| | | | | Dear Reader, | This week, I couldn't help but handover my thoughts of the week to Daisy Finer, a wise old soul whose work as a journalist in the wellness space is highly regarded. We're currently working on our wellness guide, which will be published in our July/Aug issue but our conversations have resonated deeply with me. Wellness has become about optimisation: plugging in, measuring, monitoring and constantly improving, all with gear and products that we wear and ingest costing hundreds to thousands of pounds. What are we doing to ourselves? Did our grandmothers worry about regulating their nervous systems? No, they did it unknowingly by 'watching birds, hanging laundry out to dry, feeling the wind on their skin, chatting over long happy lunches and eating cheese made by a local farmer. They weren't optimising. They were simply living in contact with the world.' How true does this ring – and how far do we feel from it? This is what we'll be unearthing in our next issue. I can't wait to share it with you. | | Lucy Cleland
Editorial Director | | | Staying In | | WATCH: Two Weeks In August | | There is nothing quite like the promise of two weeks in the sun… That is until it all goes wrong. Launching tomorrow evening on BBC One, Two Weeks in August promises sun, secrets, and a slow-burn spiral, written and created by Catherine Shepherd – the writer behind series like Sally4Ever (2018) and The Shrink Next Door (2021). As Catherine recently told C&TH, we should: ‘Expect a thrilling ride. And to laugh, I hope. I think it’s really funny. It’s exciting, it’s emotional, but I hope really entertaining and fun.’ It’s being dubbed the British version of The White Lotus, and we can’t wait. Double bill from 9pm on Saturday on BBC One and iPlayer. | | DO: Get Your Garden In Shape For Summer | | London is alive with the signs of spring – and be it the iconic gravity-defiant wisteria that clads W11 townhouses, or the sculptural displays at Chelsea in Bloom, there are plentiful reminders to get outside at home, too. Henry Bartlam is the green thumb behind Dragons Den-approved Dig Club – i.e. ‘the Hello Fresh for gardens’. If you’re just getting started, he suggests ‘taking time to understand your space both in terms of light and with a soil test’. The latter, he says, sounds ‘menacing’, but it’s not: it’s as simple as digging a patch up and ‘if it sticks, it’s probably clay and you need plants that don’t mind having wet feet. If it’s really sandy, you need drought-tolerant ones.’ His recent book (written with co-founder Alexandra Hollingsworth) might be worth a gander if you’re feeling garden-shy. | | | EAT: Tarragon & Tomato Olive Tart |
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| | | Ingredients: | For the pastry: | | OR | | For the strained yoghurt: | 1 garlic clove 10g chives 400g goat's yoghurt (or plain Greek yoghurt) Zest of 1 lemon (save the juice, squeeze over green salad to serve alongside) 2 teaspoons salt 2 tablespoons really good olive oil
| For the topping: | 200g tomatoes 2 tablespoons really nice olive oil 100g kalamata olives (to blitz) + 50g kalamata olives (keep whole) 2 tablespoons olive brine from the jar 2 big garlic cloves 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar 20g tarragon 20g basil
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| Method: | Start with the pastry, if making it yourself. At least an hour before you want to start, put the oil and 50ml water in the fridge. Stir together the oil, flour, salt and vinegar. Slowly add the ice cold water to make a supple and not-too-sticky pastry. Shape into a block and roll out to about the thickness of a pound coin: I do this between two sheets of greaseproof paper. Lift onto a baking sheet and freeze flat. Brush the frozen pastry with beaten egg, and – once frozen, and ready to prepare the tart – bake at 180°c for 20 minutes. Let cool completely on the baking sheet. While the pastry is chilling (either time), make the strained yoghurt. Crush the garlic, finely chop the chives and mix through the yoghurt, along with the lemon zest and salt. Set a fine-mesh sieve over a bowl. If you have it, line the sieve with muslin. If not, it’s ok! Either way, spoon the yoghurt into the sieve, and let strain for as long as possible. Ripple through the olive il just before serving – don’t stir it in completely. Also while the pastry is chilling, blitz together the tomatoes, olive oil, olive brine, olives, garlic and red wine vinegar to make a chunky and delicious sauce. De-stem and lightly tear soft herbs, tear the reserved olives into pieces. Assemble the tart, on baking sheet: spread soft dollops of olive-oil rippled goat’s yoghurt across the pastry. Tomato topping. Herbs everywhere. Olives everywhere. Serve with green salad, dressed only with the leftover juice of the lemon. Maybe – maybe – a little more olive oil.
| The Kitchen Book by Ella Risbridger (published by 4th Estate, 21st May, £26 hbk), imagery by Yuki Sugiura |
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| | Going Out | | ATTEND: Glyndebourne | | Calling all opera fans, Glyndebourne Festival is gracing us once again this year. Set in the picturesque Sussex countryside, the opera festival returns with a mix of productions alongside one of the best-known traditions in the performing arts: the long dinner interval in the gardens. New for this year, the programme includes the company’s first ever productions of Puccini’s Tosca and Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo, the latter directed by internationally acclaimed artist and opera director William Kentridge. A new production of Richard Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos also joins the repertoire, alongside the return of Michael Grandage’s acclaimed staging of Britten’s Billy Budd. Until 30 August, glyndebourne.com | BOOK: London’s Floating Jazz Club | | London’s only floating jazz club is back for two nights this bank holiday weekend (ahead of the summer season commencing later this year) – and there are six musicians on the bill. Artist in residence Olivia Swann headlines both sessions (Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 May), joined by vocalists Wura Abimbola and Inés Nassara, pianists Will Barry and Fraser Urquhart, with Jack Garside on upright bass from Mark Kavuma’s Banger Factory. All this on a floating pontoon in the pretty marina of St. Katharine Docks, right by the Tower of London. Guests can expect picturesque views, plush seating, a complimentary glass of Nyetimber Classic Cuvee on arrival plus warm blankets for when the evening cools. Tickets are £27.80 pp. Book Saturday here or Sunday here. | VISIT: Blenheim Palace Food Festival | | The majestic Blenheim Palace is a fine setting for a food festival. Head there this weekend to enjoy three days of artisan food and wine tasting, plus live demos, workshops and Q&As with top chefs: this year’s line-up includes Raymond Blanc OBE, British-Iranian chef Sabrina Ghayour and TV presenter Matt Tebbutt. There will be plenty of activities for the whole family, alongside a picnic area and an array of local and national food stalls. 23 – 25 May, blenheimpalace.com | | Share This Newsletter With A Friend | | | | Staying in Forever… | Property Of The Week | | It is a truth universally acknowledged that the BBC’s 1995 adaptation of Pride & Prejudice is the best period drama ever made. And now’s your chance to buy-up a Jane Austen worthy manor of your own, as the estate which starred as Charles Bingley’s Netherfield Park is up for sale. Take a look inside. | On the market for £45m, search.savills.com | | Competition Time | | | | Psssst… | The Michelin green star, an award which highlights impressive eco-friendly restaurants, is being phased out – with all 37 eateries boasting the accolade set to lose their stars at the end of 2026. However, a new initiative is launching in its place: Mindful Voices, which will ‘highlight and share the stories and pioneering practices of chefs, hoteliers and wine producers’. | | | Sign up for 12 print issues and instant access to every digital edition for only £39 |
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