About Holly and Raoul

Raoul & Holly owned Woodruffs, Britain’s first totally Organic Cafe, based in Stroud, Gloucestershire, which was established in 1998. Holly bought the business in 2003 and worked there from the start – she ran the successful cafe until she sold it in 2019.

Raoul and his family co-owned award winning Seafood Restaurant, The Old Passage, Arlingham, Gloucestershire, where he was head chef for many years.

After marrying and the birth of their daughter Matilda, Holly and Raoul took the opportunity to move to Cornwall for a short break, where Raoul spent the summer working as head chef for Michelin starred Chef Nathan Outlaw at The Mariners Pub, Rock, Cornwall.

When they returned to Stroud in 2015 to continue running Woodruffs, they also started Well Seasoned Cotswold Catering. They teamed up with Owlpen Manor in Uley and began catering for all the Weddings and Events on the Estate.

Raoul is also delighted to be able to offer Home Reared Hogget from their own Jacob and Cotswold Sheep, raised by Raoul and his family on their small holding in Rodborough, Stroud.

Along with their two children, Matilda and Raffael, They have also slowly been growing their flock of sheep which started out as 2 Jacob sheep and a couple of acres in 2018. We now have sheep a larger flock and 12 acres.

What the flock?

We rear our native rare breed sheep (Jacob and Cotswold) beyond being ’lamb’, to Hogget (over a year old) allowing the lambs a longer and happier life. Allowing this extra time also means they develop a fuller taste and texture, they do however still retain the tenderness found in rare breed meat.

How we like to serve ours …

We love serving our Hogett at the table from big platters to friends and family so everyone can dive in and help themselves. It is such a lovely social way to enjoy food and get everyone involved and chatting. Our personal recommendation would be to serve the meat alongside big bowls of rich roasted tomato sauce, minted yogurt, flat breads and delicious seasonal mixed salads or warm vegetables and garlic aioli.

It is of course equally delicious served as a ‘Traditional Roast’ with your choice of potatoes, seasonal vegetables and a Rosemary & Roast Garlic Jus.

Sheepskins available on request

If you would like the skin from your chosen lamb produced into a beautiful sheepskin rug please let us know and we can arrange this to be tanned for you. The skins take from 3-6 months approx to tan. They make a memorable gift to your loved one for a birthday or anniversary present. We will arrange that the skin is sent directly to your address when it is ready. Alternatively we can arrange for a different skin from another of our flock and have this ready for your wedding date with enough notice.

Organic tanned hide £140 (tanning 4-6 months approx)

Non-organic tanned hide £100 (tanning 4-6 months approx)