Episode
#81 Valentine Warner - Food & Art, Eating Seasons, Douglas Fir, Cider, Hepple, Nick Strangeway
- Published
- Jun 8, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 4622
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Summary
Valentine Warner is a chef, food writer and broadcaster who trained as a portrait painter before swapping the brush for the spoon in the kitchens of Alastair Little. He went on to make his name on BBC2 with What to Eat Now and a run of further series, and is co-founder of the Moorland Spirit Company, the Northumberland distillery behind Hepple Gin, as well as curator of the immersive food-and-craft retreat series Kitchen in the Wild. We talk cider as Britain's lost wine, the chef's view of saké, and the allure of martinis. We dig into a Dorset childhood spent dividing the world into edible and inedible — including the eating of his sister's paints — the lessons of Alastair Little's kitchen, and why he insists he isn't a forager. On Hepple we get the founder's view on Douglas fir, supercritical CO2 extraction, why no one else was using green juniper berries, and what a properly built martini actually requires. We then turn to the closing of the Norwegian chapter and what comes next for Kitchen in the Wild, a portrait of Nick Strangeway, the state of British hospitality, and the in-progress Sketchbook Cookbook. 🍋🟩 Fever-Tree - For the very best mixers that taste pretty damn good even by themselves☕ Algebra Drinks - The world's best coffee liqueur (partly because it's low in sugar - get 15% off at http://www.algebradrinks.com with the code CURIOUS15🌾 Belvedere Vodka - Organic vodka, with substance, made from Polish rye and absolutely no additives.🍷 Denver & Liely - The best glassware on the planet - get 15% off at http://www.denverandliely.com with the code CURIOUS15📷 Follow me on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/tristanstephenson/📚 I've written quite a few books on spirits and cocktails - https://www.thecuriousbartender.com/