Valentine Warner
No one is more at fault with off-grid glamour than the chef, writer and broadcaster, and co-founder of the immersive gastronomic travel adventures, Kitchen In The Wild
'I adore holidaying in southern France. Its market squares have a very particular smell: a combination of plane trees, sun cream, pastis and cigarettes. I love the anticipation of food once seated at a pavement table, the paper table cloths, the inevitable wine rings and the deafening ‘chzzzzzz’ of cicadas.
I’m never happier than eating al fresco; enjoying those more ‘provincial’ tastes of good local cooking, food with real roots. Outdoor eating has so much to do with charcoal and woodsmoke too – an ingredient that can’t be imitated by a gas barbecue.
This is how I approach Kitchen In The Wild, a series of hosted retreats held in some of the world’s most remote and extraordinary destinations, which is a collaboration between various acclaimed chefs (such as Jackson Boxer and Angela Hartnett to name but a few) and myself and the visionary event organiser Clare Isaacs. Stand still and see what is around you, find out what grows both in the garden and in the wild. What is a given area famous for, what dishes are particularly local, what is the history? This understanding is then passed on to our guest chefs so they can arrive with confidence – beyond their natural talent to think on their feet.
Next summer, Kitchen In The Wild will be taking over Eilean Shona in Scotland, and there will be a lot of luncheating eating outside. Maybe a shellfish bake with a fire lit in the sand, the razor clams and mussels steamed under seaweed. Weather is a state of mind and with a buttered rum in an enamel cup a little drizzle is of no consequence. With lots to forage from the mossy pine woods it’s a fabulous wild larder. Venison, candied pine cones, lobster with a very special burnt cream or grilled geese – it’s a special place for Kitchen Play. That’s the joy of bringing the outdoors into the kitchen. The menu changes as the inspirations are cut from the ground or picked from the branches. Evening in the dining room will see a beautifully decorated and bountiful table, the room filled with the tinkling of glass, dancing cutlery and the happy volume of chatting guests. And as for music? Well, do you like Grace Jones or bagpipes?
Conde Nast Traveller www.jamesbedford.com Eilean Shona
Angela Hartnett
The Michelin-starred chef-parton of Murano, Cafe Murano and Hartnett Holder & Co has recently announced she will head up a new restaurant and terrace at the Royal Opera House in London
It all harks back to my Italian family holidays, in particular summer Sunday lunches there, which have shaped my taste and, indeed, the way I like to cook. Piles of prosciutto with melanzane, followed by pasta and some platters of roast meat. In terms of great al fresco moments to be had in the summertime, I think the restaurant Toklas, off the Strand, always has a great atmosphere on its outdoor terrace. Then there’s The Seahorse in Dartmouth, where you can just gaze at those views over the River Dart.
Jackson Boxer
The celebrated British chef and restaurateur is behind London’s Brunswick House and Dove, and a collaborator with the Experimental Group hotels
One of my favourite terraces is Tuba Club in Marseille, where the very talented Sylvain Roucayrol uses the freshest fish from the Mediterranean in clever, elegant presentations. Marseille was wonderful energy and a host of interesting young chefs, and a long lunch at Tuba after a bracing hike and swim in the Calanques is the ideal summer al fresco proposition.
We’re so lucky to have terrace seating at both Dove and Brunswick House, especially at Brunswick, where to years of careful planting and cultivation have now almost entirely hooded the tables in vines and wisteria. While the seasonal focus of our menu will always grounded in food in Britishness, the pleasure of eating outside under the gently rustling shadow of leaves feels distinctly southern European.
Gioconda Scott
The Anglo-Spanish chef, restaurateur and founder of the Tresrarire is culinary director at Al Moudira, Egypt
Growing up, summer meals at our family home, Trasierra: it was the setting of a table for anything, even an omelette or the opening of a tin. From a young age my mother involved us, and instilled in us the importance of cooking and the role of table setting outside.
As for a dream al fresco dinner now? I’m working with the hotel Al Moudira, just outside Luxor in Egypt, where we make delicious flat bread in the wood-fired oven, served with labneh and fresh herbs from the garden followed by grilled smoked quails with za’atar and rosemary and seasonal vegetables from the garden. For pudding, it would have to be Kitty Travers’ delicious Luxor banana ice cream with peanut brittle.
Otherwise, a night-time picnic on the beach of east Kent or in the Spanish coastal region of Asturias remain favourite. Make a fire, grill some excellent sausages and crack open a cider, lie back and look at the stars and listen to the lapping waves.
