Tomos Parry, the chef behind Shoreditch institution Brat and Soho favourite Mountain, has been announced as chef-in-residence at Welsh rural retreat, fforest, from September 19 to 21.
The team behind Mountain will host dinner on Saturday night while fforest will look after Friday’s wood-fired supper and Sunday morning’s brunch.
The program also includes a Q&A with Parry and fforest co-founder James Lynch, a former design and architecture professional who cut his teeth in east London before decamping to Wales with his family 21 years ago.
For Parry, the fforest residency constitutes something of a homecoming. He was born in Anglesey, a part of the world he once likened to California (‘you can see both the snow on the mountain tops and the beaches at the same time’). He’s cooked for the Welsh rugby squad in Tokyo, having gone to school with player and coach Robin McBryde. As part of his residency, he will create a one-off menu using local produce inspired by his Welsh upbringing — while also weaving in Mountain’s signature flair.
Mountain and Brat have earned deep respect among culinary experts and amateur foodies alike. Much of Parry’s renown boils down to his expertise in grilling; but it’s the originality of the menu — the melding of sweetbreads with violet artichokes, or fish roe, peach and walnut bread — that kickstarted the hype for his restaurants in the capital. Mountain, which came after Brat, endows Parry’s classic menu with a more experimental flavour: think Tamworth sow collar, turbot head and spider crab omelette.
Fforest (above), where the kitchen specialises in wood smoked and barbecued meats, is a natural fit for Parry. Set within 500 acres of verdant wilderness in Cardigan, West Wales, it was bought in 2004 as a derelict farming estate on the Afon Teifi, just moments from the coast, and over the years has flourished into one of the country’s most covetable rural sanctuaries. Guests began flocking there in 2007 and it is now a popular wedding venue.
Cardigan itself has become a hotspot for foodies, with beach bars like The Boy Ashore serving freshly caught lobster and fish burgers; the Castle Inn, a renovated alehouse also owned by fforest group, which serves its own brews; and the site’s own pub, Y Bwthyn, one of the smallest (and cosiest) in all of Wales.
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