Say cheese to Ireland's leading wedding cake designer from Kilkenny

Sarah McGree from Lisdowney has enjoyed a colourful career in the catering and events space. Prior to her food business The Wild Grazer most of her professional experience was in North America, where she lived for most of her twenties.

She developed her creative flair and love of bringing people together through food experiences while working for the elite caterers of the Midwest, Jewell Events Catering in Chicago. While at Jewell, Sarah catered events for clients like Hilary Clinton, Warren Buffet and J. B. Pritzker.

She then moved to Toronto where she held the position of Senior Wedding and Events Consultant at The Gladstone, one of Toronto’s most celebrated boutique hotels. There she specialised in weddings, selling, planning and executing over a hundred weddings.

Sarah was drawn back to Kilkenny during Covid, she coupled her international experience with best of local produce to start The Wild Grazer. Born out of a desire to create special moments at home during lockdown, The Wild Grazer began offering home grazing platters and then expanded its offering to include wedding and event catering as the industry opened up. 

Sarah has searched extensively to find the best local suppliers and partners including bakery partner, Kilkenny-Polish bakery, Aran and wine partner, The Wine Centre Kilkenny.

She was voted recently as Ireland’s leading cheese wheel wedding cake specialist after winning cake designer of the year at the highly coveted weddingsonline awards 2023.

Sarah McGree, won Cake Designer of the Year at weddingsonline.ie recent awards 

Here is a glimpse into Sarah’s world…

Congratulations on your recent accolade as Ireland's leading cake designer. What does it take to become the country's leading cake designer, especially when your creations don't involve an actual cake?

Thank you so much, I still can’t really believe it myself, I only started making wedding ‘cakes’ less than a year ago, I’m blown away by people’s reaction to them.

I was lucky enough to be nominated by weddingsonline for Cake Designer of the Year, then there was an initial round of public votes to be shortlisted, then another round of votes to make it to the finals. I was so shocked to even make it to the finals. All the finalists had to complete a lengthy questionnaire that was reviewed by a panel of judges who ultimately picked the winner.   

Why come home to Ireland and open a brand-new business in Kilkenny in the middle of a pandemic?

When I moved home, I thought the pandemic was over, or at least very close to it! I moved back in August 2020, and Ireland was out of lockdown, weddings and events were even back up and going.

Little did I or anyone else know what was about to come. Just two months later another lockdown was announced. I decided that I needed something to keep me sane and to give my day's purpose. The night that the restrictions were announced I called a close friend to chat about what I could possibly do, by the end of the call the concept of The Wild Grazer was solidified and just one week later I launched! 

The Wild Grazer grazing table in all it's glory, created by founder Sarah McGree

You have catered for Hilary Clinton and Warren Buffet. What did they eat? 

The most expensive food that you can imagine! These events happened in the most affluent homes in Chicago, there were oysters and hors d'oeuvres on arrival followed by a caviar bar, yes, I did say a bar of caviar! Just picture a five-foot luxurious silver tray of ice filled with jars of caviar.

To start there was foie gras and tartare, the mains included wagyu beef, lobster and scallops, they finished with a dessert that was topped with sheets of 24ct gold. Eating gold was the level of fine dining at these events. I had the honour of garnishing all the desserts with the gold, I even got to try some myself, much to my disappointment it was completely tasteless! 

You are a one woman show that now delivers nationwide. How do you do it all?

It’s funny, I think a lot of small business owners will probably relate to this but one of the huge driving factors of starting your own business is to have control over your own time, but as you get deeper into it, your time becomes consumed by building something that you're proud of and passionate about.

Some days are long, and I usually work six days a week, but I have great flexibility with my days. I can plan my days around what works best for me which is really what I’ve always wanted.

I also think it’s a huge adjustment going from working in a specialised role within an organisation to all of a sudden being the sales, marketing and accounts department all by yourself.

So much of the last year has been spent educating myself in areas I was less comfortable in like digital marketing and accounts. A lot of what I’m doing at the minute is building a strong foundation to make life easier for my future self! 

CHEESE WHEEL WEDDING CAKES 

You deliver nationwide now, so does that mean you travel the length and breadth of the country to give wedding couples your own personal?

Yes, absolutely! I offer my catering services nationwide; I think the one thing that makes my business stand out is how personal it is.

I chat with every couple about what they are looking for, I connect with their florist to discuss floral to add to the cake or grazing display and on the day I create the decorate cake on site and style the cake table display or the grazing table based on the couple's vision and tie it into their overall theme of the day.

I just love that more and more couples are thinking outside the box for their weddings, and I get so much enjoyment being that unique element of their day. 

You have now partnered with Kilkenny's award-winning artisan bakery Aran. What other Irish supplies do you use?

I use lots of Irish suppliers, I source all that I can from Ireland. My main suppliers for cheese and meats are Cooleeney and Gubbeen, I also use Old Irish Creamery, Cashel Blue, Coolea and Milleens quite a bit.

G’s Gourmet Jams provide me with a range of beautiful chutneys and honey. I’m really excited coming into the summer to have some of the beautiful seasonal fruit back, I use our very own Piltown strawberries from Fitzpatrick’s Vegetables, they are the best strawberries around! Then I grow my own pansies and violas that are used to add the final touch to my creations. 

Out of all the culinary experiences you have worked in, why Irish cheese as a business?

It’s something that I’ve loved deeply since I was a child. Cheese has always been my biggest food love. Even in college, I would bring cheese when going to a friend’s house and similarly I would make cheese boards when friends visited me.

It’s something that I genuinely feel like I have bonded with people over. To me, cheese is celebratory, the love for it brings people together. You’ll very rarely find someone who is indifferent about cheese, you either absolutely love it or you hate it. Thankfully for me there are far more lovers than haters! 

Why is the glazing platter craze only taking off in Ireland in the past couple of years?

The grazing platter, also known as a charcuterie board or a cheese board, has been popular in Australia and New Zealand for years.

I think there are two factors that have led to the “Graze Craze” here in Ireland. Firstly, social media, it’s a new enough concept to have an intimate look into the lives and businesses of people all over the world. I think that this was a big factor in increasing awareness about these beautiful pieces of edible art.

Secondly, Ireland is a country of migrants, every year between 25,000 - 30,000 people leave Ireland but at the same time, a very similar number of people return home every year. These 25,000-30,000 people that come home are bringing back ideas and businesses that may not have been seen in Ireland yet. I know that’s how this all started for me anyway! 

You have a zero-waste policy with your products - how does that work?

I only take pre-orders, this allows me to order exactly what I need on a weekly basis so there is little to no food waste in my kitchen, any food waste that is produced is composted. I order a lot of my produce from suppliers that are only 20-30 mins away so that I can go pick up the produce myself which means minimal packaging as it doesn’t need to be boxed for delivery. 

I use vegware packaging that is BPI Certified compostable, and I also use bamboo serving utensils and bowls for events.

Also I encourage my customers to think about reducing waste. A lot of my cake customers choose to only serve half of the cheese from the cake on the day of the wedding and then use the rest on their day two, this really helps eliminate any waste on the day and means they can reduce their food costs for day two! 

You have some exciting announcement about a new addition to your business. Please share with us. 

Yes! I will be offering “Build a Board Workshops”, which is a unique group activity perfect for hen parties, birthdays, and corporate team building.

You will learn all the tricks of the trade on how to build the most beautiful cheese and charcuterie board while you sip on a few glasses of wine and try some of our incredible local cheeses. They really are so much fun to host and be part of so I’m super excited to launch these! 

 For more informaton on The Wild Grazer visit www.thewildgrazer.ie