Tomos Parry and more than 30 members of his teams from Mountain, Brat and Brat x Climpson’s Arch are heading back to the Welsh countryside this September. For the third year in a row the Anglesey-born chef is relocating his restaurants to Fforest, a 500-acre farm on the western Welsh coastline that’s devoted to mixing great food and culture with the natural world that surrounds it.
The London-based team (including chefs, sommeliers, bakers and front-of-house staff) will take over the farm from September 18 to 20, and gather produce and ingredients from Welsh suppliers – many of which supply Parry’s flame-driven restaurants. “A lot of our produce and inspiration comes from Wales, [while] a lot of the techniques come from the Basque Country,” Parry told Broadsheet at last year’s residency. “I wanted as many [members of our teams] as possible to be exposed to where our produce comes from. I thought the best way to do that was to bring some of the team here and really immerse them in the culture of Wales.”
During the weekend, the team’s chefs will harness wild shellfish from regenerative shellfish and seaweed farm Car-Y-Mor, use plants from Awen Organic Farm, serve cheese from Caws Teifi Dairy and make bread with stone-ground flour from Felin Ganol Watermill. Everything will be cooked over fire, reflecting Parry’s preferred method of cooking. “A lot of growing up for me was people cooking over fire, and it wasn’t because it was a fad,” Parry says. “It’s just kind of normal in Wales – we’d fish on the beach and cook over fire. By osmosis it’s just become a part of me.
“Basically Basque food inspired Brat, and Basque [Country] has a connection with Wales culturally – the terrain is very luscious, very green,” Parry says.
Last year’s menu was a reflection of the Welsh landscape – particularly where the mountains meet the sea. “Mountain [in Soho] is basically a celebration of mountain cuisine,” Parry says. “It’s a thing called mar y montana, which translates to sea and mountains – something from the mountains and something from the sea, combined.” At the residency, that equalled a bowl of shellfish with bacon, and a mixture of seafood- and meat-based dishes, including fallow deer.
As well as the one-off menu developed by Parry and his team, the residency will include appearances from guest chefs (last year, ex-Flor pizzaiolo Pamela Yung showed up to cook a series of pizzas using locally sourced toppings like laverbread) and other collaborators. Physical menus will be designed from scratch to accompany the meal and a series of talks and other surprises will take place.
Guests can kip for the whole weekend on the farm, with the Brat x Mountain dinner on the Saturday night. Those wishing to join for the dinner can book for the Friday night.
The Brat x Mountain x Fforest weekend runs from September 18–20. Bookings are now open.