Mary-Ellen grew up north of Bury in Lancashire and left a languages degree to cook for touring bands at Manchester’s Roadhouse. Keen to gain more experience she became the first female chef at Michelin starred country house hotel, Sharrow Bay. She joined The Fat Duck in 2002 and became sous-chef under Heston Blumenthal and Ashley Palmer-Watts. She then worked on historical research and development at The Hinds’s Head, contributing dishes to The Fat Duck’s menu.

Mary-Ellen was chef / proprietor of Aumbry in Prestwich from 2009 – 2014 and appeared on BBC2’s Great British Menu in 2013 and 2014 and both times reached the North West finals.

Since Aumbry closed in 2014 she has run literary-themed pop up events at Manchester’s Central Library and the Anthony Burgess Foundation and was commissed by Manchester International Festival in 2015 and 2017 to create dining experiences connected with Festival Shows.

More recently she has worked as Executive Chef for both the Real Junk Food Project Manchester and Manchester Art Gallery and in April 2018 opened the Creameries in Chorlton with her business partners.