From celebrated kitchens to Southbourne.
CHEF & CO-OWNER · COOKING, SEASONALITY & FOOD EDUCATION
James Golding brings more than three decades in professional kitchens to The Larder House. His career has taken him from classical training at The Savoy to restaurants in London and New York, and on to a defining role in the food culture of THE PIG Hotels.
Today, that experience finds a home in Southbourne. Alongside James Fowler, he is shaping an independent restaurant where good ingredients, cooking over fire and generous hospitality come together.
James began his professional training through the Academy of Culinary Arts’ Specialised Chef programme, joining The Savoy as a young apprentice. Working under Anton Edelmann gave him a foundation in classical French cooking and the discipline of a major hotel kitchen.
From there, he moved to Le Caprice, working with Mark Hix and later Elliot Ketley, before joining J Sheekey. Those years deepened his knowledge of seasonal British ingredients, seafood and the teamwork behind a busy restaurant.
His next chapter took him across the Atlantic to lead the sixth-floor restaurant at Soho House New York. Returning to the south coast in 2006, he became head chef at Harbour Heights in Sandbanks, bringing that international experience back to Dorset.
James’s work with THE PIG became a defining chapter of his career. As Group Chef Director, he helped develop an approach to food built around kitchen gardens, nearby producers and the group’s 25-mile menu philosophy.
It was cooking that began outside the kitchen: with what gardeners could grow, what foragers could find and what local farmers, fishermen and makers could supply.
Leading kitchens across the collection meant nurturing people as well as menus. Developing chefs, supporting teams and keeping a clear connection between ingredients and place became central to his work.
A Fellow of the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts, James has made food education an important part of his career. He has supported apprentices and emerging chefs, alongside work helping people understand ingredients, practical cooking and where their food comes from.
His career has included a food education role with the Table Talk Foundation and culinary leadership at Rockwater. Across these different settings, his interest remains the same: helping people find confidence, curiosity and opportunity through food.
James shares his cooking with a wider audience through appearances on Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch, food festivals and chef demonstrations.
He also hosts Always in Season with Maple from Canada, bringing chefs, producers and food specialists together for conversations about ingredients, seasonality and sustainability.
These are different ways of continuing the same conversation: how to cook well, source thoughtfully and make more of the ingredients around us.
Joining forces with James Fowler brings together two complementary careers: James’s experience in professional kitchens and food education, and Fowler’s award-winning drinks expertise and independent hospitality background.
At The Larder House, the focus is on food and drink that feel connected to their surroundings, served with warmth and personality. Their development of SOBO.CI, the Southbourne Culinary Institute, also creates space for a new generation to discover cooking and the possibilities of hospitality.
Behind a relaxed dinner is a lifetime of learning: knowing how to bring out the best in an ingredient, when to keep things simple and how to build a meal that feels generous. That is the experience James brings to Southbourne.
Explore James Fowler’s story →
