If you go down to the woods today, you might find more than welcome respite from the heat. Cooked on open fires by some of the country’s most exciting chefs, and served at long tables beneath a canopy of trees or under open sky, in forests and beside lakes, wild outdoor feasts take what is great about eating al fresco – the romance, the connection to place – and heighten it.
British summer is fleeting, so any excuse to eat outdoors should be seized: picnics, barbecues, the sun-drenched terraces of outdoor restaurants and pub gardens all offer the simple pleasure of gathering around a table and sharing food in the open air. Wild feasts bring that same appeal but takes things a step further; being far away from the four walls of a restaurant subtly changes the experience of a meal. Perhaps it’s because field-to-table food feels more tangible when you are actually sitting in that field. In a natural setting, the rituals of restaurant dining give way to something a little looser.
I think there’s something about what the word ‘feast’ seems to promise, too, that makes these wild dinners increasingly popular. Celebration, abundance, a suspense of everyday restraint, indulgence – whether the atmosphere remains gently convivial or ends up verging on the Bacchanalian, these communal dining experiences in bucolic settings replace the polish of restaurant dining with something that feels more free. So before the rain and grey skies inevitably return, make the most of the season with our edit of the best wild outdoor feast experiences.
.jpg)
33 best outdoor restaurants in London to book this summer
By Tilly Wheeler, Charlotte McCaughan-Hawes and Tal Dekel-Daks
Best Outdoor Feast experiences in the UK
Comments are closed.