Sam Crew has spent the last ten years jetting around the world, working as a personal caterer on sophisticated super yachts and in the isolated Scottish Highlands.She’s now back home and has set up a catering division for Bermuda Restaurants Limited, the holding company for Rosa’s Cantina and Chopsticks restaurants.“I grew up here,” Ms Crew said. “In my twenties I worked as a photographer in London and then took a career break. I went to the French Alps and ran a ski chalet. Cooking was easier than being a fashion photographer in London.”After six months in the Alps, her catering career took off.There was a lot of glamour to what she did. She worked for auction houses Sotheby’s and Christies, and often catered in vacation hot spots like Mallorca and Palm Springs, Florida. But there was also a lot of grit and hard work involved. She counts resourcefulness as one of her best qualities.“My speciality was working in remote parts of the world, so it was often about using the land,” she said. “I have been in parts of the world where I have had one tiny cooker and maybe a hole with some coal outside. This past summer I was working up in Scotland using an Aga stove that was coal-fuelled. Every morning I would have to fill it up with coal, riddle the bottom, and clear out the ashes just to maintain it.”She has often been called on to cater to fishing and hunting parties for family vacations. Last summer she worked for the British Royal Family in Scotland.“I wouldn’t be a very good private chef if I talked about my clients, but it was fun,” she said coyly when asked for details. “I was in a private estate further north than the Royal Balmoral Estate in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. My nearest supermarket was a 60-mile round trip. You had to be resourceful, and use the food from the estate. I would go to the gardener and see what was in abundance and use that. That is my dictum — ‘local, seasonal and fresh’.”She recalled having to take two lamb carcases to the local butcher. He only worked three days a week and his shop was in his house.“When it came back, all I could say was ‘the animal was already killed, what has he done?’ I could have done a better job myself. It is just about learning from gillies (river keepers) and game keepers. I would love to take a butchering course. Butchering differs so much from country to country.”She has had many adventures in her travels. She recalled having to transport a large stag from one job to another.“I was coming down from an estate in the north of Scotland and I had this stag head,” she said. “I had cooked part of it earlier. I got a lift so far to Inverness and then I had to get on a public bus. [His antlers] had 12 points which is a big deal. People were driving past tooting me and giving me the thumbs up. I got off the bus and this little child saw the head and just screamed. And of course I pulled my bag off and said ‘the rest of the beast is in my bag’. The mother took it in good humour.”She returned to Bermuda and discovered a food renaissance going on, with many of her friends now growing their own food.“I think what Wadson’s Farm and Windy Bank Farm are doing is phenomenal. I am shocked at the levels of diabetes here. When I was in high school my mother would buy convenience food and now I have allergies to preservatives. There seem to be more and more people with special diets.”She can comfortably cater to about 55 people.“I am looking at doing drop-offs because there are so many families who don’t have a lot of time to cook,” she said. “I can speak to a client a few days ahead of time, and then maybe drop-off four days’ worth of meals for the family. They can either freeze them or keep them in the fridge. If people want dinner parties, canapé parties or bridal showers then I will do that. I am very client-led. What they want I can work around, within reason.”For more information telephone 533-2766 or e-mail, sam_bdarest@logic.bm.