More privacy, less administrative snarl, more groups, less pomp, more adventures from the doorstep, less unnecessary flourish – this is what the modern traveller is hungry for. Private entrances for discretion, doing away with formal check-in desks, old-school maps pointing to the perfect jam-maker, umbrella seller, or fine suit-maker around the corner – this is what is making sense. Forget the hybridisation of taste and the copycat international style of not very much, the specifics of the hyperlocal – often referenced, rarely authentically followed – is what gets a globetrotter's eyes twinkling.
Take forced rhubarb, the particularly Yorkshire practice of growing young, sweet rhubarb by candlelight in darkened tents; listen to its almost orchestral squeaking as it pushes up through the earth. How eccentric, how intriguing. “It’s exactly what we served last week at Chewton Glen,” says Executive Director Andrew Stembridge, “and asparagus, it was the first proper days of the season.” Because “service is a given now,” says Ewan Venters, CEO of Artfarm, the cool and breezy game-changing hospitality pioneers who understood instinctively that listening to farmers, understanding the treasure beneath our feet, and the power of everyone in turn shining a light on everyone else was not only the right, but the most astute way forward.
“It’s about the storytelling, the authenticity, where that ingredient comes from,” says Venters. “The British cheese industry is flourishing,” he adds, “on a par with the French. Layer on the side that we now have wine of a truly international quality and it’s very exciting. I had dinner with Spanish friends last night and they had absolutely no idea of the provenance of what we were drinking and eating – it all came from the UK. They were blown away.”
So, the most interesting nexus across the board seems to be here, in what the best hotels are giving their guests to feast upon. Le Manoir Aux Quat’Saisons, A Belmond Hotel, Oxfordshire, has championed farm-to-fork for decades. The establishment’s Head Gardener, Anne-Marie Owens, has been one of the many driving forces at the property, in her case behind delivering exceptional calibre – and inbuilt sustainability – across 11 gardens and the 2,500 strong heritage orchard.
“Her team of gardeners each brings their own specific skills from vegetable growing to orchard management,” says General Manager, Niall Kingston, “and it’s these skills that mean we can deliver on quality.” Meanwhile, Venters is fresh from opening Farm Shop on London’s South Audley Street, with three butchers, one female, under the age of 30. “It’s brilliant to see people enjoying their craft working in the heart of Mayfair. The UK really is beginning to think about and recognise its expertise in a more considered way.”
It’s perfectly logical really, but somehow has been lost in the fray. Let’s hope it’s back and that we’re getting there. For we travel to experience not what is the same, but what is different. In here, true value lies.
