It was after graduating that Rose, then twenty-one, did a stage at St John, working alongside head of pastry Alex Szrok (now of butchers and cookshop Hill & Szrok), who she cites as a major influence on her career. ‘He was just unbelievable,’ she says. ‘So passionate about food, so knowledgeable, he's the best chef I’ve ever worked with. After that first day, I knew I couldn’t see myself anywhere else. I didn't want the shift to end.’ She quickly started as a pastry chef de partie, before being promoted ten months later to senior chef de partie and, in summer 2023, head of pastry, swiftly climbing the ranks in a kitchen known for developing its chefs. ‘It really encourages you to come in with almost no experience,’ she says. ‘It’s one of the best kitchens, if not the best, in London to learn.’ St John’s trademark style has shaped Rose’s mindset, stripping dishes back, being ‘confidently austere’ and letting ingredients sing. ‘There’s nothing on the plate that doesn't need to be there,’ Rose explains. ‘If I thought about changing a dish, my head chef would say, ‘how can you justify changing it? Why do you need to add this’? And that as a foundation, I think, is so brilliant.’

It’s no secret that pastry chefs can sometimes be overshadowed in professional kitchens, with other sections viewed as more important. Though at St John, Rose doesn't feel that way; the dessert menu is served alongside savoury, so people can plan a meal based around all the courses. She believes pastry – an area which demands huge precision, delicacy and skill – shouldn't be an after-thought anywhere. ‘Sometimes pastry chefs have to battle a little bit to be respected in the same way,’ she says. ‘I understand it to some extent – it’s something that might not be picked up by customers; they don’t always order dessert. But there’s a huge amount in pastry that’s underestimated; it’s unforgiving, there’s nowhere to hide and you have to be very disciplined.’

Rose grew up between York and Leeds, raised by parents who loved to cook and who didn’t let having a young family stop them from eating out. She baked meringues with her granny and brownies with her mum, and was motivated to do so partly by a diagnosis of coeliac disease when she was three. ‘I never thought I’d be able to work in this industry,’ she says. ‘As a child I was making things I could eat; twenty years ago, people didn’t really know about gluten-free food. That gave me a really early insight into the science of baking in terms of looking at proteins and carbohydrates and writing recipes.’ At St John, ditching gluten isn’t always a proactive priority, but she says around 80% of the recipes she develops are naturally gluten-free anyway.

Spare time might be hard to come by, but Rose has spent what she can find building her profile at pop-ups around the capital (including a recent one at 107 Wine Shop & Bar with St John alumni Eliot Hashtroudi). ‘I felt really energised by it,’ she says. ‘Being able to cook my food was great, and I got really good feedback which was special.’ We’ll no doubt spot her name more often in the coming months – Rose has an eye on getting experience in a Michelin-starred kitchen, as well as working with chefs who inspire her (she points to Anna Tobias and Jamie Smart as examples), to round out her experience in butchery and fishmongery. Ultimately, she wants to learn, and if she can find opportunities to indulge in her passion for all things nostalgic, even better. ‘When people have a dish that reminds them of something their grandparents cooked for them, they are often emotional,’ she says. ‘That’s really lovely; to make people feel happy and evoke those memories of food, it’s really special.’