At the age of 16, Richard found himself with two possible career paths, each of which he could have happily pursued. One was to become a chef. The other was to become a racing car driver. He’s retained his passion for cars and driving to this day but the profession he chose at that time was to become a chef.

Over the next seventeen years he worked in many 5-star establishments in Australia and Europe, ran two of the premier restaurants in Sydney, and for five years he was the private chef for one of the wealthiest Italian families, working on their private yacht and residences in elite locations around Europe. With an unlimited budget, he would often create 30-course dinners for the family and their guests, and would rise to the challenge of cooking any dish their hearts desired.

In 2002, his career took off in a different direction when he set up an organic food distribution company working with local biodynamic farmers, selling quality produce to the top chefs in Sydney. He then moved on to manage a 2,400-acre meditation retreat centre in the Australian bush, where he lived in a rustic farmhouse, grew organic vegetables, and from time to time created jaw-dropping gourmet meals for astonished meditators.

It was there that he first heard about me, when I was invited to attend a retreat at the centre. ‘Karen Kingston is coming!’ the other residents told him, as they madly cleaned, tidied, and clutter cleared before I got there. Apparently, I often have this effect on people. But not on him. He wasn’t phased at all. For months I’d been hearing about a mysterious man who had been repairing the farmhouse and clutter clearing the property on a massive scale, taking over twenty truckloads of junk to the local tip. Interesting, I thought.

We met in 2004, married in 2006, and moved to Bali together that year, where Richard became the General Manager of the hotel and conference centre I designed and built in East Bali, and transformed the restaurant into the most popular venue in the area. Word quickly spread and people would drive a six-hour round trip from one side of the island to the other just for dinner.

In 2010, we moved to the UK for seven years, then to Australia for three years. In March 2020 we moved back to England, which is now our permanent home.