F & B
The
LOCAVORE
Skye Gyngell grew up in a family that ate a macrobiotic diet — “ fairly brown food ,” she says . “ I ’ ve always believed that food is medicine , so that was always in me , and I always cared because I came from a family that cared .”
Gyngell works with the biodynamic farming team at Heckfield Place and at Spring , her signature restaurant in London . “ I found the joy in food ,” she says .
At Heckfield Place , in the Hampshire countryside , she has become an evangelist for thoughtful , biodynamic farming . “ Food grown in nutrient-dense soil has a lot of energy ,” she says . “ It ’ s beautiful . It ’ s bright . It ’ s always super colorful , and it ’ s always maximum flavor , and it ’ s always energetic . I think that people can taste it , people can see it . Food eaten in season , grown under the best conditions , just tastes better .”
The estate features an 800-tree orchard , woodland , apiary and small dairy with Guernsey cows , along with chickens and other herds . “ We make every liqueur here , every butter , every bread with natural fermentation , every jam , every yogurt ,” she says . “ We do take some things from Europe , as we can ’ t grow lemons here or produce olive oil . But it ’ s about educating people . It ’ s really lovely to see how people respond to the food and respond to the farm , and people adore the farm .”
The bounty has kept farmers and F & B staff busy . “ We do very comprehensive planting lists ,” she says . “ At the end of the year , you estimate that in the second week of July , you ’ ll need 30 kilos of strawberries ,
IT ’ S REALLY LOVELY TO SEE HOW PEOPLE RESPOND TO THE FOOD .
SKYE GYNGELL
20 kilos of raspberries , etc ., so we had all of this produce coming out , and we had no one to serve it to .” Instead , they put together produce boxes , starting with greens and spring cabbages . “ We saw a great surge of people wanting to cook , and they couldn ’ t go to restaurants , so we started selling our sourdough starter , and we started selling flowers ,” Gyngell says . “ It just kind of snowballed .”
Cooked meals , such as lasagnas and chicken stews , joined the boxes . “ We now have about 60 items that change with the
SKYE GYNGELL EXECUTIVE CHEF
HECKFIELD PLACE HOOK , ENGLAND
season , and we sell vegetables , flowers , cooked things and breads , and our ice creams are crazy popular ,” she says .
REOPENING DIFFERENTLY This summer , Heckfield Place reopened to about 40 % occupancy , with culinary staff opening up the grounds to space people out creatively . “ We ’ re curating different dining experiences . I think it will definitely be a challenge for us to deliver ,” she says . But “ it ’ s been lovely making all the cordials , all the jams , all the breads and cakes to welcome everyone to tea , and it feels very exciting . I feel thankful and grateful that people have been supporting us .”
Gyngell has no plans to reopen her London restaurant until at least September . “ I ’ m not sure I really want to open a restaurant that doesn ’ t do what we can do in the best way possible ,” she says . “ Restaurants are about a buzz and conviviality and happiness , and not fear and social distancing and face masks .”
But she has been more hands on in the kitchen than she has in years . “ I ’ ve had the pleasure of cooking ,” she says . “ It ’ s re-rooted me . We have to look after the planet , and we cannot part ourselves from it . I ’ m on a bit of a mission . Alice Waters always says , ‘ It ’ s a revolution , but let ’ s make it a delicious revolution .’”
24 hotelsmag . com September / October 2020