Having graduated from London University with a degree in Physiology, originally with a view to becoming a doctor, Lucinda Bruce-Gardyne followed an old family tradition by going into the catering industry. Starting her training with the Advanced Course at Leiths School of Food and Wine, she honed her skills working for Simon Hopkinson as a Section Chef at Conran’s innovative restaurant, Bibendum. She then established a successful private catering business - with clients such as Baroness Jay, Sir Christopher Bland and Lloyd Grossman - before handing over to her partner and starting to raise a family. She also returned to Leiths as a teacher, where she was commissioned by Leiths’ MD, Caroline Waldegrave, to plan and write the award-winning Leiths Techniques Bible.

Now living in Edinburgh, Lucinda has three young children (Angus, Robin and Otto). Angus is extremely allergic to all dairy and egg products. Robin was also dairy allergic as a baby and was diagnosed with a gluten intolerance in 2006.

The combination of training in physiology, professional cooking training and intimate experience of dealing with food allergies means that Lucinda is ideally, if not uniquely, placed to write the authoritative manual on dealing with food allergies.