Former Fat Duck group chef Matt Larcombe will tomorrow open his Wild Restaurant in Berkhamsted near Hemel Hempstead, offering a hyper-seasonal menu that celebrates regenerative farming and zero-waste principles. With its own farm close by, Wild will operate on a ‘closed-loop’ system in which produce is grown from seed and leftovers return from the kitchen to the soil as compost.
Formerly of The Victoria in Oxshott and head chef of The Crown in Bray, part of the Fat Duck group, Matt is joined in the new project by a strong team including Rémi Cousin, ex-head sommelier at the Fat Duck and Le Gavroche.
Matt says: “I can’t wait to get started at Wild. The space is beautiful, and Berkhamsted is beguilingly quaint yet classy. It feels like the right location for what I’m ready to cook next in my career.”
Menu highlights include the likes of Flatbread, honey and Baron Bigod; Raw beef, egg yolk; Pig’s head, passion fruit; Mackerel, beetroot, lemonade; Lamb chop, sweetbread, cucumber; Crispy potatoes, yeast, chive; Sirloin on the bone, shallot sauce; Whole dayboat fish, butter, herbs; Pork tomahawk, apple, mustard; Salted caramel tart; and Milk and honey.
Wild will also host a series of wine and food-related events such as ‘Meet the Grower’, evenings of ingredient-led snacks and wines to match to allow diners to meet the farmers responsible for the food on the menu.
