From Soil To Plate

The Lost Gardens of Heligan, home to the Finest Productive Garden in Britain has teamed up with luxury British retreat, The Idle Rocks in St Mawes to celebrate Great Cornish food. This collaboration sees the best horticultural practises and heritage produce being showcased by a top chef, right in the heart of Cornwall.

The Lost Gardens of Heligan boasts over 300 different varieties of heritage fruit and vegetables as well as a growing collection of rare breed livestock; many of which are sadly, seldom seen on menus today.

The stunning 200 acre estate, which once served the Tremayne family, now provides its visitors with a wide variety of fresh produce and home-reared meat within the Heligan Kitchen. Whilst most people talk in ‘food miles’, Heligan pride themselves in ‘food yards’. It’s a minimal 157 food yards from soil to plate!

The Idle Rocks is a waterside luxury retreat set in the picturesque village of St. Mawes and is part of the Relais & Chateaux hotel collection, whose destination restaurant is run by Head Chef, Guy Owen.

Guy joined The Idle Rocks in July 2015 and has worked closely with local producers to introduce a menu championing Cornish food. His passion for food is fuelled by the wonderful Cornish produce and the menu at The Idle Rocks reflects the hotel’s ethos of re-engaging with the simple pleasures in life. 

“As a chef, the opportunity to work with produce from The Lost Gardens of Heligan is truly a dream come true. Their attention to detail, the hard work and stunning array of heritage fruit and vegetables is second to none”. Guy Owen, Head Chef at The Idle Rocks.

The relationship is not set up with commercial gain in mind, but for the wonderful produce and Heligan’s unique food story to be showcased in the best way possible. Sadly, many have little knowledge of what it takes to nurture and produce a fully operational Kitchen Garden and indeed raise livestock to the level they are achieving at the gardens. It is hoped that this relationship will act as an example of how local businesses can work together to raise the profile of Cornish food and champion its producers.

“We are all extremely excited about joining forces with The Idle Rocks and the relationship going forward. The Idle Rock’s ethos for sustainability and locally sourcing produce mirrors our own beliefs and the modest manner in which their head chef Guy delivers this, is simply awe-inspiring” - George Elworthy, Managing Director at The Lost Gardens of Heligan.

Heligan’s Productive Gardening and Estate Teams work tirelessly to reflect the same horticultural practices as their Victorian predecessors and with mass-produced, heavily commercialised and under nourished goods bombarding our shelves today, it is relationships such as these that become fundamental in spreading the word on sustainability, traditional husbandry and nutrition.