TRESCO FOOD & POP UPS

My posting this year is a bit all over the place - I still have Japan posts to go live, and a post on my trip to Zante in Greece where I've got lots of lovely places and restaurants to tell you about is still saved in my drafts. And this post today is a bit late too!! In Spring earlier this year I was invited down to Tresco on the Isles of Scilly to do three nights of A Little Lusciousness pop up restaurants. I headed down mid-May with Becca to take over one of their restaurants. We had such a lovely few days there, up early and in bed late, cooking, going for long walks, swimming and checking out the other food offerings on the island. I wanted to let you know about what goes on down there, as there's loads of stuff to do, places to eat, and at the end of September we're heading back there to another two nights of pop ups on 30th September and 1st October.

First things first.... Tresco is one of five inhabited islands that make up the Isles of Scilly. They're off the end of Cornwall and you can fly there from various places including Exeter, Newquay and Land's End. We took the overnight sleeper train from Paddington to Penzance, in the hope of catching the first flight over to St Mary's (the main island) the next morning but our plans were scuppered by bad weather, so we hopped on the ferry that goes to islands instead. Finally arriving where we needed to be it was a bit of a mad dash to get everything ready in time for that evening's pop up and we couldn't have done it without the help of the amazing chefs who work at the Flying Boat Club. They'd prepped a load of the food for us carefully following my not so clear instructions, so that when we walked into the kitchen at 2pm on day 1 of pop ups it wasn't as bonkers as we'd thought it would be.

 

The first three nights were pop up nights so we got our heads down and got cooking. We did manage to get out of the kitchen for a couple of hours at lunchtime each day and enjoy this amazing views from the garden of the house we were staying in.

The menu for each night's pop up was the same - canapés of Tresco beef steak tartare on rye bread, sweetcorn and ricotta mini fritters and cucumber pickled mackerel on a beetroot crisp.

 

The starter was local Bryher crab with a brown crab mayo and island tomatoes.

Mains were pulled lamb with island vegetables in a veal and artichoke broth, served with herb drenched island new potatoes.

And pudding was Cornish strawberries in many forms, basil ice cream and shortbread. And platters of Cornish cheese.

Once we'd done all the pop ups we had two days to roam the island (it's tiny - one mile wide and two miles long, and there are no cars), and to eat in the three restaurants that are there.

 

 

 

The three options for eating out are: the pub - The New Inn, the restaurant on the other side of the island which has a wood fired oven - The Ruin, and the restaurant that we took over - The Flying Boat Club. Being in need of a drink post pop ups we started our eating-in-all-the-options mission with Sunday lunch at the The New Inn. We shared started of tuna sashimi, fried whitebait and potted Tresco partridge but it was the mains that really shone. Becca had beautifully fresh and perfectly cooked Bryher lobster, which was probably plucked from the sea that very morning, while I had the Tresco beef ribeye steak. With chips. And an ale!

 

 

After a mosey round the north end of the island where we saw a rare owl which had got lost and shouldn't have been on the Scillys, a quick powernap and a drink or three with some friends who were on Tresco, we headed to my favourite restaurant on the island, The Ruin, for dinner. The Ruin has a beautiful decked outside area that looks over the beach on to the bay, though we sat inside for feast number two of the day. For starters we shared Cornish crab arancini which were gooey and delicious and so fresh, and wood fired Cornish scallops with garlic butter and charred corn. Cooked to perfection and so flavoursome, I couldn't choose between the two to pick my favourite.

 

Mains were a wood fired speck, Portobello mushroom and truffle infused mascarpone pizza on a garlic butter base, which Becca declared was the best white pizza she'd ever eaten. And whole wood fired sea bream with wood roasted baby leeks and gremolata, which wasn't far off the best whole roasted fish I've ever eaten!

With very full and happy tummies we wandered home, sad that this was our last night on the island. On our last day I headed over to the Tresco Island Spa for the most relaxing and indulgent Ila energising and detoxifying body renewal scrub. I normally only really treat myself to getting my nails done, so to be scrubbed and rubbed and massaged for a full hour was absolute bliss and something I'm very much planning on doing after my pop ups when I'm there again later this year.

 
Feeling utterly refreshed it was time for our last meal on the island, at The Flying Boat Club. They've upgraded the menu since we were there, so you can't get what we ate now, but we really enjoyed our curry battered fish with mango raita and beef shin (?) on toast for starters. As we shared everything throughout the trip we didn't stop with our mains of local mackerel with beetroot puree and chargrilled chicken sandwich. We may or may not have shared a chocolate brownie to bid farewell to a wonderful few days on the most amazing island I know.

 

 

 
Tresco is the most stunning place I've been, with so many fun activities and a plethora of locally sourced, delicious food. For info on holidays there check their website, and if you fancy a weekend away, why not come down at the end of September for a bit of A Little Lusciousness on Tresco.... see you there?!