My Introduction

Hi there, my name is Dave. I am a hospitality industry expert, entrepreneur and innovator specialising in the fusion of entertainment and molecular mixology/gastronomy into the food and beverage industry.

My Business

I am the Co-founder and COO of The Cauldron Co. a global entertainment company that focuses on bringing magic and fantasy to life with the aid of Science, Technology and Design through immersive food, beverage and retail experiences. Since the age of 18 I have dedicated my entire career to the service industry and have been working, in the latter part, on the fusion of experience and entertainment within the food and beverage setting. In the last 7 years I have helped develop some of London’s premier immersive cocktail experiences before going on to found and create The Cauldron, opening in 2018.
After a stellar first run in East London The Cauldron went on to expand internationally, growing its team and its footprint, opening in Edinburgh, Dublin and New York City in less than 18 months! It’s continued popularity could not even be fully subdued by the global pandemic, opening an additional site in the heart of London’s Soho in 2020 and to date the group contains six sites having also added Brighton and Philadelphia to the list.
After it’s fourth international location had been launched, The Cauldron Group held it’s first small crowdfunded seed round starting in February 2020. Other than this it is entirely funded and grown by it’s own profits.

Our Fight 🏳️‍🌈

At The Cauldron Group we are fierce advocates of inclusion for people of all backgrounds, of all orientations and all identities. Our employees are from a vast range of different cultures, countries and continents, however our most proactive allyship is with the LGBTQ+ community and we are proud to be officially partnered with Mermaids, a charity dedicated to supporting transgender, Non-binary and gender diverse children as well as their families.
In order to commit to this further myself and my Co-founder are part of the Startout community, an organisation whose mission is “to build a world where every LGBTQ+ entrepreneur has equal access to lead, succeed, and shape the workforce of the future” being the first ever non-american based company to take part in their 7th cohort of accelerator programmes known as “Growthlab”.

Additionally, each of our venues participates in other charitable activities, the most well known of which is our venue book drive. As The Cauldron was inspired by a love fantasy and books, we encourage all of our patrons to bring in their favourite childhood book so that we can collect, display them and then donate them to reading classrooms and local libraries in need, giving the most disadvantaged young people access to reading material they can engage with.

Finally, during the global pandemic our New York venue put its kitchen to good work producing tens of thousands of packaged hot meals to feed hospitals, shelters, orphanages, front line workers and other communities that were otherwise deprived of food during some of New York’s most desperate hours during lockdowns.

My Inspiration

Alongside the achievements of my business partner and the creative team behind the development of the Cauldron my inspiration hails mostly from my everlasting curiosity to a few different fields. My first and most enduring love has always been science! I have always been captivated by the seemingly impossible effects that can be achieved with “a little tweak of chemistry”. Thankfully this came back around by combining my knowledge into drinks crafting and specialising in molecular mixology - rather than starting my own crystal meth empire… I’m as relieved as you are.

In my youth I also discovered a love for acting and entertaining, eventually using this as my chosen path for university studying theatre and performance. Specialising mostly in comic performance and some of the more “unusual,'“ publicly interactive improv pieces that, that university had ever seen (my lecturer’s words not mine) I was quickly known for being able to keep people entertained along the lighter side of the theatrical spectrum. I also became known for my motivation in creating communities and generally starting things up, undertaking a 7 month project as the leading producer of one of the years final major performances and co-founding and becoming president of the university’s stand up comedy society - making several thousand pounds of profit and producing multiple showcases for students and comics to perform in across North London in the process.

Upon leaving university I followed the tried and trusted path of all great actors and began working in bars! Thankfully therein lay my current muse as a mixologist and bartender. After a few initial years of slinging drinks, breathing fire and hurling bottles over my head in some of London’s loudest nightclubs, my attention was turned to the more sophisticated study of cocktail crafting and customer experience. As much as I love utilising chemistry to make your beverage change states in an instant, glow in the dark or just plain explode, there are few things more satisfying than gathering a set of mismatch ingredients and manipulating them into an irresistible boozy concoction. I’ve seen spice haters drool for more capsaicin cocktails, spread delight with hand foraged “mystery berries” found alongside a Scottish dual carriageway and most importantly I finally, finally convinced my sister that she does in fact like mushrooms… with Scotch.
There’s always a new technique to learn, a subtle flavour to master and a new combination just waiting to be discovered. My biggest inspirations within the bartending world are Jeffrey Morgenthaler, Dave Arnold and the late great Dick Bradsell, whose legacy speaks for itself, being the inventor of the Espresso Martini, The Bramble and the Russian Spring Punch.