This gloriously sunny Monday our ‘Little’ team – Stephi, Damon and I – went to visit the wonderful Cornish Orchards, the suppliers of our apple juice, elderflower pressé and Heritage cider. Taking us on a lovely drive to the picturesque Duloe, just outside Looe, it was great to put faces to the voices on the end of a phone at the Orchards!

We were met by the lovely Caitie, who takes care of keeping us up to date with new products, in the loop with any process developments and generally spreading the love from the team on their fantastic drinks. Andy, the man in the know, gave his time to take us around the site and was everything a great company owner should be; passionate, knowledgeable and a generous host.

Andy began 20 years ago, taking the site on and starting out as a dairy farmer, with the large airy buildings and fields alive with cattle and sheep. However, with the market set to change eleven years ago, he made a wise decision to change the business to make use of the indigenous apple trees and land at the Orchards. Beginning with a production of just 700 bottles of apple juice in the first year it has gone from strength to strength, expanding to create different lines of fresh juices and pressés in addition to eight different ciders by the bottle and four ciders for draught.

Andy’s passion for innovation and teamwork was striking; there was a great buzz around the Orchards from the constant development with new ideas welcomed from everyone. One particular success was their unique apple-transport system used during the autumn. We saw that after the apples are either harvested from their land, or arrive from small farms in Cornwall, their method involves pouring them into an oversized water bath to clean them and uses the water to transport them to the pulping stage in the adjoining building. This ‘green’ approach eliminates the need for fork lift trucks and also protects them from bruising, therefore preserving the quality of the apples. The processes that follow are labour intensive, with the team closely monitoring each part for quality and safety – no small task! The team take care of it all with a natural ease; I suspect in harvest time it is all hands on deck as they take care of everything from the pickings and arrival to pressing and making or fermenting for cider, testing, labelling and marketing.

The team at the Orchards have a fantastic philosophy, as while taking advantage of the great growing conditions here in Cornwall, they also follow great eco-friendly mantra to minimise their carbon footprint and work sustainably. As well as the usual recycling and support for local growers, they stay green through using low amounts of packaging and reusing cartons for their business clients, installing sensor lighting saving power and lowering the amounts of machinery used through their apple ‘river’ transport system. In this day where every form of non-biodegradable packaging and limitless electricity are so readily available, I think it is still impressive for a business to be consciously lowering and eliminating the use of these every day.

Overall through our visit, the sheer passion of all of the team was what really shone through – there is real dedication and attention to detail.  Andy and Caitie led us in tasting the entire range and it was fascinating to pick up the subtle differences, learn about the processes involved and how they affect the end result. The Heritage Cider that we offer in Restaurant Nathan Outlaw had great depth in flavour over the more refreshing Farmhouse Cider; as a result of being matured over the winter months and was therefore utterly delicious. A new favourite we tried was the Wassail Cider – a brew of cider and apple juices with warming flavours from the hand-blended spices and orange – dangerous in the best possible way! A definite possibility for later in the year when sat by the roaring fire.

For us at the Restaurant it is always important to maintain a great relationship with our suppliers. This jaunt was a great way to learn more from the Orchards, understand their philosophy and generally unite in our love for a fresh and brilliant Cornish product.

Being a smaller team requires us to be efficient in how we work in the restaurant. In order to make our service run smoothly we really do need to know what each other are doing almost without asking. While communication is the key factor in any industry, when operating a relatively short service it is of particular importance. Consequently, the more we know each other and how we all work, the more we can anticipate each other’s moves and style in the restaurant.

This knowledge of each other primarily comes from spending so much time together. This closeness in our office, kitchen and restaurant gives an opportunity to really become a work-family. This can only come from being happy in our workplace, a quality generated from being respected and empowered, being passionate about the restaurant and also just genuinely liking one another! I don’t think this is limited to being located in this area, but a mutual love of all things Cornish certainly accentuates it. And because it is never ‘just a job’, due to the all-encompassing nature of hospitality and a mutual love of being here, it really does matter who you spend each day with.

As a sub-family in front-of-house, the four of us work closely with one unanimous aim – to make our lovely guests incredibly happy. In order to do this we need to know each other’s nuances and characteristics, with sense of humour also helping – I am powerless when it comes to Stephi’s jokes. In a physical sense it is also very important as, besides the fact it would be slightly less serene, there is just no space in our intimate restaurant to be flinging plates around as we ‘meet’ in the middle. Therefore, a more relaxed version of events involves almost dancing around each other instead, teaming together when required for service. As a result we are prime candidates for synchronised swimming in the Olympics.

Working as one is something that grows through spending more services together, and I think we have all been impressed at how easily Char, as the newest member of our family, has slipped into our rhythm over the past few months. Marvellously, she has picked up incredibly fast not only the requirements of the job, but also a way of knowing what our ambiguous facial expressions and rushed mumblings mean and acting accordingly – sheer talent.

Conversely, I am always impressed that there are so many staff still here who have been part of Nathan’s team for a long time. Damon, Stephi and Chris in the Restaurant, Redas and Pete in Outlaw’s were all in Fowey too; there is a rumour they just can’t be shaken off, but we keep that one quiet. And for all of us that have joined in the three years of being in Rock it means we have been welcomed into a very special and exciting place. I consider myself truly privileged to be working with such wonderfully interesting and knowledgeable people, both in front of house and our kitchen. And as soon as they release ‘Dancing With Plates’ we are there.

Writing this week by the open window with the glorious afternoon sun glistening on the Camel Estuary, flooding our restaurant with the freshest Cornish air and sunbeams, it is difficult to imagine life spent anywhere else. With the fervent buzz of a busy happy kitchen of chefs preparing for another fantastic full restaurant tonight in the background and the distant gleeful chatter from guests on the terrace of Outlaws in Rock, the city and the rat race seem far away. However, with guests arriving at the hotel for special celebrations or just a relaxing break the same pressure is still on to deliver the best possible experience. In this day and age with open kitchens, high profile social media outlets and programs such as MasterChef displaying the foodie world for all to see, that pressure has changed. It has evolved from one on a simple plane of demand and supply into much more.

Apart from our passion for genuinely wanting to give our guests an evening they will love from start to finish, from a technical point of view, everybody in our restaurant is now very wise! By this, I mean that they can be extremely well-informed with regards to food and service, with educated questions into specific elements of our dishes. Whereas once it was a more mysterious aspect of dining with an almost secretive barrier between the kitchen and the restaurant, now, due to our culture and the media, there is no place for this as the customer’s deep interest, knowledge and need for communication takes over. These days our guests are very aware of cooking techniques, flavour combinations and are presenting a demand for traceable local produce. And so they should be.

While this has always been a natural choice for Nathan, this wish from guests is also great for us in front-of-house. This is partly because we are such a small team and we live between our inspiring kitchen and adjoining office so there is constant excitement of the kitchen activity and continuous involvement in the menu evolution. As it is a way of life for us, it makes perfect sense to display it proudly on our menu and describe it clearly; away from any pretence that could distract our guests from enjoying what is on their dish and in their glass.

I feel it is more important than ever to know our produce, know our dishes and be ready if desired because as well as the fact there is no fooling our customers, we really are so proud to serve such delights. We find this evolved pressure no hardship at all when we all posses such an ardent love of Nathan and the team’s beautiful food; it merely adds to the joy to be able to share it with our very clever guests.

Having said this, no matter what the level of awareness, it is difficult to ignore the natural magic in the air that comes from the sheer genius of what our chefs produce in flavours and in Damon’s incredible ability to make wines feel like they were ‘born’ to accompany that dish.  I believe our culture involving delicious food and restaurants is a great part of our heritage, a feeling accentuated in Cornwall where you can almost see your dinner swimming past the window, with a simple aim to do the wonderful fish and accompaniments justice.

Whilst out on a jolly on Monday, I was fortunate enough to walk out into the sunshine in Truro and find myself in the middle of my first St. Piran’s Day parade with the local schools, corporations and officials joined together to progress to the beautiful Cathedral to celebrate the county’s heritage in a procession of Cornish spirit. I was enraptured to see the large amount of support involved in keeping the tradition alive, celebrating the Patron Saint of Tin Miners, with activities also organised all over the rest of Cornwall for the occasion. This experience stirred a proud and happy feeling of patriotism, and while this was a slightly fraudulent emotion having only been a North Coast resident for a couple of years, I make up for this technicality by immersing myself in everything Cornish and genuinely considering myself very lucky to be part of such a lovely culture.

This county’s unique personality is homemade from many communities networked together within the 296 miles of stunning coastline, each with a friendliness and passion to welcome anyone to the area, whether its for relaxing holiday or to permanently build a life here. Everyone seems to possess a unanimous homing-pigeon gene, whereby being anywhere else in the world can be blissful, but that knowing smile will always creep out when passing the sign on the border into Cornwall.

And all this love, without even mentioning the produce – a new record for me! At the restaurant, Cornish produce is something we are proud to showcase, altering it only with the purpose of bringing out and marrying natural flavours. In 2011, we were greeted with our lovely produce weeks early, due to the gorgeous Cornish weather and growing conditions, causing our guests to look incredulously at our menu. Aside from the fish, which is known nationwide for its quality and freshness, we are now greatly looking forward to our seasonal fruit and vegetables this year.

As we head into spring our local greens and baby vegetables are blooming, taking us into St. Enodoc asparagus and gooseberry season (a favourite of mine), then onto the heaven that is the local sweet summer fruit. At the moment we are also experiencing the excitement of our kitchen garden in Porthilly getting underway; as Danny lovingly turns the soil by hand we sow the first seeds and look forward to our very local Nathan Outlaw garden produce.

With all this beauty and the mouth-watering dishes before you it really is futile trying to put Cornwall on the back burner, instead come and share it with us now while the beauty is flourishing and serenity fills the fresh Cornish air!

Welcome back!

We have all enjoyed a lovely winter rest, with the economy of the Canary Islands raised considerably with a large majority of our staff enjoying a relaxing, sunny break.

Damon and Stephi immersed themselves in the Australian culture down under and had a truly brilliant experience, just ask them about the vineyards! Along their travels, vast expanses of the country were covered by road and on foot, certain very special restaurants visited and wineries (very thoroughly!) discovered. Damon’s commitment to his passion for wine means that now the sourcing is underway to bring a few of the stunning wines to the Restaurant here to tempt you.

Meanwhile, I fell in love with the tradition and geographical interest of Holland, touring historical villages and consuming multiple Oliebollens, the popular doughnut-like addictive pastries with the consequential danger of resembling one. I was also able to have my fix of my favourite hobby – being on the other side of the restaurant business – as I caught up with the city in a blissful week of dining out, at every possible mealtime, in London and soaking up the capital’s culture.

However, after weeks apart we are all delighted to be back in idyllic Cornwall as the snowdrops begin to blink in the glorious morning sun, breaking out and carpeting the woods, with the new lambs finding their feet in the nearby fields, clearly signalling spring is close.

We have already flown through our first couple of busy weeks, with our beautiful new menu receiving sensational feedback. With a few tweaks to the format with a delicious extra course, cheese now integrated into our tasting experience and with the release of Nathan’s Seafood Book in May, this year looks set to be incredibly exciting.

The kitchen is already reflecting this with everyone brimming over with passion. As Chris, our lovely and very talented Chef previously in Fowey with the team, rejoins Nathan, it seems a winning combination as they work with Tim and Dean to showcase the finest local ingredients. We are also delighted to welcome Char to our team this year, who has fitted in seamlessly with the restaurant, bringing elegance, intelligence and a beaming smile to our front of house family. With our ‘new’ additions and preparations for the year, a happy and fervent buzz is radiating from all corners.

We hope you have all had a great winter too and look forward to seeing you all bright and fresh this year, with the possibility of altering that with an irresistible glass of wine. The whole Outlaw team are all geared up and eager to welcome you!

Tonight is our last service of the year, a fairly momentous occasion arriving surprisingly quickly, with all of us in a genuine state of shock at how fast this year has gone. It is cliché to say so, but it literally does just feel like the other day when we were fresh faced and raring to go in February (I believe it is just the fresh faces that have wrinkled slightly since!)

As we bubble wrap the restaurant for our Christmas closure, peel our apprentices from their worktops ready for a well earned break and as the walls shiver with excitement in anticipation of a little top up on the Farrow and Ball, we wistfully reminisce about how much joy and real fun we have had this year from serving fantastic dishes and receiving such lovely guests.

Our great local suppliers have done us proud again with stunning fish and accompaniments with magnificent flavours bursting through as they arrive straight from the just down the Cornish lanes into our kitchen. From the great selection of dishes this year, a personal favourite that floored me upon first taste has to be the Brill with Ham Hock and Tartare Sauce, an incredibly refined and flavoursome adaptation of the perfect comfort food, a dish which I feel has Cornwall and its traditions right at its heart.

Throughout the year, it has been wonderful to catch up with our regular guests and welcome new ones into the RNO family. Whatever the occasion has been – birthday, anniversary, Tuesday (!), we have loved every minute and thank everyone who has supported us this year.

We hope to welcome you in 2012 to our beautiful bubble of Nathan and the team’s brilliant cooking and the fantastic restaurant setting overlooking the Camel Estuary. From the menus currently being devised in the kitchen, it looks to be another exciting season of fine food and superb wine. In the meantime, we send our best wishes to you for a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from all of the Outlaw Team!

Throughout this crisp December, we have been detecting a serial love of the Cornish winter emanating from everyone at the Restaurant. From the crashing surf of Polzeath and the frosty exposed trees of Porthilly Farm, to the depth of the produce coming from the estuary and the vegetable garden in Rock, it is hard to deny that it is a lovely part of the country to experience the chilly season in.

This festive feeling has led to behaviour such as the immediate urge to curl up on a snug St. Enodoc sofa in front of the fire with a chestnut grappa and the formation of a misty glaze over the eyes with a dreamy expression when the words ‘a refreshingly peaceful cliff top stroll’ are mentioned. Both of which can be troublesome impulsions for the staff in the hub of a busy evening!

Meanwhile, from our cosy kitchen and restaurant we have the dedicated and hardy fishermen in our thoughts, for which this time of year is perhaps not their favourite as they valiantly battle on through the choppy Celtic sea to bring us beautiful mackerel, crab, prawns, clams, mussels, oysters, bream and brill for our current tasting menu.

These fish from the Cornish waters are gorgeous at the moment, looking fresh, bright and happy (well, happy that they are at least in Nathan’s experienced hands!) In particular, our latest fourth course is producing beaming faces as it glides over the taste buds. This is a striking assembly of brill with a toasted covering of pine nuts and hazelnuts, succulent marinated beetroot, hogs pudding and mushroom ketchup; an epitome of winter with the bold flavours seamlessly flowing into one other with each mouthful.

From our pastry section, we are sporting a finale of freshly baked almond sponge, the aroma of which literally makes us weak at the knees when it ambushes us from the oven midway through service, with Nathan’s moreish sugared pistachios and pear-ginger sorbet. This latter element I feel it is perfectly acceptable to eat by itself. With a ladle. For breakfast.

So as you may sense, we are indeed in high spirits here, undeterred by the blanket of the winter chill settling over the estuary and benefiting, as ever, from the beautiful seasonal offerings of the Cornish landscape.

Ever since my early days, I have been ‘blessed’ with not only a savoury tooth but also a very sweet one (I was always led to believe that for health reasons, one would naturally be born with one or the other, but alas it seems I am doomed). And partly because of this, I have always been a strong front-line supporter of Nathan sporting two desserts on his tasting menu.

Nathan is quite deservedly known for his fish, with the first four courses of the tasting menu featuring stunningly fresh clean fish flavours and combinations. However, I would advise our guests to brace themselves for the sweets.

After the fish, if our optional cheese course runs the risk of making you feel as full as a boiled egg and therefore is not taken, the opening dessert greets you neatly and politely; a lemon meringue trifle, with yoghurt sorbet. The refreshing nature of this means it has the ability to be quite easily inhaled, I know Stephi has a weakness for the sharp lemon tang that is balanced by the silky yoghurt sorbet, creating a sensation of invigorating indulgence and leaving your tongue dancing.

The phrase ‘for your first dessert’ has always been a favourite of mine, and one I feel should be used in everyday language and situations, however find that at home it often leads to disappointment having only made a maximum of one pudding and therefore severely deluding myself with falsely raised hopes. Nonetheless, in Restaurant Nathan Outlaw, there is a feeling of jubilation as the realisation creeps in that after the trifle, another is yet to come!

Gloriously, we are now in the English fig season, too good an opportunity to miss and therefore the inspiration of our last dessert: Figs with vanilla cream, nuts and seeds. The velvety smoothness of a frozen vanilla cream compliments the jammy texture of the grilled figs, providing that little bit of warmth to delightfully tease the senses.

Then a rather dangerously delectable element – the phenomenon of Nathan’s sugared hazelnut; so incredibly moreish that it eradicates any previous nightmares you may have had in childhood of an experiencing an old rock-hard ’sugared’ almond. Finally, the impact of the fig and port sorbet with a deep concentration makes you want to immediately rush out and plunge yourself in a waterslide-fashion into an arboretum of autumn leaves, never to return.

Or at least until coffee with enticing petit fours tempts you out back into the world of our dining bubble to finish the evening. This compilation of sweets’ I find leaves me with one of those silly grins that steals onto my face without my premeditated permission, occurring when my stomach and brain are in a harmoniously full and happy collation. And ideal gluttonous state of being.

I am a great believer in the beauty of this late season in Cornwall with the bracing winds and cooler refreshing temperatures leading to the most beautiful autumnal nuances of tree colourations. With these splendours outside the restaurant, and Nathan’s fine food within, you can clearly hear: Cornwall is calling.

Looe Fish Market; a haven for fishermen and commerical buyers alike, and my destination last week for a miniature field trip. It has been on my destination list for some time, so not even the thought of a rather early start could deter Karen and I from donning our wellies and warmest jackets and racing the sunrise to the market.

With most of the beautiful town of Looe still asleep, we made our way into a rather unassuming building which had obviously been the centre of activity for some time. As the boats had been coming in at various times throughout late evening and the night, much of the fish was freshly sorted, weighed and re-iced ready for viewing and bidding.

The nature of the market is that of an auction with networked handheld bidding devices, thus making the process incredibly efficient. With a quick observation of the fish, it was clear for all buyers to see the quality of them and the care that had gone into retrieving these magnificent creatures. Indicators of their freshness were evident everywhere, in their subtle oceanic aroma  rather than a pungent ‘fishy’ smell, their bright moist appearance, rigidity of the skin to touch and, in the case of the lobsters, their antennae still softly waving.

As Julian, the auctioneer was kind enough to show me how to operate the system selling the fish (thank goodness for his help, or there would have been an abundance of under-priced dover sole and boxes of gurnards flying everywhere!), I was able to see how much care was taken in their valuing, ensuring they are not sold for too low a price in order to do justice to both the fish and fishermen.

It was also reassuring to hear again about the importance of the Responsible Fishing Scheme here, and how Looe is possibly the only UK market where all of the boats are proudly part of it, ensuring a future for the industry and fishermen through constant sustainable practice and environmental considerations. Furthermore, a tagging system on line-caught fish means that for many, we are able to identify at the restaurant exactly which boat they are caught from and by which skipper (this week our beautiful bass were from the Dawn Raider by Neil Harman!).

Within the market the buyers were evidently highly knowledgeable, purchasing for a number of prestigious companies, with roughly 80% of fish from here being exported to France where demand is high for this superior produce. This was a slightly sobering reflection, to see such a high amount of this lovely fresh supply leaving their native shores when importation levels are also so high in this country, for the sake of satisfying our specific demand.

Nonetheless, it was an absolute privilege to experience the fun of the market, to talk with and be informed by fantastic fishermen and buyers, the masters of this business, who have a genuine passion for their produce and the methods involved. I am taken back to this happy field-trip every time Nathan plates up that stunning piece of brill or line-caught sea bass as knowing its heritage, quality and that fact you can almost see the sustainability seeping from its fibres, seems to make it taste even more delicious than it already is!

Being in Cornwall can have its drawbacks, namely the distance to the ‘real world’ of the city, and therefore the four hours on a train it takes to industry highlights such as the trade shows, a variety of great restaurants and fantastic wine tastings means they can easily be missed.

But who am I fooling? A key highlight of Cornwall is the distance to the ‘real world’ of the city too. What Cornwall lacks in the central trade shows and large-scale industry networking, it completely overcompensates for in location, intimate connectivity between the small businesses, and perhaps most importantly, astonishing produce.

Nathan is currently featuring a dish that encompasses just this example; Brill, Crab and Porthilly Sauce.

With brill from the day boats working from Cornish coasts and crab from the fishermen in Port Isaac, it seems hard to go wrong. Yet really it is also the accompaniments I personally love about the creation.

The beautiful hamlet and bay of Porthilly, two minutes down the hill from Rock and clearly visible from the restaurant window, is so much more than the perfect location for casting off. Indeed, it is also the home of fantastic shellfish and sea-vegetables. This particular dish includes two of Porthilly’s finest little creatures; silky mussels and clams, with individually such an amazingly generous flavour for so small a mollusc. With the Marshall family raising them just down the lane and keeping a meticulous eye over them as they grow up on the shores, you can consume them happily in the knowledge of their exceptional and sustainable up-bringing.

To balance this dish, two members of the goosefoot family, marsh samphire and purslane, again from the estuary, are blanched and compiled. These two ‘troopers’ bear the brunt of the Cornish coastal winds and waves, with samphire’s hardy stems creating a lovely crisp texture and the paper-like scales of purselane deceptively acting as a barrier, while absorbing fantastic minerality from the shores that is carried through in their flavour.

Now, I could happily write an entire blog on the sauce itself, but I will spare you this time by just highlighting the prime elements, namely the use of brown crab meat from which an incredible aromatic depth in taste is acquired. This is an often overlooked element of the crab being discarded as unfashionable or ‘indelicate’, however, while the white meat is perfect for a prime component of this dish adding texture, the brown meat gives a remarkable complexity to the sauce, especially when the roasted brill stock is added. Finally, the addition of truffle-like seaweed brioche and mussel butter gives a rich and silky eruption of flavour, and acts as a terrific mop for the sauce!

This is truly a dish to be savoured. So as you walk through the beauty of Porthilly and other such bays (these unsuspecting hidden gems of the seafood world), perhaps remember the underdog of the food-sourcing habitats, as they are often the perfect location from which to showcase the amazing gifts from our coastline.