Cai Ross

A lifelong cinema devotee, Cai had hoped to break into the film business as a scriptwriter, having studied the craft at university. After initial successes, selling a script and co-writing a BBC Radio Wales sit-com, the well ran unexpectedly dry. As a stop-gap that was only supposed to last six months, he took over the running of Paysanne in 2003, when his parents retired to the south of France. ‘Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans’ is a lyric that springs to mind, since he is still there today running it with the head chef. Life as a restaurateur has enabled Cai to indulge in his love of food, often to marvellous excess. Over the past decade he has been feeding his writer hunger by penning articles about food and films for, among others, Cinema Retro magazine, Calibre Quarterly, HeyUGuys.com and BBC Good Food.