The Tasting Menu at Nathan Outlaw’s

2 Jun

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Over the bank holiday weekend I made one of my regular excursions to Cornwall for some hiking and relaxation. But this time there was going to be less hiking, more relaxation — and one of the treats I was looking forward to was dinner at Nathan Outlaw’s two Michelin starred restaurant in Rock.

This latest incarnation of his evolving Cornish kitchen is based in a hotel on the north coast of the county, and I’d built up a certain picture in my mind of what that would be like. But, on driving down through Rock, and up the steep drive to the hotel, these expectations were proven a little wide of the mark. I’d imagined a little Cornish fishing village, with a cosy old hotel/pub given new life by this star chef. In reality it’s a (relatively) new-build hotel, set in a sea of trailer parks and B&Bs. Once on the terrace, or in the dining room, all that melts away, and you do have a view of the river that winds down to the sea, and some green hills.

I quickly relaxed when it became clear that the front of house was in very professional hands indeed, and when I saw the menu for the evening’s meal.

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The concept is a set tasting menu of eight courses (though in reality the first two each had two separate dishes, so it’s more like ten).

On the way to the table I passed Nathan himself heading towards the kitchen. I’m told that he works every service here, which is impressive for a chef with a blossoming media career and a new restaurant in London.

The first course (pictured at the top of this post) was Smoked Whiskey Cured Salmon with Watercress and Cider. The flavours were subtle and fresh — the watercress and cider was a real palate cleanser to start the meal.

Cured brill, mint and coriander followed next, and again the light simplicity of the dish was very refreshing.

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One of the dishes I’d been most anticipating since reading the menu was next — Scallop, with wild garlic tartare dressing. The dish was colourful with a dash of highly reduced red wine set off by the kind of green from the wild garlic that can only mean the start of summer.

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At this point, the guests arrived at the next table — and I looked up to see Heston Blumenthal taking a seat and starting to read the evening’s menu. As he was directly in my line of sight, I reluctantly abandoned taking photos of the meal, because it’d look just like I was taking surreptitious photos of him — which would make it a bit hard for him to relax. It can’t be often that he gets to just sit and enjoy a meal on a Saturday night!

All of the dishes were exceptional, in the concept and execution. This was capped off by an excellent selection of wines, and front of house service that combined being super professional with being really friendly, welcoming and fun.

Roast Beetroot with Celeriac and Fennel Remoulade

15 Apr

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I’ve been at a conference all weekend, with lots of drinking and meaty food — so today for lunch I was craving something healthy and fresh.

Rummaging in the veg box that gets delivered each week revealed celeriac, fennel, heritage beetroot and a bag of winter purslane.

The beetroot went into the oven to roast. For the remoulade, the celeriac was peeled and then grated, along with the fennel bulb. To that I added a good dollop or two of mayonnaise, a dash of vinegar (I didn’t have lemons), and then instead of the usual mustard I put in some grated horseradish to give a zing that’d go well with the beetroot. I also sprinkled in some za’atar to give an interesting layer of flavour.

Once the beetroot was ready, I peeled and sliced it, serving it with the remoulade and the winter purslane as shown. Delicious, and just the kind of healthy treat I needed.

South-West Coastal Path: Lizard to Polurrian Bay

25 Mar

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This is day two of some walking I did with a group last weekend from Lizard Point. This time we were headed west to Porthleven, just over 14 miles away. That was our ambition anyway, but as soon as we set off it became clear that some heavy weather was heading across the sea in our direction:

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There was a high wind, and each band of heavy rain was followed by some moments of respite. These photos are all in sunshine, because the rain (and later hail) was so heavy I didn’t want to get the camera out. So you’re seeing the sunny gaps:

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From a little after this stage the temperature dropped, the winds picked up, and the dark clouds brought large hailstones flying horizontally in from the sea. It was pretty tough going for about an hour. In fact, there was one point where the hail was so heavy it was painful on the side of our faces, so we had to stand for about five minutes facing inland and listening to (and feeling) the hailstones ricocheting off our waterproofs.

But then the weather passed again, and we moved on, cresting the top of a hill to see our destination in the far distance. The first large building on the clifftop on the right is at Mullion Cove:

 

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By mid-afternoon, we reached Polurrian Bay, and knew how these trees felt:

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So, even though the sun came out, we were exhausted (and some wanted to watch the Rugby) — so we cut the walk short at the rather luxurious Polurrian Bay Hotel on the cliff top, and spent the rest of the afternoon sitting in the shelter of the sunny conservatory, enjoying beers.

 

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This walk is shown in blue on the map below:


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South-West Coastal Path: Lizard to Coverack

25 Mar

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I’m gradually completing the South-West coastal path over a series of weekend walks. Last weekend I went with a group to do some walks from Lizard Point. We stayed in the youth hostel there, which is one of the most luxurious I’ve ever seen. It’s the building shown in the picture above, and is next to the lighthouse itself (I’m told this causes some sleepless nights when it’s foggy and the foghorns are going full blast a few metres away, but when we were there it was simply dramatic with the beam of light sweeping off into the distance at regular intervals).

Our first day’s walk took us east from Lizard Point to Coverack, 10 miles away. Here’s a shot looking back shortly after the start of the walk, to see the lighthouse and youth hostel from behind, and the spur of land they sit on:

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Although we started out in bright sunshine, we could see a band of heavy rain heading towards us over the sea:

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The path was easy going at this stage, through Church Cove, but much of the walk was up steep gradients to clifftops and down to beaches or coves.

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There are still quite a few fishing boats that head out each day. We were able to watch this one in action as we walked, and it arrived back in port at Cadgwith just as we got there:

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The colours and the light were stunning, with some amazing views of the dramatic coastline.

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The path took us past ‘The Devils Frying Pan’, a local landmark:

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And then we started to descend into Cadgwith, a small fishing village. Some people live with this view year round.

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The small fleet of fishing boats were hauled up on the beach, and were loading their catch into a small truck to be taken to market. The orange boat on the right is the one we saw at sea in the earlier photo.

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After spending some time in Cadgwith, it was time to make a move, beginning with a steep climb up to the cliff.

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After a little more walking in the rain, we arrived at Kennack Sands where we took a break to eat our packed lunches sitting on the rocks, watching the sea:

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We had some time to explore the beach and the rocks before moving off again. As well as the occasional large beach like Kennack Sands, this coastline also boasts lots of little sandy coves:

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Finally we neared Coverack, and our destination of the Paris Hotel for some well earned beers. But first, a surprise – the sculptor Terence Coventry has opened a sculpture park on the cliffs:

 
This walk is shown in green on the map below:


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A Special Bookshelf

26 Jan

When I was seven years old, the father of one of my best friends was a well-known writer, and I have some vivid memories: seeing him at the kitchen table reviewing a script for a TV series, us having to be quiet in the part of the house near his study, one of his children’s  books being read to us in class at school – and most of all, one time when we were in his study and I saw the bookshelves.

As a kid I loved to read and had plenty of books, but these bookshelves were different. These were full of books he had written himself.

Browsing along the rows I found a number of different titles, all with his name on the spine – along with different editions of each one – and, even more exciting, translations of his books into many different languages, with his name being the only thing I understood. “Wow”, I thought, “One day I want a bookshelf like this”.

This motivated me to write more myself. I’d written some simple stories, but eventually I decided to write a whole book. And so, at the age of nine or ten, I published ‘The Secret Trail’, an action adventure starring me and my friends, with an exclusive print run of one. The book ran to a hundred pages, and, as you can probably tell, I even designed the cover myself with the help of a stencil and some stickers:

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My career as a designer was shortlived, but the desire to write persisted. I became a journalist first of all, but eventually, in my early thirties, I got the chance to write professionally when I was commissioned by Pearson to write Start Your Business Week by Week.

That sold well, so they commissioned some more. A few of them were translated, and gradually I’ve been building up my own small bookshelf, just as I imagined when I was seven:

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It may just be a small collection, but I’m really proud of it. So, it was with some excitement that I opened a package from my publisher yesterday to find the advance copies of the new edition of my first book:

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I’m pleased to say that the novelty doesn’t wear off – having a book published still brings me as much excitement as it did the first time – so I’m bound to be nipping into Waterstones and WHSmith to check their stock levels and display.

But, most of all, it’s great to look back and feel that I’m achieving something I’ve wanted since the age of seven.

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Hiking in the Brecon Beacons

9 Dec

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I’ve just returned from a great weekend trip to the Brecon Beacons in Wales, with hiking in some stunningly beautiful countryside…

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Along the route we discovered some typical Welsh animal life…

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With the reservoir and the puddles, I experimented with reflections in some of my photos…

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We stayed in Buckland Hall, a former stately home that now provides a luxurious base for group visits to the area…

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At the end of a long day walking on Saturday we had definitely earned our place on those sofas in front of the fire, with the bonus that we were able to explore the well stocked bar in the Hall, and one discovery was a bottle of the local gin, which was excellent.

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Veal Carpaccio

19 Nov

 

Back in September I took a week’s holiday to visit some friends in Tuscany – partly to finish a 2nd edition of one of my books, and partly just for a break after a full-on year.

But also, very much for the food.

For lunch one day we picked up veal carpaccio from the local butchers, and simply served it as you see above, with some chunks of crusty bread and a glass of wine to accompany it. The mozzarella was a local variety that fresh and citrusy, and the tomatoes were ripe and juciy. But the star was certainly the veal. Absolutely delicious.

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