North Wales: nature in its purest form
In addition to supervising everything related to food as Director of Food and Food Sustainability of The Good Life Experience, Glen Dye Cabins & Cottages, Hawarden Estate Farm Shop and The Glynne Arms , Xanthe is a organic farmer and chef based in North Wales.
This interview is part of "The World Made Local" , a global project of Conde Nast Traveler in the seven international editions, which gives voice to 100 people in 100 countries to discover why their own territory should be your next destination.
What made you move to North Wales? What makes it unique?
My family is from North Wales. , so it was the obvious place to move to when I decided to leave London. The Welsh landscape is really special and I love that it's really connected to the rest of the country, which I think sometimes people don't expect. the song of the Birds it's absolutely amazing here, especially in summer. It makes me feel very connected to nature.
How would you describe the North Wales community?
In the community there is open-minded feeling , as well as a desire to learn new things. I've seen a lot of changes around me in terms of the projects we have here and I love to see how people adapt and gets involved and wants to learn more.
We have created our own bakery , we are about to launch a pizza van on site and we have just expanded our cultivation to a polytunnel of 12 meters. We wait supply our cafeteria, our restaurant and our pub with products exclusively from our environment. The local response has been great so far.
As a chef, what inspires you about North Wales?
The fact of power grow my own produce inspires me a lot. I am vegetarian , so everything I cook revolves around vegetables, which are the center of the plate. Also I look for mushrooms, especially in autumn and winter , so the fact that I can look around me and see what is growing at certain times of the year is something that excites me. When I don't feel inspired It helps me to go for walks with my dogs.
Xanthe Gladstone
If you had to show your place of residence to a friend in 24 hours, where would you take them?
Definitely, I would take them to Snowdonia to walk and swim . It's about an hour from where I live and it's really impressive. I think it captures the atmosphere and culture of Wales very well.
What is your favorite place in the world?
The Newborough Beach, Anglesey . You park your car and walk around a spectacular forest for an hour to finish at the beach, which is incredible for swimming. I go back again and again, even though I know there are many other places I have to explore. On the way back I also love to stop at Tide, Halen Môn coffee. The best I have eaten there has been a crab dressed with homegrown salad leaves and bread they had baked themselves.