Back in the Kitchen: Introducing Phil Yer Pot

Back in 2019 I wrote about going from chef to software developer. I finished that post by saying I would always love cooking. Turns out I meant it.

This post introduces the other thing I'm doing: Phil Yer Pot, a small, part-time food business in Belfast. It sits alongside the software work rather than replacing it, and it's the most direct bridge I have between the two halves of my working life.

How it started

Phil Yer Pot began during COVID as a microgreens project. With the kitchens closed and time on my hands, I started growing trays of microgreens and supplying a few local restaurants. It was small, it was hands-on, and it scratched the itch of working with food again.

When things opened back up, that side of it wound down. The brand sat quietly for a while.

What it is now

I've recently picked the brand back up, this time focused on cooking for people rather than growing for restaurants. There are three strands to it.

Pizza nights

The pizza nights run under the name Phil Yer Face, because of course they do. Sourdough pizza fired outdoors in Belfast, twelve to sixteen people round one table. The dough gets three days in the fridge, the toppings are set the week of by whatever is actually good, and the pizzas come off the peel one at a time. It's small on purpose.

Private dining

A private chef experience in and around Belfast: a five-course tasting menu cooked in your kitchen and served at your table. This is the one that draws most directly on my years cooking in the French Alps. Six seasons of chalet cooking teaches you how to produce something special in a kitchen that isn't yours.

Parties and catering

For bigger occasions there's pizza catering, private dining and canapés for parties: birthdays, work dos, Christmas parties. Pizza brought to your venue, or canapés for a crowd.

Where the two worlds meet

What's changed since 2019 is that the cooking and the code don't live in separate boxes anymore.

Phil Yer Pot runs on software I've built for it. The booking form on the site, the event pages, a small hub that keeps track of guests, orders and events, and the tooling behind the growing side all came out of the same toolbox I use for client work. It's a real business with real customers, which makes it the most honest test bed I have. If a system I'd recommend to a client is awkward to use on a busy Saturday before a pizza night, I find out first-hand.

It has also sharpened how I think about technology in hospitality. Most small food businesses don't need more software. They need a few well-chosen systems that take admin off their plate and stay out of the way during service. That's the same thinking behind the AI Systems Session I run for hospitality and food founders: I'm living the problem, not just advising on it.

The same instincts, two outlets

Everything I wrote in the original post still holds. Cooking and coding both reward creativity, an open mind and a tolerance for frustration. Both break a big result down into small, repeatable pieces, whether that's a recipe or a component.

The difference now is that I get to use both at once. Software is still my day-to-day, and the thing I take on engagements for. Phil Yer Pot is the part that gets me back behind a pass, feeding people.

If you're in or around Belfast, come to a pizza night or get in touch about a dinner. Everything is on philyerpot.com.