ABOUT US

Mrs Tee’s Wild Mushrooms is a niche fine foods supplier specialising in the supply of wild mushrooms and cultivated exotic mushrooms and Game, including the only wild shot venison in the UK, to the catering trade in London and South England, and through its distributors such as West Country Fine Foods Limited, throughout England. 

Mrs Tee is the leading authority on wild mushrooms in the UK. She has appeared on television, and gives regular seminars to chefs, opinion formers, and members of the public, establishing an unequalled reputation in the supply of Wild and Cultivated Exotic Mushrooms and Game (particularly wild shot venison). 

A quality portfolio of customers

The business is positioned to supply quality products to demanding and largely up-market catering establishments. We are currently nominated suppliers to The Hilton Chain and the Compass Group.  Of the 28 Michelin starred restaurants in the London area, 9 are customers including Le Gavroche, Aubergine, Nobu and Cliveden. Mrs Tee also supplies to hotels such as the Grosvner and the Dorchester.  Mrs Tee was also a supplier to Harvey Nicholls and Selfridges selling her famous prepared mixed wild mushrooms, risotto rice, mushroom confit and Venison and Wild Mushroom sausages (her own recipe).  There are over 250 established customers of the business at this time.

BACKGROUND

Mrs Brigitte Tee-Hillman is an internationally recognised authority on Wild Mushrooms who with her husband, John Tee-Hillman, has established a business supplying wild and cultivated exotic mushrooms to catering establishments and the public for over 25 years.

The business is located on the edge of the New Forest, near Lymington in Hampshire.  The right to pick and sell mushrooms from the New Forest dates back many centuries.  It is one of the established Commoner’s Rights that are associated with occupying properties in the New Forest – including ‘Gorse Meadow’ where the business is based.

Mrs Tee has been granted a unique licence from the Department for Enviromental Food and Rural Affairs. She can pick fungi for life in the New Forest. 

Most sales are from the delivery of wild and cultivated exotic mushrooms to catering locations within the M25.  Venison and other related products are also sold. 

In addition, there is an associated Guest House which is run as a separate business, but which provides accommodation for Mushroom Seminars that are offered on a weekly basis.  A significant Seminar took place in March 2003 for 14 Executive Chefs and Directors of Restaurant Associates, one of the Compass Catering Divisions.  Such Seminars serve both to educate key catering clients in the use of mushrooms and to boost the Company’s image as a knowledgeable and quality supplier.

MRS TEE – MEDIA ACTIVITY

Brigitte Tee-Hillman started picking wild mushrooms with her Grandmother at the age of 3.  Building on her Grandmother’s experience, she has built up a formidable reputation for knowledge and expertise in the field.  In the early 1990’s she was described as ‘the leading expert on ingestible wild mushrooms in the United Kingdom’ by Roger Phillips, author of the classic work on identification of the 2450 European species of mushrooms. She has appeared in TV programmes, Press, Books and Seminars:-

Television

1998 Sky Television

A 25 Minute film featuring Brigitte Tee-Hillman together with Thane Prince – then the Food Editor of the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday and now the food consultant to Waitrose.  The film was part of a series called ‘A Taste of England’.
It showed the two of them picking mushrooms, discussing them and then preparing and cooking them.  It has been shown in many countries throughout the world.

1998 Sky Television

A film at one of the early Henrietta Green Food Lovers Fairs at St. Christopher’s Place in the West End of London.  A stand for Mrs Tee’s Wild Mushrooms featured prominently in the programme.

2000 BBC

A programme as part of a series in which Mrs Tee went into the New Forest with Lucinda Green (was Lucinda Prior-Palmer), the latter spotting mushrooms from horseback in areas selected by Mrs Tee, and Mrs Tee then picking

2001 Meridian TV

A feature programme in a series portraying the well known chef Gary Rhodes and one of the series featured Mrs Tee taking Gary Rhodes on a mushroom forage

    2002 Meridian TV

    Appeared with chef/proprietor Alex Aitken of the Park Hill Hotel in the New Forest picking mushrooms and then in a discussion about them and their seasonality

    Books

    • Henrietta Green’s Food Lovers Guide – published annually

    • The Star Chef’s Cookbook – she is the subject of a very humorous introduction by Richard Brambell in his class book

    • She is mentioned by Rick Stein as one of his ‘Heroes of Food’ in his book of that title

    • Britain’s Wild Harvest published by Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew features Mrs Tee picking in the New Forest

    Other

    • Mrs Tee has been the subject of numerous writers of food articles including Times, Telegraph, Mail on Sunday, Country Life, and more recently Gourmet Magazine

    • In October 2001 at Henrietta Green’s Food Lovers’ Fair in Covent Garden, Mrs Tee and her husband were two of the eight stand holders who were formally presented to Prince Charles at this express request.  He spent almost half of his visit discussing the twenty varieties of wild mushroom on her stand, in the course of which he indicated his own knowledge and interest that they shared by identifying every one of the species giving both their English and Latin names

    • Presentation to the Compass Group, National Craft Forum at Windsor Racecourse in August 2003

    • Hotelympia – demonstration March 2004
      Presentation to Executive Chef


Gorse Meadow, Sway Road, Lymington, Hampshire, SO41 8LR Telephone: 01590 673354
Fax: 01590 673336