Walnut Tree comes to London for a one-off feast

A taste of Abergavenny comes to the Grain Store for a "spring feast"

A flavour of rural Wales comes to the urban bustle of King’s Cross this April 18 for a one-off “Spring Feast”, when Shaun Hill, head chef of Michelin-starred Walnut Tree Inn (first picture), near Abergavenny, decamps to the metropolis to join forces with Bruno Loubet of Grain Store (second picture) to create a four-course meal (£55, including cocktail on arrival).

The two chefs have divided the menu to reflect their individual styles; it commences with Vegetable Patch, created specially for the occasion by Loubet (third picture), which he describes as “an edible flowerbed, running along the centre of the long communal feasting tables, full of baby spring vegetables for guests to pluck and eat”. Diners will even be able to eat the “soil” – although he remains tight-lipped on what the soil will consist of.

Hill will be at the hot plate for the next two dishes: sautéed monkfish tail followed by Welsh-influenced new-season lamb fricassee with asparagus, potato and leeks. A pudding of tonka-bean tart with a champagne sorbet prepared by Loubet will complete the feast.

The collaboration comes after a long association. “I don’t usually do these sorts of things, but I’ve known Bruno for about 30 years,” says Hill. “There is a sort of similarity in our style or approach to cooking that I would describe as robust rather than finicky.”

As for that edible soil? Loubet assures us it will really add a sense of theatre to the occasion.  And an earthy one too.