Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall joins Food Experiences line up
We are delighted that award-winning food writer and campaigner Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is joining us for dinner and conversation on Wednesday 4 September.
This event will take place just upstairs from Kino in the Howard Assembly Room. An expertly designed meal focuses on the best sustainably sourced and seasonal British produce, uniquely crafted for this event by Hugh and our top team of chefs here at Kino. The meal will be introduced by Hugh himself, in conversation with fellow chef and restauranteur Jason Shaw.
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is a multi-award-winning cook, food writer and broadcaster. He’s the face of The River Cottage TV series and books, centred around farm-to-fork and sustainably sourced cooking. He established River Cottage HQ in Dorset in 2004. His hard-hitting and influential TV campaigns have tackled issues related to food production and the environment. And his broadcasting has earned him a BAFTA as well as accolades from Radio 4, The Observer and the Guild of Food Writers. Hugh’s latest book is How To Eat 30 Plants A Week.
Josh Whitehead, Kino’s Head Chef, says:
“Working on this series of events with such incredible chefs and writers is such an exciting experience for me. I’ve been chatting to Hugh about the potential menu for his event, and a few of his food memories are weirdly similar to mine. There are a couple of dishes on there that have come from my memories of watching River Cottage when I was young – and I’m not going to give too much away yet but the menu just sounds like one you just really want to eat!”
Following a hugely successful first event with Marco Pierre White, next in the series is food writer and journalist Bee Wilson on Tues 9 July, whose first full-length cookbook The Secret of Cooking: Recipes for an Easier Life in the Kitchen was published in 2023 and named a book of the year by both The Guardian and The Times, and was called ‘a genuinely game-changing cookbook’ by Nigella Lawson.
The menu for the event will be inspired by recipes in Bee’s book and from her travels, with potential dishes celebrating the summer season including Scallops with Watercress Butter, Roasting-tin Chicken with Fennel and Citrus, Courgette and Herb Fritters, Wildflower Focaccia and Cherry and Watermelon Granita.
On Wed 31 July, the Kino team are joined by food writer and broadcaster Angela Clutton, whose most recent book Seasoning: How to cook and celebrate the seasons focuses not only on what we should eat during each season but also how – the key techniques that bring the best out of fruit and vegetables. An award-winning food writer, cook and presenter, her first book, The Vinegar Cupboard, won the Jane Grigson Trust Award, was a double winner at the Guild of Food Writers Awards, and was the Debut Cookery Book of the Year at the Fortnum & Mason Food and Drink Awards.
With a menu centred on seasonality and inspired by global travel, dishes may include Broccoli Tempura and White Miso Mayonnaise, Wild Sea Trout with Wild Garlic Farl and Watercress Hollandaise, and Slow Roasted Chermoula Lamb with Aubergine Cream.
Completing the line-up, Nigel Slater will be in conversation at Kino on Saturday 10 August, with an evening sitting already sold out, and limited availability for a lunchtime event.
Describing himself as a cook who writes, Nigel Slater’s multi-award winning cookery books include Real Food, Appetite, Eat and The Kitchen Diaries. His best-selling memoir Toast was adapted for the stage and became a major BBC film. He’s been The Observer’s food writer for more than 30 years, and has presented plenty of BBC cookery programmes and documentaries, including Simple Suppers and Eating Together.
Kino’s Food Experiences events are part of Staycation Festival with the Howard Assembly Room, where a series of film screenings from 3-7 July celebrate the spirit of travel with paired menus in Kino ahead of each film, from Greece to the Grand Canyon.