Chef Trip - Wales 2017

“A three day culinary dream,” Michael LeCouteur

This November, we took 15 chefs from some of London’s top restaurants to Wales to visit some of Foodchain’s suppliers.

Illtud Dunsford, the master of meat curing, gave us a lovely tour of his factory where he makes bespoke food for the likes of Clare Smyth. Head down to Chess Club London if you want to taste some of his charcuterie for yourself!

That evening the team sat down to a meal at Simon Wright’s Food Emporium where we feasted and drank natural wines handpicked by Simon and his son. What a warm welcome.

Tash and Marc eagerly waiting for the moment they could dive into that garlic butter slathered Lobster fresh from the Welsh coast

“Absolutely stunning dinner,” Tom Anglesea of Laughing heart said. “A feast of Lobster, prawns and crab caught on the coast that morning followed by the most tender Welsh hogget and crumble, hospitality personified by Simon and his team”

The next day, we all got up early (some a little jaded) to visit Maerdy Farm where we met Carwyn and Sarah who introduced us to their herd of lovingly reared sheep.

Following this, we headed to Caws Cenarth Farm, we’ve written a little more about them in this blog post Why you should ditch the brie and opt for a British cheeseboard this Christmas

Carwyn Mort and his cheese

We then travelled to the port to meet Teddy who brings in fresh fish, including his famous Sea bass which chefs have been loving.

“His mussels are second to none.” Sam Tarneburg of Babette

The Hardwick’s salad of Welsh Mutton, local feta and crisp jerusalem artichokes.

We finished the day dining at the Hardwick, where we tasted Welsh wine from White Castle Vinyard and were treated to an amazing meal by Stephen Terry and his team featuring the produce we had been visiting on the trip.

“ Everyone was lovely but they also showed real passion for the industry” Chris from The Gatehouse

The Next day we travelled to the Black Mountain Smokery where we met Jonathon Carthew to learn all about the love and care this husband and wife duo put into the smoking of salmon, sea bass and some meats.

After this, we then went to the wonderful Forest Coalpit Farm where we met Kyle and Lauren. After a tour of the piggy paradise, we were welcomed into their warm farmhouse for beers, bacon and sausages; the perfect celebration of their amazing farm and produce.

Clockwise from bottom left: Anastasia and Santiago, The view from Forest Coalpit Farm, Tom Childs with pig and Lauren in her Kitchen

Before our long trip back to London, we stopped by OffMyLand Farm to munch some tender roasted beef and horseradish sandwiches and hear about the intricacies of rearing great quality cows.

“The pair were lovely and you could see the care, sacrifice and struggle they had for the farm.” Sam Tarneberg from Babette about the owners of OffmyLand.

The trip was a real success, feedback from both suppliers and chefs was unanimously positive. We really look forward to organising more of these trips in the future.

“It is great to see how much Foodchain will help farmers and producers. I really believe in what you guys do and seeing it first hand backs it up” Gareth Crosby from Pedlar

We loved meeting all of the amazing chefs on the trip. If you already work with Foodchain and are interested in hearing about future trips, or want to start working with our amazing suppliers, get in touch!

From left: Kyle from Coalpit farm, Chris from The Gatehouse, Karl from St Johns, James from The Palmerston, Michael and Tom from Laughing Heart, FC’s Anastasia, Santiago Lastra, FC’ s Amelia and Hugh, Melanie from Menter Moch Cymru, Michael from Mews of Mayfair, Gareth from Pedlar, Sam from Babette and Tom from Chess Club.