As a star of the Great British Menu and now head chef for a luxury hotel, Charlotte Vincent is used to keeping calm under the intense heat of the kitchen.
But the normally unflappable 46-year-old was left in a stir when she was contacted out of the blue on Facebook by her father – who she thought had died 40 years before.
Sharing her astonishing story with the Daily Mail, Charlotte revealed that following her parents’ acrimonious split in 1984 when she was aged just five, her mum Amanda convinced her that her dad Ray, had perished at sea.
For years, she carried a single picture of her dad with her. Unbeknownst to her, since 2018 Ray, 70, now a wealthy tech boss and beef farmer lived just 17 miles from her.
She said: ‘We weren’t very far away from each other for quite some time, his farm is 30 minutes from my front door.
‘He never knew and I never knew, we probably passed each other in the street.’
Following her parents’ break up she moved from Berkshire to Exeter, Devon, where she was brought up by her Norwegian mother and stepfather and has worked at restaurants and gastropubs across the county and neighbouring Somerset.
Her big television break came in 2022 when she appeared on the BBC series Great British Menu, in which top chefs from around the country compete for the chance to cook one course of a four-course banquet.
Charlotte Vincent, 46, grew up believing her father was dead before she received a Facebook message from him out of the blue that turned her world upside down
Unbeknowns to Charlotte, her biological father Ray, 70, (pictured with his wife Denise), a wealthy tech boss and beef farmer was alive and well and living just 17 miles from her
Sharing her astonishing story with the Daily Mail, Charlotte revealed that following her parents’ acrimonious split in 1984 when she was aged five, her mother Amanda told her that her father Ray (pictured), had perished at sea. She carried a tatty photo of him around with her for years
Little did she know that seeing her on TV sparked Ray into a two-year effort to reunite with her.
She said: ‘He was trying to find me for a couple of years but never succeeding. One of his friends watched the Great British Menu and said “she looks like you Ray and has your surname – is that Charlotte?”
‘I was meant to be at Porthleven Food Festival but pulled out at the last minute and he was waiting outside the tent to see if it was me.
‘He tried to message me on Facebook but it’s locked up to the hilt so he couldn’t get hold of me.
‘He even rang my old job and my boss took the message but never passed it onto me.
‘I can’t remember why but one day I just decided to check my spam box and saw one from Ray Vincent and thought it can’t be, mum told me he’s dead.
‘I messaged him and he came back straight away to say “I know you’re my daughter, I’ve been looking for you for two years”.
‘He went through a few things that only he would know and I just went “bloody hell! I thought you were dead”.’
Within weeks of making contact Charlotte and Ray met in person for the first time in over four decades, she visited his family on Boxing Day but left after feeling ‘overwhelmed’.
She said: ‘We arranged on Facebook to meet and he came to where I was working at the time, I recognised him straight away.
Charlotte, 46, has forged a successful career for herself as a celebrated chef
‘I went up to him and gave him a massive hug, it wasn’t awkward it was just nice to know I wasn’t an orphan.
‘I didn’t know anything about that side of my family and I’ve got a really rich history, our whole family has been involved in food for generations.
‘My great grandma used to cook for the Queen. I ascend from chefs and I never knew that.’
As well as learning she isn’t an orphan, Ray discovered he is now a grandad to Charlotte’s son.
Despite missing out on decades with her dad, Charlotte says she doesn’t blame her Norwegian mother, who died of MS aged 46, and praises her step-dad for ensuring she never went without a father figure.
She said: ‘Mum has passed away so I can’t take it up with her
‘I vaguely remember seeing him when I was five, whenever I asked about him she said he died at sea. I have this tatty photo of him that I carried around for years.
‘It was seen as shameful to be a single mum back in the 1980s so she just did what she felt she had to.
‘My stepdad was my dad and he still is, he brought me up with every good intention and I didn’t feel cheated out of anything.’
Charlotte – who bought an ‘off-grid eco home’ – a former telephone exchange – near Taunton, Somerset for £185,000 during the Pandemic – says she would seriously consider opening a food-based business together, if her dad wanted to, but for now is just focussing on getting to know each other.
She said: ‘We’ve got a big relationship to build and we’re slowly working on it.
‘But we have lots in common – I’m a workaholic and he’s a workaholic.’
This summer she was appointed head chef at the exclusive Burgh Island Hotel, situated on a private tidal island near to Bigbury-on-Sea on Devon’s south coast, where she is now renting a house.
Ray, meanwhile, is a director of a successful IT business and he also runs a property development and investment company.
He and his second wife, Denise, bought Stolford Farm in Somerset in May 2018.
Charlotte and her team pictured outside Number 10 Downing Street in a career highlight for her
The 272-acre property is situated in a sheltered valley just outside the Exmoor National Park and boasts stunning views across to the Blackdown and Quantock Hills.
The farm – thought to be 600 years old – produces apples for a cider producer and has a converted barn and a five-bedroom cottage that are let out to holiday-makers.
Ray declined to comment when approached by the Daily Mail saying simply: ‘I have a strict rule…family is private.’
But a close family source revealed: ‘It’s a lovely, heart-warming story really about a father and daughter reuniting after so many years apart.
‘Ray has been speaking to Charlotte a lot over the last few weeks and she has invited him and her new family to the private island in Devon where she now works and lives.
‘They’re taking things slowly but it’s a real positive that he is back in her life.’
Renowned for her experimentation in the kitchen, as well as her love of fermentation, local produce and sustainability, Charlotte has worked previously at the two-Michelin-starred Gidleigh Park in Chagford in Devon with chef Michael Caines.
She has also cooked for former Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Elon Musk at 10 Downing Street, won the best chef award at the Great British Pub awards in 2023 and was a finalist in the National Chef of the Year.
Her new venture on Burgh Island is at an Art Deco hotel built in 1929 and steeped in history. It’s where Agatha Christie, a frequent guest, wrote some of her novels.
King Edward VIII, The Beatles and Winston Churchill have also stayed at the hotel, which is only accessible via a 15-minute sea tractor ride.
Her appointment at the hotel marks an upturn in fortunes as Charlotte told the Sunday Times: ‘Last year was one of the worst financial years of my life because I was freelance and waiting for the right job to come along.
Charlotte told how her father Ray had spent two years trying to track down his daughter after seeing her on TV – and sent her a Facebook message which ended up in her spam folder before she finally discovered it and the pair began talking. They are now buildin a relationship
‘Money was so tight that I didn’t eat out once. I’ve never really felt wealthy because I spent the best part of a decade as a single woman and brought up my son alone — he’s now 23. I’ve only ever felt wealthy in my heart, although everything I own I own outright.’
Asked if she has ever really struggled, Charlotte explained: ‘Plenty of times. I’ve had spells on benefits and working part-time, particularly when my son was young.’
Charlotte initially joined the army after leaving school – and ended up driving a tank – before a tragic turn of events led her on to her current career path.
She added: ‘I joined the army in 1996 aged 16, because I loved the thought of serving my country, and ended up as a lorry/tank driver in the Royal Logistics Corps.
‘But I lost my nerve after a unit I was meant to be driving got attacked in Belfast, resulting in a couple of fatalities. So I became an army chef, the stepping stone to me becoming a chef in civilian life.’