Why Rosemary Oldland is in the running for Winterhalter KP of the Year
At Queen of Cups in Glastonbury, one of the UK's Top 50 Gastropubs, chef patron Ayesha Kalaji calls her kitchen porter, Rosemary Oldland, "the fastest KP in the west" - and says the restaurant simply wouldn't run the same without her.
So it is no surprise Ayesha wasted little time in nominating Rosemary for Winterhalter Kitchen Porter of the Year, making her the first name put forwards for the award this year.
Why Ayesha nominated her
Ayesha has run Queen of Cups for five years, and Rosemary has been part of the kitchen for four of them, on and off.
"As soon as I saw the advert for nominations open, I was like, I'm doing it straight away," Ayesha said.
"She genuinely cares about what she does, and that shows - everything is done meticulously to the best of her ability, but she does it with kindness and care.
“She’s part of the backbone of the business.”
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In her official nomination, Ayesha put it even more strongly: "We all lovingly call her the best KP in the west, but truly she is the best I've ever met.
“I could write diatribes and essays on how grateful we are for her every single day.
"The kitchen never runs out of clean equipment, the floor is never slippy, there is never a mountain of washing.
"She is quick, effective, efficient - a business owner's dream."
And Rosemary also deals well with the rest of the KP team and can anticipate problems before they become problems, to keep things running smoothly.
"She's always firm but fair with the younger staff, which they need," Ayesha said.
"Whether it is a chef who desperately needs some herbs picked, a front of house member who has forgotten to make a latte, or a manager who needs a stock count before the order cut-off - she is always a step ahead of us all."
Ayesha kept the nomination itself a surprise.
"I was really taken aback when Ayesha mentioned this opportunity,” Rosemary said.
"I was really surprised, and really, really happy about it."
A route into hospitality that started somewhere else entirely
Rosemary's path to the KP section wasn't a straight line. She previously worked in the music industry, on the manufacturing side, before a spell in retail in Bristol.
An eye condition inherited from her father's side changed what work she was able to do, and hospitality became the way forward after she moved to Glastonbury.
It was her partner who first pushed her towards the industry.
"We'd come in for dinner and he said, 'why don't you apply for that?'" Rosemary said.
"I hadn't got a clue what it was about, but I applied for the job, and I came in on the August bank holiday, 2022 - straight into the deep end. I soon realised this is a real community, a small business, and my part is really important."
Born in Peru to a Peruvian mother and a Northern Irish jazz musician father, Rosemary grew up mainly in Coventry after her family moved around the UK following her parents' deaths.
Music has stayed central to her life ever since - she has gone from singing quietly to herself in the KP section when she first started at Queen of Cups to fronting her own rock band and playing gigs.
A day in the KP section
Rosemary's day starts before service does.
"I make sure my area is ready - if there's anything that needs putting away, I sort that first, do the laundry, get the recycling done, then crack on with anything urgent," she said.
"Intuitively, I just know what needs to be done. You have to be two steps ahead of everybody else, otherwise it can set the kitchen and front of house back."
The role of a KP is multi-faceted. But what is the hardest part for those just coming into the industry?
"Working with different kinds of people at different levels is the challenge,” Rosemary said.
“The younger ones are still finding their feet, so I watch, I observe, and I offer support, but I also have to be quite firm. You need speed too - you need to get it done, fast and well."
She added: "You have to be flexible, otherwise it ruins your day and affects everybody else. Music keeps me calm."
That standard has raised the bar for the whole kitchen, Ayesha said: "Chefs know to come in and put the cutlery in the cutlery bucket, stack things properly - we think, Rosemary likes to keep it organised, so let's help her keep it organised."
Bringing Rosemary to life
Ayesha and Rosemary’s relationship goes beyond a boss and employee, with a genuine friendship and empathy built up over the years.
When asked to bring Rosemary’s personality to life, the stories come thick and fast.
When Ayesha's cat was unwell, Rosemary wrote it a get-well-soon card, from her own cats. When Ayesha complained about her cold house, Rosemary turned up with a pair of slippers for her.
She's a Fleetwood Mac fan who taught herself the ukulele, and is earlier this year was supporting a partner whose family are going through a difficult time.
"When she started with me, she was shy and quiet, and now she's the lead singer in a kickass band," Ayesha wrote in the nomination.
"She always has the brightest leggings and brings sunshine into the kitchen every day with her smile and her outfits. Quiet and kind, but secretly a rockstar.
“When you work with people so many hours a week, you inevitably build these relationships.
“It’s been a pleasure to watch Rosemary’s growth as a person.”
Small plates, serious volume
Queen of Cups' small-plates format means far more crockery through the KP section than a standard three-course menu - one table alone might get through 15 to 20 plates between two people once starters, sides, breads and dips are all accounted for, across around 70 covers on a midweek dinner service and 80 on a Saturday.
Much of that crockery is handmade by one of the restaurant's own chefs, which makes Rosemary's care with it, as well as her speed, all the more valuable.
Queen of Cups has three other KPs, each doing around 25 hours a week, but Ayesha says the difference when Rosemary's on shift is noticeable:
"I know the laundry's always going to get done, so I'm not going to run out of tea towels in the middle of a Friday night,” Ayesha said.
“It's almost like she can sense when we're running low on a plate, and then it just reappears."
Why the recognition matters
For Ayesha, the case for a dedicated KP award is straightforward.
"I think it’s a wonderful initiative,” she said.
“There's no restaurant that can survive without a KP - they can save a service, they can make a service.
"Chefs have so many awards, and I've been to plenty of them, they're lovely - but what about the KPs?
“They work just as hard, and it's often physically demanding. A lot of the time they're the last people in at night.
“The KP is essential to making a restaurant run, and it's maybe unseen by the guests.
“Awards like this highlight and celebrate them, which I think is so important.”
For Rosemary, simply being nominated has already meant a great deal.
"It means a lot, because I've gone through so many life changes," she said.
"To be recognised for something that I do is amazing - it would mean the world to win, for sure, and it's another highlight for the restaurant too.”
She added: “Being a KP is a hard job, it's not easy, but I enjoy it, and I like a challenge.
“It makes me feel good when I finish and leave my station looking amazing for the next KP."
Nominate your KP before it's too late
Nominations for the 2026 Winterhalter Kitchen Porter of the Year close at the end of August - so if you've got a KP like Rosemary who deserves the same recognition as the chefs and front-of-house team around them, now is the time to put them forward.
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