Tasty travel
From foraging to foodie ‘feastivals’, Sophie Farrah tracks down some of the tastiest breaks the UK has to offer
Cornwall is a top culinary hotspot and situated on its stunning north coast is The Watergate Bay Hotel with its Taste of the Bay package. Included is a three-night stay with dinner in a different restaurant each night, including a five-course-tasting menu at Jamie Oliver’s celebrated Fifteen Cornwall. In between meals you can burn off a few calories with a walk on the beach or a swim in the hotel’s infinity pool overlooking the sea.
Rooms from £285pp watergatebay.co.uk
Dubbed ‘Britain’s coolest new country house hotel’, Beaverbrook in Surrey boasts some seriously stylish interiors and 400 acres of beautiful grounds. Check in to one of the 18 sumptuous bedrooms and then head to the Dining Room restaurant for locally inspired Japanese food made using fresh, seasonal ingredients, many of which are grown in the hotel’s own kitchen garden. There’s a spa and cookery school due to open this year too.
Rooms from £195 beaverbrook.co.uk
Gone are the days of greasy burgers – festival food has seriously upped its game and is now one of the headline acts. Previous years at Oxfordshire’s Wilderness Festival have seen gourmet feasts dished up by the likes of Petersham Nurseries, Moro, Mark Hix and more. The Pig’s collection of trendy hotels are also hosting their own foodie festivals this summer known as ‘Smoked and Uncut’, and back for another year is The Big Feastival – a weekend celebration of music, top food and family fun on Alex James’ Cotswolds farm. Booking now!
smokedanduncut.com, uk.thebigfeastival.com
Nestled in the Forest of Dean, boutique hotel the Tudor Farmhouse boasts its own in-house forager Raoul van Den Broucke who runs foraging expeditions that take guest s off the beaten track. Seasonal finds include edible mushrooms, wild garlic and sorrel, pennywort, wimberries, marsh samphire, edible flowers, wild strawberries and more. The private foraging break includes a session with Raoul, plus lunch, dinner and an overnight stay in a lovely room.
Private Foraging package £365 per couple tudorfarmhousehotel.co.uk
If you’re hungry for both food and knowledge then why not combine a gastronomic overnight stay with a cookery class too? Swish Hampshire hotel Lime Wood in the New Forest is home to Angela Hartnett’s restaurant, where you can also learn some of the tricks of the trade yourself. Indulge in the Cook and Stay package at Raymond Blanc’s beautiful Oxfordshire hideaway Belmond Le Manoir Aux Quat’Saisons, or if the sea is calling then head to Rick Stein’s cookery school in Padstow (see image above) where you can learn to rustle up some mussels before spending the night in one of Stein’s nearby hotels.
Prices vary. See limewoodhotel.co.uk, belmond.com or rickstein.com
