Colin Nash Restaurant at The Retreat New Forest at Hinton launches cookery school

A RENOWNED New Forest chef has launched a cookery school at his Christchurch restaurant.

Colin Nash, who has a venue at The Retreat New Forest at Hinton, is now running interactive, bespoke sessions at fully equipped workstations tucked away in a light and spacious room to the side of the restaurant.

“We can tailor the classes according to what groups want to cook,” said Colin, who launched the Colin Nash Restaurant in August last year.

“We’ve already had a couple of groups in, one made up of students from Bournemouth University. When you get groups together that know each other there’s a lot of banter, so it’s a lot of fun.

“The classes have involved me showing students how to fillet fish, then we cook it and sit in the restaurant to eat together.”

After taking over the former Crow Spotter Cafe at wellness centre and hotel, The Retreat, Colin is now serving breakfast, as well as coffee, pastries and cake.

“We’ve expanded the menu to include more vegetarian and vegan dishes,” continued Colin.

These include lentil moussaka, beetroot tart tatin with garlic ice cream, Forest mushroom risotto, and Quorn tikka.

There are also a great range of healthy salads, including chick pea, salted lemon and coronation tofu; Isle of Wight tomato, burrata and Siracha; and halloumi, kale and tahini.

There are also lots of meat and fish dishes with a focus on sustainabilty, including venison from the estate and fish sourced locally from Mudeford Quay. Fish on the menu includes sea bass, black bream and cuttlefish.

“Cuttlefish is particularly popular,” said Colin. “It’s like squid but better, and if you cook it right it’s really delicious and always tender. I do mine in a real ale batter and serve it with garlic mayo and I get very good feedback from customers.”

“A lot of locally caught cuttlefish gets sent abroad to places like Spain, so it’s great to be helping out the local fishing community by serving it in the restaurant.”

Colin will be demonstrating his skills at the New Forest Food Festival, held on the Hinton estate next month.

He will also be serving up his delicious food at The Retreat’s Summer Wellness Festival running tomorrow (Saturday) between 10am and 6pm.

Visitors can browse the makers’ market featuring 30 stalls and take part in a range of holistic classes, workshops and treatments. Sessions cost just £10, but pre-booking is essential.

Visit https://www.theretreatnewforest.co.uk/summer-wellness-festival

For more information about the Colin Nash Restaurant or the cookery school, go to https://www.colinnashrestaurant.co.uk