Tooting Nub News aims to support our community, promoting shops, businesses, charities, clubs and sports groups.

We will be profiling some of these businesses and organisations regularly in a feature called "Up Close in Tooting."

Today we caught up with Katy Labadie, the Tooting mum of two serving the community creative grazing platters in her business, dishdelish.

Katy Labadie, mum of two, has lived around Tooting and Balham for the last fifteen years.

Formerly a fashion buyer for eighteen years, Katy decided to quit retail and take on a new life of food.

Katy enrolled at Leith's where she passed with a distinction and noticing her obvious natural talent, started a business mixing her two passions.

Katy describes dishdelish as a selection of 'the prettiest feasts'.

The grazing boxes and boards are bursting with colour and put together by hand with Katy's artistic eye.

Katy told Nub News: "I've always loved food and cooking, I've an ever-growing collection of recipe books, love watching a bit of Nigella on the telly and dream of city breaks where I can spend my time eating and drinking in the sunshine.

"My background in fashion has given me a genuine excitement for colour and an instinct for pattern, along with a love and appreciation for creating something totally unique.

"It also meant I kept an eye on the latest trends, and a couple of years ago I spotted grazing platters starting to emerge in the UK when there were just a handful of people doing it.

"I felt that this would be the perfect way to combine my love of food and creativity."

Adapting to lockdown

Lockdown has been a horrendously tricky time for everyone but especially troublesome for small businesses.

Before lockdown, Katy's main business seller were her large style platters - with many being ordered for office celebrations and other events.

As these suddenly stopped taking place due to coronavirus restrictions, Katy had to think fast about how to adapt her business in a completely new environment.

Katy continued: "I moved into smaller size graze boxes for zoom breakfast meetings and virtual product launches.

"These have been really successful and I've loved doing them, despite needing to get up in the middle of the night.

"They may be smaller but they're still super colourful and packed full of dishdelish delights."

Katy has also just launched a box that can be posted nationwide.

"I often have requests for my boxes from people outside London so I've been keen to work on something like this for a while now," Katy said.

"The Sunny Start box is a mix of energising eats including a wholesome banana bread and almond & cacao balls plus some lovely soothing drinks and a gorgeous candle. It's a perfect gift to let friends, family or clients know you're thinking of them."

What is Katy's favourite thing about Tooting?

This will be our new tradition for Tooting Nub News' UP CLOSE series. We want to know what our interviewees favourite thing about our wonderful area.

At the end of each month we will compile all of our interviewee's favourite things about Tooting into a celebratory article.

Katy explained: "I'm not sure I can pick one thing. The restaurants obviously, amazing grocers, mango season, the common and some fab coffee shops and small businesses.

"We're so fortunate to have so many great restaurants and markets in our neighbourhood, The Little Taperia and Bordelaise are just a couple of my favourites.

"Tooting has such a lovely diverse community feel too, I love it that I always bump into someone I know when I leave the house, and I can give the guys at Tooting Arena a wave every morning."

You can find out more about dishdelish on their website.