Farm to Table Dining, Everywhere You Go!
One of my favorite parts of our beautiful holiday in England was the abundance of farm to table dining, everywhere we went.
That, paired with the ease of being able to run anywhere, something I highly recommend for everyone (and if running isn’t your thing- walk! Both are the most simple and natural things a human being can do! It’s free, requires little equipment (shoes and cold-weather gear are nice but not mandatory) which allows you to keep fit while on the road while enjoying local cuisine, creates an idyllic scenario whereby you can enjoy yourself, stay on track with your health and fitness goals and return from holiday feeling refreshed, refueled and rejuvenated!
While this post is primarily focused on dining, rest assured that every place we stayed lent itself to a good run. Through farmland, cityscapes, small country lanes and in windy, seaside West Wittering… everywhere we went, we ran. Highly recommend this strategy to keep fit and see the world running!
OK- Back to dining!
By the way, if you’re someone who likes a glass of wine, a neat vodka or a local juniper gin, there’s wiggle room for it here; it’s all about the balance!
From pubs and popular restaurants in London proper, like Sketch, to farmhouses in the countryside, the theme of eating in season, eating locally and enjoying some incredibly decadent food (which also happens to be, incidentally, precisely the type of healthy sourcing, cooking and eating I do myself as well as recommend to nutrition clients, blog readers and and catering customers alike) felt omnipresent.
As someone who’s always been quite vocal about inquiring about what hidden ingredients a dish on a menu might contain, or asking the waiter whether I might have some extra sauteed black cabbage in place of the chips, I felt incredibly refreshed to see the number of options that needed absolutely zero modifcations for anyone who, like myself, chooses to avoid gluten and other allergenic, inflammatory foods.
Add to that the higher fat diet I adopted nearly two years ago and it was even more fitting to be able to partake of dishes that were higher in gorgeous fat from cuts like a pork butt which I made into a delicious pulled pork one evening while staying with family in the North of England, paired with a black cabbage street slaw (something I concocted from a spin on a Bobby Flay recipe, but based on what veg I could find locally).
Another notable dish was the nourishing Ox-Heart Skewer starters we enjoyed as part of our New Year’s Eve Dinner at the Wheatsheaf, one of the three incredible venues which are part of the Lucky Onion group (the other restaurant, No 131, was equally outstanding.)
At a cozy, seaside pub called Crown + Anchor in Chicester, freshly caught Dover Sole was gently pan seared and served with sautéed Samphire (a wonderful sea vegetable- great as a source of iodine to balance out all the sulphur we get from the cruficers on our plates!)
Several meals were enjoyed at various locations of Soho House, from Dean Street Townhouse to High Road House in Chiswick (can’t wait to go back to Babington House again later this year!) and our last meal at a pub near our hotel which featured Tapas-style dining proved no less enjoyable than any of the other meals we enjoyed.
Sound like we were doing lots of eating?
Actually, no.
Traveling for holiday also is the perfect time to implement intermittent fasting.
It’s simple: get up and run (go ahead and have your black coffee first), keep hydrated and, if you’ve already been practicing IF for a while, it’ll be natural to simply eat when you’re next feeling hungry, which will likely be right around lunch time.
Enjoy a meal of primarily local, fresh veg, a moderate piece of humanely raised protein and a good dousing of olive oil / avocado / perhaps a handful of raw nuts and watch your energy soar, your focus remain laser sharp and get out to enjoy your day exploring a new city or town.
Several hours later when it’s dinner time, follow the same recipe again.
You’ll end up eating less calories overall since you’re eating two meals per day instead of three, four, five or more! (Live and learn! )
It’s not hard; in fact, I’d argue that eating this way at home naturally lends itself to being the easy-to-follow way to eat while on the road, or simply on the go.
For years, I ate in a manner which adhered to what the current recommendations remain today; in small portions and in frequent servings throughout the day. Even years after I began following a Paleo inspired regime, I still ate this way.
Fortunately, I had the wherewithal to test something new about two years ago and that has beautifully come full circle with the way we eat now which mirrors what I teach in private classes, workshops, cooking parties and through my blog.
Skeptical? Worried that eating too much fat will make you fat?
Or that trying the local wild boar burger with a pistou eggplant + aubergine wrap along with a side of bacon is going to through you off the rails?
Well… how has the low fat / low calorie approach been working for you so far?
Why not try something new.
See how easy it is to not want to eat every two hours when you’ve satisfied and nourished yourself with enough veg and good fat.
And watch how much more easily this allows you to be on the go, enjoy regional cuisines while abroad and come back fitter, leaner, lighter and with a broader understanding of how this is truly how we humans are meant to be eating.
Call it farm to table, eating in season, eating in balance, eating locally (or, go ahead and call it authentic Paleo- if you truly know that that really means!); it always comes back to the same thing:
Eating fresh veg in abundance + ample fat and moderate protein = eating food.
That’s it.
Do that, and avoid eating things that are not food.
And get some movement in while you’re at it.
That sums it up!
That’s the big secret.
What are you eating today?
Have you moved?
What are you waiting for?
Get up and go!
And if you want to know what it looks like, hands-on, join me for the next cooking party or better yet, create your own! (I was calling them classes, but come on… let’s be honest! A party is far more fun than a class and you learn as you go!)
