Put together perfectly formed miniature vegetables, juicy soft fruits, a choice of neglected varieties, and dynamic duo Vernon Mascarenhas and Gregg Wallace, and you have Secretts Direct and Gregg's Veg.

The professional arm of the business, Secretts Direct, supplies top restaurants across London. Their order list reads like a Michelin star food guide. Nobu, Zafferano, the dining rooms of Coutts, Le Café Anglais and Caprice all serve up their fruit and veg. And Gregg's Veg takes online orders from the likes of you and me who value tasty produce with a little twist of difference. If British produce is your choice and you value flavour and freshness, this is the site to visit.

Secretts Direct started out as a supplier to restaurants and then expanded into the general marketplace. The benefit being that they grow to the strict demands of top class chefs and we, buying public, reap the benefits.

"Wallace is in demand in his role as co-presenter of the BBC's Masterchef programme. While he's helping pick the nation's next talented chef, Macarenhas is doing the 'day to day running'."

But when you look at the backgrounds of Mascarenhas and Wallace you might wonder what the business partners have in common. Mascarenhas was brought up in Goa in India, and studied engineering at university. Wallace is a south London boy, who comes from Peckham and supports Millwall football team. "We're like chalk and cheese," says Mascarenhas, "yet get on like a house on fire." And the glue that binds these two is a passion for fruit and vegetables.

It all started in a successful restaurant in London's fashionable Hampstead. In 1992 Macarenhas opened Cucina, serving European influenced food. Wallace, who'd just started his veg business at Covent Garden market, approached Macarenhas to supply him with fruit and vegetables, and the friendship began. Seven years later when Macarenhas decided it was time to hang up his apron, Wallace's business was faltering. They pooled their knowledge and enthusiasm and approached Charles Secrett, a farmer in Surrey, with an idea. "If we tell you what we'd like, and it would be British produce only, would you be interested?" asked Macarenhas. Secrett said yes and the partnership began.

The farm is 280 acres and Macarenhas says, "We grow with a lot of other local farmers as well. And grow over 400 different things." Among those hundreds are nine different varieties of strawberries grown throughout the season. Add to that nine different raspberries, 16 types of tomatoes, and vegetables of all sizes and you begin to get an idea of the scale and variety of the operation. Secretts beetroots don't just come as the cultivated ones, which are round to fit easily into a pickle jar. They have the Cheltenham beetroot which has the parsnip shape of the original variety. And there's candy striped and yellow ones to choose from. "We're growing almost bespoke vegetables," say Macarenhas. "I'm in the field, picking the seed, working with the agronomist."

Top class chefs will want certain sized vegetables for particular dishes. And they are invited to the farm to get up close and personal with the product. "Many have no idea how broccoli grows," according to Macarenhas. "What's really nice is I often pull a carrot out of the ground, get the hosepipe and wash it and get them to eat it." He says, "Some have never eaten carrots out of the ground before." But for those that haven't, Secretts vegetables are as good as straight from the soil when they arrive at the kitchens, because this is a 24 hour operation. Chefs will call in at around 10.30 in the evening with their order for the following morning. The loaded vans leave around 5am with the fresh produce. By evening they'll be gracing the plates of London's finest eateries. Restaurants like Nobu will be using cucumber flowers for one of their dishes, which are grown especially for them. Secretts supply other Asian and Japanese style restaurants with vegetables they would normally fly in from abroad. "We try and re-educate chefs," says Macarenhas. "They can use European substitutes and it cuts down hugely on air miles."

"Chefs will call in at around 10.30 in the evening with their order for the following morning. The loaded vans leave around 5am with the fresh produce. By evening they'll be gracing the plates of London's finest eateries."

Macerenhas sources his seeds, many coming from Seeds of Italy, and says, "A chef will come down to me and ask 'can you grow this' and I look into. We're a great research and development company." And when it comes to being different, Secretts compete with their own concept – microleaf. They pick the first four leaves of some herbs and vegetables when they are less than a pencil-lead thick. This intensifies the flavour and gives a 'real punch'.

Greek cress, celery, rocket, red basil and fennel are just some receiving this unique treatment. "It fits in very well with today's modern style of eating," comments Macarenhas, who says the fennel works very well in home-made ice-cream.

The two partners meet or talk 'virtually every day'. Quite a feat when you consider that Wallace is in demand in his role as co-presenter of the BBC's Masterchef programme. While he's helping pick the nation's next talented chef, Macarenhas is doing the 'day to day running'. And he's not stopping at growing. "We're working on our own range of pickles and preserves," he says. It may not be the thing for chefs but 'will add a nice touch at home'. So by keeping an eye on the website in the near future you may be delighted to see asparagus packed in kilner jars with rape seed oil infused with parmesan. Or so the rumour has it.

In the meantime, if you can't get to Le Gavoche or Gordon Ramsey at Claridges to taste Secretts Direct, there's always the website or Selfridges food hall who stock exclusively Gregg's Veg. And it's worth the trip because this isn't your usual supermarket produce. Growing for restaurants means 'they've selected varieties for flavour, not maximum yield, cosmetic appearance, or shipping qualities'. This is British produce at its best, and very tasty too.

By Michele Nevard