Wild Goose didn’t begin as a business.
It began as a season of change.
Because when you see geese in flight,
you know something is shifting.
A new season is on its way.
That’s what Wild Goose has always meant to us.
About us
Kirstin and Vernon are both chefs.
They trained in professional kitchens where food really matters. Where detail matters. Where you learn to care deeply about what you put on a plate.
Vernon’s journey took him from South Africa to London, from cooking in the bush, with elephants and lions wandering past, to training in chocolate with Valrhona in France, and into some of London’s most respected kitchens. He was part of the team awarded Best Afternoon Tea in England at Browns Hotel and spent years working alongside Mark Hix.
Kirstin’s path was just as full. She worked at places like La Gavroche and Ottolenghi, and later became Head of Hospitality at Global Radio.
They loved that world.
The standards. The discipline.
Even the intensity of it.
There’s something strangely addictive about those kitchens… the adrenaline, the long hours, the feeling of being part of something that demands everything from you.
But life doesn’t always stay on the path you planned.
And in 2014, after going through a period that stopped everything in its tracks, Kirstin stepped away.
Not forever.
Just for a moment.
The plan was always to go back.
Kirstin started baking from her home kitchen.
Nothing big.
Just a few cakes. A few orders.
This was in 2014
Before everyone started baking from home.
It wasn’t a business idea… it was just something to hold onto.
Something steady.
And then, slowly, it grew.
People came back.
Then they told other people.
And what was meant to be a short pause started to feel like something else entirely.
The idea of a small pop-up came next.
Just for a season.
That was the plan.
But when the doors opened, something shifted.
People stayed longer than expected.
They talked.
They came back again.
It wasn’t just about the food.
Somewhere in that time, something became really clear.
What had been missing all along… was community.
Not networking.
Not surface-level connection.
Real community.
The kind where people feel seen.
Where they can soften a little.
Where they don’t have to have it all together for a moment.
Vernon joined not long after, and what started in a home kitchen became something shared.
Something more grounded.
Something that didn’t feel temporary anymore.
More than ten years later, Wild Goose is still here.
It holds everything they learned as chefs.
The care. The process. The attention to detail.
But it also holds what they found outside of that world.
A different pace.
A quieter way of doing things.
A stronger connection to the people who walk through the door.
Because sometimes you can build the life that looks right on the outside…
and still feel like something’s missing.
And sometimes, all it takes is one small shift…
one different choice…
one season where you do things another way…
for everything to change.
What started as a short pause became a completely different way of life.
And it’s one they’re still choosing, every day.
Come for the food. Stay for the Soul.
OUR SYMBOL
Our South African inspired products are reflected through the Protea, the national flower of South Africa, which creates the body for our brand symbol. Our brand spirit of togetherness is captured through the Wildgoose looking backwards to help others.
