Just another day at the office…
6th February 2016
It’s been a pretty interesting week in our little London showroom; our office has become a building site and our showroom has become a chef’s playground. We’ve been sat here in earmuffs, watching in amazement as our basement work space is transformed into a soon-to-be very special Sebastian Cox display, and to reward all the shuffling around and constant need to dust, we’ve been treated to some pretty sensational food! The two may not be related, but I feel like I can officially now say that at deVOL two days are never going to be the same!
If you’ve read my blogs before you may know that I’m a bit food obsessed, so you can imagine how excited I was when we found out that celebrity chef Tim Maddams, of River Cottage fame, was coming to cook in our kitchen!! Tim and his lovely team were filming his latest recipe which he’ll be showcasing in a mouthwatering springtime menu at the Country Life Kitchen pop up event at Pitfield London on 15th and 16th April.
So how on earth did we manage to spend our Thursday watching Tim Maddams cook our team a very special lunch?! Well, you may have seen our rather beautiful ESSE EL13 AMP range cooker in our Clerkenwell showroom? We always get so many wonderful complements about how great it looks on Instagram and Pinterest, especially next to our beautiful Pantry Blue cabinets, but ESSE wanted to show that it not only looks great but that it also makes great food.
We’ve been working closely with ESSE for years now. We love quality products and it’s always good to support our fellow Brits; ESSE have been making beautiful stoves here in Britain for over 160 years!! In 1854 Edinburgh born James Smith sought his fortune in America developing closed stoves for the pioneers of the ‘Wild West’. He later brought his design back to Scotland and soon his stoves had gained an impressive reputation for their amazing quality, with Florence Nightingale, the famous founder of modern nursing, insisting on only using ESSE cookers in her Balaclava Hospital. This prestigious reputation has continued ever since, and after over a century and a half of stove making, they’ve pretty much nailed it. You can see how similar their latest range cooker looks to the original 1930s model. Like deVOL, ESSE take traditional designs and techniques, mix in a bit of modern innovation, and the result is a timeless classic.
Tim and ESSE have been working together since the River Cottage days, and the two have now teamed up with Country Life to put on this very exciting event in London. Tim has put together a delicious springtime menu which reflects his passion for seasonal, local and wild ingredients. Last Thursday we were treated to this incredible plate of melt in your mouth beef brisket which was teamed with fresh cockles and a vibrant nettle puree. Yes, who’d have thought those nasty stinging culprits you avoided like the plague as a kid would taste so good?!
The whole day was so exciting; the kitchen was filled with vibrancy and Tim’s overflowing passion and knowledge about good local produce. His food was simple, fuss free and all about enhancing the amazing natural flavours rather than obsessing over stacking or deconstructing or whatever the latest chef fad may be; the epitome of good, honest cooking, much like our attitude towards furniture and ESSE’s towards stoves. When you put it like that, it was pretty much a match made in heaven… my tastebuds certainly seemed to think so.
So yes, we have been well and truly spoilt this week! I just want to say a massive thank you to ESSE, the team at Essential Lifestyle Media, Country Life and of course Tim. It was so lovely to meet you all and taste your amazing food. Seriously, if you are around London on 15th or 16th April then I would definitely recommend getting a ticket to this exclusive spring dinner treat!!
– To get your ticket to Country Life Kitchen simply click here
