Love Food

Looking forward to Porthleven Food Festival as it kick-starts the festival year in Cornwall on its 15th anniversary.

The popularity and longevity of the Porthleven Food Festival still surprises me, considering how the idea was born. It all started from a conversation I had with a couple of friends, Dai and Hannabeth and my late wife Jane. We were sitting down on a Saturday night at the end of a hard week having a glass of wine or two thinking about how we could increase awareness of local food and suppliers and a way to attract more people to Porthleven. Simply put, that is how the Porthleven Food and Music Festival started. We quickly formed a small committee and, along with an army of local volunteers, the very first festival opened with a small marquee on the harbour head and a full-on gusty south-westerly wind blowing in… and what a success that very first festival was, with about 5000 people turning up for the day. Nowadays, we are getting nearer to 45,000 visitors for the weekend. It is such an honour to be Patron of the festival and it really has grown into a firm favourite in the Cornish festival calendar.

It now attracts the best chefs from all around the UK and this year we have a fantastic line up of culinary talent to tantalise taste buds and inspire the inner chef in all of us. We have a wide range of chefs from different culinary cultures and I can’t wait to see them entertain us with their own styles. We also have many local talented chefs doing demonstrations alongside Great British Menu stars – there really is something for everyone.

Sadly, Antony Worrall Thompson will be missing this year for the very first time due to family commitments and he will be sorely missed from our entertaining cook-off and, of course, for his humour. But don’t worry, he will be back! This year I will be opening the demonstrations on the Friday with the head chefs from both my restaurants; Ross Sloan from Kota and Marcus Houghton from Kota Kai. I am also looking forward to opening the demonstrations on Saturday as well with my old mate, Tom Brown. Tom has been flying the Cornish flag with his eponymous London restaurants Cornerstone and Pearly Queen and he and I will be rustling up some incredible seafood dishes with cocktails to match from the Bearded Barman himself, Chris Jarrett.
I believe this we might just be our best line-up yet!

To celebrate the festival in my restaurants this year, Kota Kai will be holding a grain-versus-grape feast on the Friday. The night will be all about six courses matched with beer and wine. Sharp’s Brewery’s beer sommelier, Ed Hughes will be matching the beers, while Katie Rosser of Enotria Winecellars will match the wines. It’s set to be a very entertaining evening. For the rest of the weekend, we will be cooking small plates matched with beer and wine with DJs playing during the day. There might be even a pop-up Tequila, Mezcal bar if we can finish it on time…

Over at Kota, we will be hosting a champagne and seafood bar, which will run all day, all weekend. There will be dishes provided by both Kota and Great British Menu chefs allowing people the chance to try high-end small dishes and sample fine wines in a sit-down, relaxed atmosphere, whether that be in the restaurant or in our outdoor seating area (weather permitting!).

Aside from all the chef demonstrations, feasts and stalls, there will be also be the ever-popular incredible farmer’s market packed full of amazing ingredients to buy and enjoy at home. Whether it’s from a food or drink producer, there’s always an incredible selection of goodies on offer. As ever, all around the festival there will be different stages hosting fantastic music and DJs all weekend – this year’s line-up looks amazing, with so many great bands I can’t wait to see. I hope you can join us from 26th to 28th April for some Porthleven Food Festival fun.

Kota Kai
Harbour Head, Porthleven TR13 9JY
Kota Kai: 01326 727707
Kota: 01326 562407
www.kotakai.co.uk
www.kotarestaurant.co.uk