey to becoming an award winning social entrepreneur.  You’ll hear some entertaining stories about childhood in northern England where he would run home from school to bake and cook just to avoid doing his homework. Learn about his serendipitous selection, as a 17 year old and out of hundreds candidates, to be the only apprentice sent for training to London’s famed The Savoy Hotel. A dream come true! In the back of his mind he always felt there was more to life than preparing food for wealthy people in a luxurious hotel. After years in the kitchen at various locations, as well as a short stint in corporate America, he eventually founded Beyond Food Foundation and Brigade Bar + Kitchen. This empowered him to make a social impact, working to help homeless people across London. Beyond Food was set up to help rebuild their lives by sharing his cooking skills and knowledge around food. He will tell you he has truly seen first-hand the real power of food as a catalyst to break the cycle of homelessness and poverty. Since 2005, Beyond Food has helped the lives of many struggling people every year. We hope you enjoy this fun and inspiring story. 

Episode Book Pairing

Each episode the The Gray Matters podcast is paired with a book that complements the episode’s subject matter.

The Five People You Meet in Heaven

by Mitch Albom

Eddie is a wounded war veteran, an old man who has lived, in his mind, an uninspired life. His job is fixing rides at a seaside amusement park. On his 83rd birthday, a tragic accident kills him, as he tries to save a little girl from a falling cart. He awakes in the afterlife, where he learns that heaven is not a destination. It’s a place where your life is explained to you by five people, some of whom you knew, others who may have been strangers. One by one, from childhood to soldier to old age, Eddie’s five people revisit their connections to him on earth, illuminating the mysteries of his “meaningless” life, and revealing the haunting secret behind the eternal question: “Why was I here?”

Get your copy of The Five People You Meet in Heaven from Bookshop.org.

About Simon Boyle

Simon is an award-winning social entrepreneur, chef, and charity CEO who has made a significant social impact through his work as chef-founder of Brigade Bar & Kitchen in London Bridge and CEO of the Beyond Food Foundation. He has reached over 7,200 vulnerable people and trained over 2,000, while also supporting  over individuals into employment and directly employing over 150.

Simon is also a respected public speaker, author, and fundraiser. He appeared on BBC’s Dragon’s Den, gave a TedX talk in Heidelberg and gave evidence to the All Party Parliamentary Group for London in the House of Commons. He has also been a speaker and host at events and fundraising dinners for  organizations such as Lloyds Bank Foundation, TechData, Google, and the School of Social Entrepreneurs. He is a respected media commentator and has worked with outlets such as the BBC, LBC, The Guardian, The Telegraph, BBC Radio 2, and the London Evening Standard.

Simon has a strong track record of working with private sector companies and has developed a reputation for creating innovative partnerships and programs that have a significant social impact. He created an innovative partnership with PwC and DeVere Venues to launch and operate Brigade Bar & Kitchen, and was Unilever’s first Culinary Ambassador. He has worked with companies such as Google, Nike, Knorr, Heinz, Aquafresh, Ben & Jerry’s, PwC, and Marriott Hotels both in their approach to corporate social responsibility and in their core businesses.

Simon’s approach to working with corporates is focused on challenging them to think differently, finding ways to integrate social responsibility into their business models and to engage with the wider community in a meaningful way while still delivering business results.

Simon is a trained chef who studied at the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts and worked under some of the industry’s top chefs such as Anton Edelman, Pierre Chevillarde, and Anton Mosiman. He has also served as the head chef on various high profile cruise ships, and has helped major food businesses develop innovative pipelines.

In addition to his work as a social entrepreneur and chef, Simon is an author. He has published three books: How to Find a Job and Keep It, How to Cook and Keep Cooking, and Feast With Purpose.

Simon is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts and has won numerous awards including the Basque Culinary World Prize; Special Recognition, Relief Work in London during Covid-19, the Social Impact of the Year award from SEUK, and the Extra Mile Award from the Foodservice Cateys. Simon has been featured on the Evening Standard’s list of the Top 1,000 Most Influential People in London.

About Beyond Food Foundation and Brigade Bar & Kitchen

Beyond Food Foundation runs programmes that train and inspire people who are vulnerable or whose lives risk unraveling into work, through wellbeing and hospitality / catering training programmes.

Beyond Food Foundation is located within Brigade Bar & Kitchen, a modern, all-day brasserie in the Old Fire StaBon on Tooley Street, London Bridge. Brigade is supported by PwC and Searcy’s. 

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