ISSUE 116
Family Fun in Vilamoura
Top 10 Luxury Wellness Travel Essentials
Feature | The CHESHIRE Magazine
A insle insley y ’s Nati onal Tr Natio Tru ust Cook Off Chef and TV favourite, Ainsley Harriott returns to our screens, in his brand-new series airing now on ITV1 and ITVX
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he ten part series was filmed at three National Trust locations, famed for their abundant kitchen and walled gardens: Blickling Estate in Norfolk, Wimpole Estate in Cambridgeshire and Tyntesfield in Somerset. Ainsley and his chef friends cook al fresco in the walled kitchen gardens of the UK’s finest National Trust stately homes. In each episode, Ainsley Harriott is joined by two guest chefs in the kitchen gardens of the historic estates who he will challenge to create and cook recipes using the bounty of the garden in an attempt to win the accolade of ‘Dish of the Day’ whilst celebrating the abundance and beauty of fresh British produce grown by the Trust’s team of staff and volunteers. Alongside the fun of outdoor cooking and friendly competition, Ainsley meets the staff and volunteers of the Trust, and finds out about the work they do to maintain the gardens and estates - picking up handy gardening tips along the way. What can viewers expect from ‘Ainsley’s National Trust Cook Off’ and what’s so special about collaborating with the National Trust? I think the real beauty of visiting and cooking at some of these amazing National Trust establishments was
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being able to experience the real detail that goes into preserving them. They are magnificent standalone properties. Every time I walked in, I would think to myself, ‘this is beautiful’ - and you can understand why people love visiting these places, because they are not just gardens, they’re a sanctuary where nature meets community. Because of the nature of the layout, each of them have their own south facing walled gardens - so they get a lot of sun, which they’re able to control. During the series, people will be able to see, for example, how the gardeners place doors to create a flow of air to help the growth of plants or vegetables. There’s a lot of fascinating detail - it’s a bit like Alice in Wonderland! Everywhere that we cooked, in all the different locations, we had amazing kitchen gardens. We brought along the equipment - all the beautiful barbecue grills, outdoor pizza ovens and so on - and it was wonderful, because it just brought the kitchen into the gardens. It’s fantastic to
see all the diversity of produce and there really is something for everybody. I enjoyed the space and I enjoyed the quality of the produce that I was cooking with. To be able to pick it out of the ground 50 yards away from where you’re actually cooking ... Well, it just makes you feel good. You’re used to cooking and exploring different cuisines in different countries, but what was so different about cooking al fresco in the UK and using that fresh produce straight from the gardens? There’s just something about al fresco eating - it’s so so different. Your appetite grows like never before because you’re outside and you tend to feel perfectly comfortable eating with your fingers, don’t you? But for me, it’s the freshness of it. When I was growing up, you had to go down to your local market or store where the potatoes were muddy, the carrots were muddy and everything had a little bit of soil on it! But it was natural. I remember the famous Indian chef Cyrus Todiwala, who was one of the guest chefs on the programme, saying that it was the first time he had ever pulled an onion from the ground and then cooked it. There was a genuine excitement from him and I knew exactly what he meant. My mother was really green fingered and so I know
what it was like to have beans and lettuce growing, also corn and courgettes, because that’s what she used to do. Even until her dying day, she still had a little vegetable patch in her back garden, so I’m used to having things that have come straight out of the ground or been picked from a tree. She used to say, ‘above the ground, you put it in hot water and below the ground, you put it in cool water.’ It’s wonderful. It’s wonderful for the viewers to see, as a lot of kids today think that meat, fruit and vegetables come from a fridge in the supermarket they don’t really see the source and there’s something quite exciting about it. Tell us more about the guest chefs that you have on the show with you! Can you tell us who produced your favourite ‘Dish of the Day’? Now that is a tricky one. It was a fantastic challenge for everybody. There are 20 different chefs, as we have two guest chefs on every programme. They would come along and I would say, ‘you’ve got to go and pick something from the garden that might enhance your score and maybe give you an opportunity to win
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Style | The CHESHIRE Magazine
Tennis s eTs Capsule
C olleCTion The InspIraTIon
Colours and MaTerIals
The new Brunello Cucinelli “Tennis Sets” Capsule Collection for Spring-Summer 2024 interprets, with the unmistakable taste of the brand, the meeting point between fashion and the world of tennis, a sport that has been one of the most important inspirations for the evolution of casual and refined clothing over time. Designed for those who want to stand out even in their free time at the tennis club, it is dedicated to those who live tennis as a lifestyle.
An iconic neutral palette blends the most sophisticated elements of the sport with the character of the Solomeo brand, and the choice of fabrics plays a fundamental role: from traditional cotton yarns to lightweight jerseys, to new interpretations of technical fabrics, each material is selected to offer superior comfort and a refined style. brunellocucinelli.com
F eaTures The tennis-inspired capsule collection features creations dedicated to men, women, kids and lifestyle, ranging from sophisticated casualwear to technical-inspired elements. The sartorial nods, in pure Brunello Cucinelli style, blend effortlessly with the unmistakable style of classic tennis outfits. Iconic elements such as badges, graphic logos and contrasting details give the creations a distinctive touch. Dresses, sweatshirts and tops paired with skirts, shorts or trousers, are the ideal choice for those who want to maintain a sophisticated image off the court, faithful to the characteristic tennis style. A wide range of accessories has been designed to accompany the activities, allowing the passion for this sport to be expressed in every detail.
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The CHESHIRE Magazine | Style
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S
et in its own 1.5 acre plot with breathtaking views across Maelog Lake, Broad Beach (Treath Llydan) and beyond to Snowdonia, it’s a secluded corner but just a short drive from Rhosneigr and its big sandy beaches.
Location Rhosneigr offers everything needed for the perfect beach holiday, with two expansive sandy beaches and a bustling town in between. Grabbing a morning coffee at Cafe Notos, followed by a walk along the beach, is a nice way to start the day. Or there are surfing lessons available from Gecko. It’s also a very popular spot for kiteboarding. Mojo's in Rhosneigr serves up delicious savoury crepes. Then why not head to Tyn Towyn for a wild swim followed by a sauna at Sauna Bach?
House Llynfor is a beautifully finished house. Light and bright throughout, it has been furnished with larger groups very much in mind. There are plenty of spacious areas for gathering to drink and dine, but also quieter nooks and crannies. The house boasts 5 bedrooms (3 with en suite) and the master bedroom has its own balcony. The space is perfect for families, housing highchairs, travel cots, toddler bed rails and even a potty and toilet training seat.
Llynfor in Rhosneigr The perfect holiday home for large beach-loving groups
For evening entertainment or the odd rainy day, inside the house you can find a kids 4-in-1 entertainment table (table football, pool, table tennis and air hockey), mini pin ball machine, large jenga, along with a huge choice of board games as well as toys for toddlers as well. In the shed there is a full-size outdoor table tennis table that can be wheeled out and enjoyed on those nice days!
Outside There is plenty of space outside Llynfor for all to enjoy. Around the house, there is a patio with a large dining area under a retractable awning. The hot tub and outdoor lounge sofas are the perfect place to unwind after a day of exploring North Wales. For those that love a little alfresco dining, there is also a Kamodo Bono BBQ and a 12-seater dining table. There is also a purpose built enclosed area for your furry friends and a large meadow to
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play in. Parking is available for several cars or even a boat, along with an EV charging station.
Concierge Services Best of all, Oyster Holiday Cottages offers a free concierge service that can help you plan your personal itinerary or programme for the duration of your stay, offering advice on things you might like to see or do or extra services that you might need. The team can introduce you to the people they know, make recommendations and in many cases, even make the bookings for you. They will provide you with a big database of service providers, places to see, things to do, places to eat, from all the best people in the region – so you can browse all
the options on offer and pick out those that appeal to you. So, if you need a babysitter, a restaurant booking, a boat ride or a round of golf, they’ll source that for you. If you want to rent a bicycle, a paddleboard or even a hot tub, they’ll show you how. If you want to climb Snowdon, visit a spa or even organise a wedding, they know who can provide everything that you’ll need and the team will work with you to plan it all. oysterholidaycottages.co.uk Call: 01248 305430 Email: hello@oysterholidaycottages.co.uk
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Drive | The CHESHIRE Magazine
Volvo’s newest and smallest SUV is incredibly clever, but James Fossdyke can’t help wondering whether Volvo has broken new ground or taken it a step too far
t risk of stating the obvious, safety is enormously important, and never more so than in transport. Cars must be crash tested, airliners must have safety cards in the seat pockets and train drivers must be wide awake. These are the non-negotiables that have become critical in our lives, yet we take them for granted. Every day, we get into cars, trains, buses and planes trusting that we’re going to be safe because all these lessons have been learned the hard way long ago. And maybe we’ve become a bit complacent. Take Volvo, which can surely be counted among the keenest students at the school of automotive safety. Here’s a brand that sold the first car with three-point seatbelts and the first car with blind-spot monitoring, which tells you if a car is lurking in that hard-to-see spot over your shoulder. In short, this is a company that takes safety seriously, and that’s reflected in its crash test results. Five-star ratings are more or less a given from Volvo. So we expect Volvos to be a beacon of occupant protection, and on paper, the new EX30 is another instalment in Volvo’s saga of safety. It’s a compact electric SUV, designed to sit beneath the XC40 (and its electric EX40 derivative) in Volvo’s range, competing with the likes of the Lexus UX and the Mercedes-Benz EQA. You can put the new electric Mini Countryman in that space, too. In short, it’s a small family car, and as such, you expect it to be safe for small families. And according to the statistics, that’s exactly what it is. A five-star crash test rating, a ridiculous suite of safety systems and the option of high-visibility Moss Yellow paintwork should all make this about as safe as
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electric cars get. But there’s a potential issue, and it comes courtesy of the designers. You see, Volvo also wanted to make the EX30 cool, calm and unmistakably Scandinavian, stripping out all the usual banality of a family car to make room for relaxing Scandi style. Which is why there’s no ignition button, no gear lever and no instrument display. Instead, there’s a steering wheel with a few meaningless pictograms, a steering column stalk given over to gear selection and a massive central touchscreen. Even the key is just a blank lump of plastic devoid of buttons. If you want the car to open, just walk up to it. All this means the EX30’s cabin is definitely cool, clean and sustainable. With recycled materials in the dash and seats and fewer features than an OS map of the Sahara, it’s definitely minimalist. Almost to the point that it couldn’t really come from anywhere other than Scandinavia. The only real thing that punctuates the cabin is the massive central touchscreen, which controls absolutely everything. And when I say everything, I mean it. As well as all the navigation and media stuff, it’s used to change the angle of the door mirrors, and to open the boot. Lights, cruise control functions and vehicle modes can all be accessed through that screen. Which sounds really cool and high-tech, particularly when you learn the system uses Android technology to behave just like a phone. It even has Google Maps in place of satellite navigation, which is useful because the car will tell you whether you need to charge on your route, and it’ll tell you where you might find a charging point if so. It’ll even tell you whether the charger you want is available or in use. That’s all good stuff, but it means you spend an awful lot of time looking at the touchscreen, rather than looking out of the window. And that’s only exacerbated by the fact there’s no speedo, so you have to turn to that central screen if you want to know whether Officer Dibble will want a word with you. So it feels as though you have a choice. You can watch your speed religiously and rear-end anything in your way, or avoid crashing but pick up points for speeding. Obviously, that’s hyperbole, but Volvo is clearly aware of the problem, because in a bid to avoid
CLEVER CLOGS
Home | The CHESHIRE Magazine
How to Ma How Mak ke t h e Most of the Wa rmer Day Day s Temperatures are rising at last and so is our desire to cook, dine, and socialise outside. Kitchen Architecture offers an essential guide to easy summer living Essential 1: A Sociable Layout Opt for an outdoor kitchen island, complete with bar seating, which allows you to create a sociable cooking experience. It also provides plenty of prep area and can accommodate storage, bins and fridge.
Essential 2: A Bar So The Cook Can Interact With The Guests An integrated bar with bar seating keeps the cook fully included in all the goings on. It also doubles up as an additional prep area and provides an informal dining and serving area too.
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Homes and Interiors
Essential 3: An Easy Cooking Experience Choose from a variety of modules depending on how you like to cook. Combine with a sink for ease of rinsing (and cleaning); prep area; and easily accessible storage so condiments and grilling tools are to hand.
Essential 4: Include The Comfort Factor Choose the best outdoor soft seating and create a place where your guests can sit back and enjoy maximum comfort. The perfect spot for you to relax and unwind while the cook is at work. For further inspiration on designing a sociable outdoor area, pop into Kitchen Architecture’s design centre on Altrincham Road in Wilmslow. T: 01625 544 890 kitchenarchitecture.co.uk
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