Dinner with Altitude – Peter Sidwell – Good Taste Restaurant, Keswick
Cheryl (Keswick Mountain Festival Project Coordinator) popped her head into the café one morning – “Hey Pete what do you think about organizing a dinner up a peak somewhere over the Mountain Festival” Cheryl then launched into an explanation of how she had read this book once called ‘Social Climbers’ about these crazy Australians who had dinners in extreme locations. I pondered for a moment, then nodded in agreement. The thought of the highest dinner in Britain appealed to my sense of adventure and would be a culinary challenge.
As it turned out elevated dining in the Lake District began as far back as 1815 when Wordsworth and Southey had a meal on Skiddaw to celebrate the battle of Waterloo. The poets and a party of friends tucked into roast beef and plum pudding, washed down with neat rum!
Slowly as the plans hatched for the dinner with altitude at the lofty height of 3000ft, I began to realize what a challenge this would be. We pulled together a team of people who we believed could help get this extreme dining adventure off the ground. Then all I had to do was think what to cook, not such an easy task when there would be no kitchen immediately to hand.
We invited 60 diners to join the event over two days and they were to be escorted to the summit of Skiddaw by local trekking guide Tim Mosedale. Mountain Hardwear and the North Face kindly supplied the tents which would house the guests and the kitchen. Gordie Oliver from Air Ventures and Paul Chuter were responsible for the logistics, setting the equipment up and getting it to the summit.
Finally the day arrived. The tents had been pitched the night before close to the top, and thankfully the weather forecast looked good. Tim set off walking with the guests as we loaded up the 4 wheel drive vehicles. The adventure had begun!
Reaching the so called ‘Base Camp’ we set about preparing for our guests. The Stoves on, plates unloaded and tables laid - not quite the same environment as cooking in Good Taste! Time rattled by and a host of media guests arrived and before we knew it folk were tucking into the first course of Woodland Mushroom and Wild Garlic Soup served with handmade bread. There were toasts, brief speeches and general merriment round the six tables. “Why do we do it? Because there’s food here,” said sales and marketing director Tony Lewis, 46.
Perfect weather blessed our event and on our makeshift terrace we served rump of lamb and diced vegetables followed by Grasmere gingerbread and white chocolate cheesecake. The day was unbelievable. As our social climbers left the summit of Skiddaw having enjoyed two hours of fine dining, I felt exhausted and relieved.
A few days after the event Cheryl popped into the café – ‘Hey Pete, how’d the dinner go?’ After I replied Cheryl cheekily commented – “Tell you what Pete, I have an even better idea ready for next year, when can we meet up to chat about it? Oh no here we go again!
So if it is extreme dining you are after then keep an eye on the Keswick Mountain Festival website and be sure to have your place booked for dinner.
Thanks to
Peter Sidwell – Chef at the Good Taste Café, Keswick
Video of the dinner at – www.simplygoodtaste.co.uk
