- Jesse D'Ambrosi, from Massachusetts, left France to launch a luxury deli in the Cotswolds.
- Americans, including celebrities like Ellen DeGeneres, are moving to the "Hamptons of England."
- But locals, D'Ambrosi said, are the business's most loyal customers.
This essay is based on a transcribed conversation with Jesse D'Ambrosi, who runs D'Ambrosi Fine Foods in Stow-on-the-Wold in the Cotswolds. It has been edited for length and clarity.
The Hamptons are where New Yorkers go to summer. For Londoners, the Cotswolds is the same, only without the sea.
It's really close to London — just an hour and 20 minutes on the train — so it couldn't be easier to pop into the city for restaurants and culture and the rest of it. But even out here, there are luxury amenities: Pilates classes, estheticians, and upscale stores.
Where I grew up, in the deep suburbs of Boston, wasn't a far cry from this — a lot of conservation land and horses, and farms. So, I feel very much at home here.
Locals are so important to us
I moved to the Cotswolds six years ago from France, where my ex-husband and I ran a restaurant in the Loire Valley. We came here to launch D'Ambrosi Fine Foods.
He's a chef. I'm an interior designer, but I attended culinary school a long time ago. I never had the intention of cooking professionally, but when we separated, this business was mine to run. It's how I keep a roof over my head and take care of my kid.
For the past few months, I've been cooking my tail off, and it's been going really well.
We launched a couple of months before the COVID-19 pandemic, in January 2020. At the time, we didn't see many tourists, but now I find the number of tourists overwhelming.
To be honest, tourism doesn't work that well for our business. It's mainly coach tours.
There isn't much to visit in Stow-on-the-Wold other than the door at St Edward's Church, known as J.R.R Tolkein's inspiration for the Doors of Durin in "The Lord of the Rings." People just wander around, going in and out of shops, but not necessarily spending any money. That's why the locals are so important to us.
I have the most extraordinary clientele. We have celebrities from all genres, from Hollywood stars to incredible musicians. But the locals are my bread and butter; they keep my doors open.
We do quite a lot of catering for Londoners with second homes here. They'll come out for a long weekend, invite friends over, and want to do something easy — just hunker down at home. That's where we come in. We have quality food that's ready to take out.
Sometimes, a client will pop in, saying they have 10 people and just don't feel like cooking. We try to make life easy. And our offering is different from everything else in the area.
We have a large number of American visitors — they've always been here. Now, we have American items on offer: Teddy Grahams, Tootsie Rolls, and Hershey's.
When we opened, that was never my intention. What started as a joke became a success. In the store, I had this big communal table in the center, which I'd pile high with beautiful products, as well as some American crap, just to see how it went. It flew off the shelves, definitely with Americans, but also with nostalgic Brits who'd lived abroad.
Now, every year, I offer a Thanksgiving meal kit for six people that people can order in advance. It's a traditional but elevated Thanksgiving meal, typically in the £200 range. It has turkey, all of the sides, and even the absolutely disgusting, classic American green bean casserole.
A green bean casserole typically consists of green beans that are boiled to within an inch of their life, topped with a sludgy Campbell's cream of mushroom soup, and garnished with store-bought fried onions. But we elevate it: a very light blanche on our green beans, some sauteed wild mushrooms, cream and garlic sauce, and fried shallots that we make in-house. So it's a delicious version of the standard.
In recent years, we've seen more of these kits sell. Maybe from Americans, but also from a lot of people who just want an excuse to have a great, fun dinner party and celebrate something different.
When I first moved here, the culture shock was around food. I have food depression. I'd previously lived in France, the Netherlands, and the US. I crave flavors and colour — not just sausage rolls — in my diet. The pub culture is not my own, even though I can do it once in a while.
But Stow-on-the-Wold has become more upmarket. I'd like to think we have something to do with that. We now have an amazing little wine bar. Even the shops are of better quality, not just selling the Made in China magnets you'll see in some other touristy villages.
Nearby, you now have these mega-luxury destinations, like Estelle Manor, Restoration Hardware, and the Bamford Club at Daylesford. What makes the Cotswolds stand out is that you have these upmarket amenities that you might not have in other parts of rural Britain.
People can live the way they do in the city, with the luxury of space and city amenities, and be able to zip back into London. The countryside — and the Cotswolds — is very restorative for me.
I love life here. I have friends and family in Paris, which is only two trains away.
I have an 8-year-old daughter who attends an exceptional public school. It's nurturing and safe, and I couldn't ask for anything better for her education.
I get to live in a beautiful, remote place, and I absolutely can't get enough of it.
