Since last writing, a lot has happened. In fact, I can’t believe how much I’ve managed to pack into the last couple of months!

I suppose one of the most exciting things was going out to New York with Pete Biggs to cook at April Bloomfield’s John Dory at The Ace Hotel, marking the launch of my book in America. New York really is a fascinating place. There is so much going on and it continues through the day and night! This is true even of the restaurant industry over there. You can eat almost any style of cuisine at any time of night or day and I found that it’s nothing unusual to spend a whole evening ‘restaurant hopping’ – having a course or two in one place and then moving on to another for the next part of the meal. Crazy!

The experience of cooking with other chefs is always interesting to me as it’s a chance to exchange ideas and knowledge. Last month we were fortunate to welcome Claire Clark and Valentine Warner for separate master classes here in Rock. Claire’s was an unusual event for us as the focus was on desserts for a change. The guys in the kitchen couldn’t wait to learn from her and it was great to see them (and me!) getting excited about the event and keen to try new techniques which, in turn, initiated new ideas for our menus. Needless to say, Read more

Whilst we are enjoying this glorious sun through the window from inside the restaurant and behind the stoves, the person who is making the most of it at the moment is Danny, our expert caring for the kitchen gardens. Popping down to the garden last week seemed like a perfect excuse for me to take in some fresh Cornish air and see how the vegetable-offspring were getting on.

With local produce at the heart of what we offer at the restaurants, it makes perfect sense to grown our own ingredients just down the lane from RNO and Outlaw’s in Rock. This desire led us to setting up a couple of small plots in Porthilly and Trebetherick, where the sea breeze and slightly sandy soils definitely give an advantage, with an aim to eventually supply as many of our own vegetables and herbs as possible. Having started the process in the winter with endless weeding, digging over and reorganising, Danny has seen the gardens in all conditions, and so fully deserves this wonderful heat and the cloudless blue skies we are experiencing on the North Coast at the moment.

Our Porthilly garden is located right out in the open fields and Trebetherick in a lovely open space, so our greedy rabbit neighbours are also keeping an eye on how things are progressing, naturally being huge fans of fantastic local produce. However, Danny now has a crack-system and is very hot on securing the gates and maintaining the barracks so that we can keep all the goodies for our guests!

Being in the early stages, he is still testing the waters and seeing Read more

​The main reason to visit Hermanus on the last ‘busman’s holiday’ was to source seafood appropriate reds, well, namely Pinot Noirs as this is what the Hemel-En-Aarde Valley is renowned for.  Throughout the week’s visit it is safe to say almost every Pinot Noir skilfully made in the Hemel-En-Aarde Valley was sampled however there can only be one winner….and the winner is…Newton Johnson!

Positioned approximately half way up the valley, with the Atlantic Ocean in view, the family vineyards of Newton Johnson are north facing which ensures great exposure to the sun. The influence of the Atlantic Ocean plays an important role for the region’s viticulture. The Hemel-En-Aarde Valley is created by two mountain ranges which run parallel to each other and perpendicular to the ocean thus creating a channel for the crisp on-shore Atlantic breeze making the region perfectly suited for cool climate grape varieties like Pinot Noir. Read more

Following the success of his first book, ‘Nathan Outlaw’s British Seafood’ since its UK publication last May, Nathan is soaring across the pond to New York on Tuesday, 9th April for its American launch under the revised US title of ‘Nathan Outlaw’s Modern Seafood’.

To celebrate the official launch, Nathan is delighted to be the guest chef at April Bloomfield’s New York restaurant, the John Dory Oyster Bar, based at the Ace Hotel. For this exclusive event, Nathan and April are creating a special seafood tasting menu together, into which Nathan will incorporate dishes from his book including a scallop tartare, and squid with pork belly, satsuma, fennel, and squid-ink mayonnaise.

Having met in London when April was promoting her first book, Nathan and April share a passion for cooking fantastic quality produce and combining flavours with simplicity at the heart of their dishes. April’s John Dory Oyster Bar provides the perfect setting for this one-night only event, which sees Nathan cooking in America for the first time.

Whether you are already in the area, or due a last-minute holiday, this is one event not to be missed!  Limited reservations are currently still available by contacting nathanoutlaw@thejohndory.com

Find out more about April Bloomfield here.

We were honoured to welcome Claire Clark as Nathan’s guest for their Master Class on Monday 18th March. As a world-renowned pastry chef, this was always going to be a phenomenal event for those with a sweet tooth but the sheer beauty, taste of the dishes and just how lovely Claire is still managed to exceed all expectations. Ever organised, Claire arrived two days early in order to crack on in the kitchen with Nathan for their joint menu, with all of our team ready and keen to assist. On the evening, Daphne Skinnard from BBC Radio Cornwall expertly hosted the Master Class as Nathan and Claire shared their experiences, views and news with guests before the cooking really got underway in the kitchen.

It was inspirational to listen to Claire’s experiences, having worked at such a high level in prestigious establishments such as the Ritz, as Head of Pastry at the eponymous three Michelin Starred restaurant The French Laundry in California and now as a consultant. Nathan and Claire share a love of the highest quality produce prepared and combined simply, to allow the flavours to speak for themselves. They both possess Read more

I hate to spark jealousy but we experienced the most beautiful few days of glorious sunshine earlier this week here on the North Coast of Cornwall. The golden sand on Rock Beach is shimmering and so guests are striding out for long fresh walks in the mornings and taking the daytime foot-ferry across to cycle the Camel Trail from Padstow to Wadebridge: the perfect way to work up an appetite for dinner!

Here in Restaurant Nathan Outlaw our seafood tasting menu is looking fantastic. The fish are coming in from Looe, Port Isaac and Porthilly looking stunning; gleaming and bright eyed. We are proud that our own vegetables are now starting to spring up – we have spring onions, herbs and leeks now from our kitchen gardens in Porthilly, Trebetherick and even in Nathan’s own patch with radishes, snap peas, broad beans and potatoes currently ‘brewing’ in the ground. The menu’s delicate flavours take you through from Seaweed Cured Salmon with a Chilled Mushroom Broth and Port Isaac Crab alongside Pickled Kohlrabi, through to Cod with Wild Garlic Tartare Dressing with a finale dessert of Passion Fruit and Coconut Ice Cream Sandwich. As ever, the way the fish will be presented on the menu is considered day by day as it comes in and dishes are tweaked depending on what treasures the catch brings. Like people, no two fish are ever exactly the same and therefore individual attention is paid to each when filleting and preparing.

While Chris and his team have been kept busy, this week Damon challenged Stephi, Julia and I with a blind wine tasting. For this, we taste Read more

We were recently honoured by a visit from Takahiko Nozawa, Winemaker of the Yamanashi Wine Company.  Coming all the way from Japan, Nozawa-San kindly brought tank samples of wine which have not officially been bottled yet, so perhaps we were the first in the UK to taste the 2012 Sol Lucet Koshu as well as another Koshu wine known as Four Seasons, of which 30% was fermented in French oak.  The light oak was specifically selected to not influence a vanilla characteristic as most types of oak do.  I am speaking on behalf of the entire Nathan Outlaw Team when I say that it was a great opportunity to meet Nozawa-San who came from his vineyard at the base of Mount Fuji to offer his knowledge freely and teach us about his wine.

Nozawa-San was really keen to sample, quote “the best of British Seafood”. Coincidently the majority of the guests, including Nozawa-San, who have dined with us opted to Read more

First of all, let me wish everyone reading this a very Happy (if belated) New Year!

Well, here we go again, the winter break is over and down in Rock we are raring to go for the new season.  Of course, the weather isn’t yet showing much sign of spring but we are ever hopeful; there are snowdrops and daffodils about and we have had a few glimpses of sunshine over the past week.

Just before we closed for Christmas we had a bit of a nightmare due to all the rain that fell.  We came in one morning to water bubbling up through the floor of our wine cellar!  Initial investigations for the expected burst pipe were fruitless and, as ever, Danny was called upon.  He spent the next few days bailing out the cellar and clearing everything that had been damaged.  Following further investigations, it was found that an underground spring, which no-one knew about, had become so full with rainwater that it burst its banks…and found our cellar!  Luckily, none of the wine was touched but we did lose the fridges and their contents.  Over the break, workmen have been busy refitting the cellar and we now have shiny new fridges and lovely new flooring throughout the kitchen areas.  My thanks to them for getting it done in time for opening night!

This year began well for us Read more

Happy New Year! Can we still say that!? We are fully in the swing of things again in Cornwall after the annual closure in January and it is great to be back with the family in Restaurant Nathan Outlaw. We are keeping busy in the restaurant as Cornwall creeps out of winter with the hillsides remaining a luscious green, daffodils still bobbing their golden heads and the trees soon to be catching up with bursting buds in the next few months.

As a team we are refreshed and happily still regaling each other with holiday stories. When this industry is also your passion, it seeps into all areas of your life and so when planning a ‘break’ the ideal activity tends to be trying new foods, different dining experiences and seeing how other cultures do what we do every day. And of course, given that it is January, chasing the sun around the world.

I found my blue skies in Barcelona and California this year. In stark contrast to the busy but really beautiful city break of Barcelona, I got back to the sea in America, spending two weeks driving up the classic Highway One from Los Angeles via San Francisco to Sonoma. It was an unforgettable trip taking in scenery which was just stunning – very much like an extreme version of Cornwall! Waking up to enormous Redwood trees, a gushing river or blissfully peaceful beach was the perfect way to experience the county, and naturally it involved hearty eating…it might be almost rude not to try everything?!

I visited a couple of wineries in Read more

As the end of 2012 approaches, another busman’s holiday is on the agenda.  Western Cape here we come!  Hermanus will be the starting point for tasting as many wines produced in Walker Bay as possible.  The Hemel-En-Aarde Valley is another perfect example of an area producing exceptional wines.  Once we have found and sorted through the best of the best and before heading towards Stellenbosch, a few days in the Karoo desert for fresh air will definitely create a thirst for more exceptional wine.

When working with boutique producers, I personally feel the importance of meeting the winemakers really comes across in the restaurant.  I find that our guests are equally, if not more, interested in the background of the families producing our wines than the technical information about Read more