At The Lost Kitchen in a tiny Devon hamlet, George and Aurora curate natural treasures and craft casual dishes. It’s a very special experience, finds Rosanna Rothery
Perched on a hill in the tiny Devon hamlet of Chettiscombe, The Lost Kitchen is the epitome of bucolic rural eating. Led by George and Aurora Aykroyd, this rustic feasting barn emits the kind of genuine homespun charm that’s rare – and getting rarer in an age of contrived renovations.
When the couple were first invited to turn what was once a dilapidated 19th-century linhay on the Knightshayes Estate (not to be confused with the National Trust Knightshayes Estate nearby) into a welcoming casual restaurant, George’s mental cogs began to whir. From the outset, he wanted to create an experience that was authentic, unique and magical.
The barn had enjoyed incarnations as a cowshed, chicken farm, apple store and informal playground for village kids, so he was determined to reflect its heart-of-the-countryside heritage.
An eclectic CV (which includes film editor, builder, teacher and previous restaurant creator and owner) meant George had a suitcase of skills to call upon.
‘As with many things in life, I just answered a single question: “Why not?”’, he laughs.
As soon as he’d taken on the project, one of his earliest missions was to scour the hedges on the estate for treasure.
‘All the water troughs [now lining the terrace and planted up with clouds of fragrant catmint] were sitting in the hedgerows for free, because farmers leave them there when they start to leak due to rust,’ he says.
‘That cast-iron piano frame,’ he says, pointing to a magnificent piece of garden sculpture, ‘was pulled out of the hedge and is now something of a curiosity.’
George put his practical skills to work and turned timber from the estate into magnificent long feasting tables, while a slice of thick tree trunk became the gnarly underpinning for a circular glass table.
The quirkery didn’t stop there. His eye for the unusual saw him fashioning a table from a coffin support – one of his prized finds from a local reclamation yard – and handmaking a ginormous blind. For the latter, he tracked the sun on a spreadsheet to ensure that, whatever the time of the day, ‘something magical would happen with the lighting’.
The result of all this originality and repurposing is a restaurant with authentic rural charm that feels like the antithesis of fashionable-but-faux farmhouse chic.
Lunchtimes are festooned with big atmospheric skies thanks to floor-to-ceiling windows, while evening feasting is cosy and intimate as the characterful stone walls and exposed roof trusses reflect the golden glow of soft lighting.
‘It’s never a disappointment when people come up the steps and let out a sigh of relaxation,’ says George. ‘You can just sense their shoulders dropping.’
Homeliness and warmth
Aurora is a former chef who worked alongside renowned Somerset restaurateur Sally Edwards. She does the branding and visual identity for the restaurant, liaising with head chef Jason Mead.
She enjoys researching dishes which are underpinned by kitchen-garden veg and edible flora, local seasonal produce and traditional countryside skills such as fermenting and breadmaking.
‘We try to have something unique about each dish, while at the same time keeping that homeliness, warmth and softness,’ she says. ‘I was born in France and my French grandmother was an excellent cook so, for me, it’s all about creating a nostalgic vibe.’
Menus are shaped around a curation of sharing plates, small morsels and larger dishes, and in the open-plan kitchen there’s always marinating, infusing, preserving and brewing (the restaurant makes its own beer and cider) underway.
Flame-licked feasts
George and Aurora started out in business together cooking sourdough pizzas in a mobile wood-fired oven. So it was a given that fire would be at the heart of The Lost Kitchen.
A black beast of a hot smoker, which sits on the terrace, was discovered by George half buried under weeds in a field. He dragged it back to The Lost Kitchen where it now adds flavour to fish and meat.
The restaurant is also renowned for its flame-licked sourdough pizzas.
‘Put any pizza in a home oven and it just beigely idles along, but when cooked over fire the water turns into steam which creates a delicious crust,’ says George. ‘When you do that with dough that’s 72 hours’ old, the result is fantastic.’
Autumnal fruitfulness
Autumn is a particularly special time of year at the restaurant.
‘There is that glorious moment when everything begins to lose its green and go back to its original structure. It’s a gentle nudge that you should be looking for the wood pile and starting to get ready for winter,’ says George.
On the estate, as well as pickling and preserving, that means harvesting apples from 450 ancient trees to create the house-fermented Wylde Cider.
Enjoying a moment
George and Aurora’s original brief was to make The Lost Kitchen accessible to the community, something they continually strive to do.
‘We’ve always wanted to stay true to the informality of the building, which is why you can turn up in a T-shirt and jeans just as much as you can dress up,’ says Aurora.
George adds: ‘We want people to feel like they’ve been on holiday when they visit, and stepped away from normal life for a moment.’
Tastemaker tip-offs
Insider’s pick for French food?
‘I recommend littlefrench in Bristol,’ says Aurora. ‘A lovely family-run eatery for a delicious, relaxed and unpretentious night out.’
Favourite restaurant?
‘We like Italian restaurant Emilia in Ashburton, which is run like a small osteria and takes a similar approach to seasonal ingredients to us,’ says George.
Favourite lesser-known find?
‘We like to go for a curry on Barricane Beach in Woolacombe, north Devon’ says George. ‘We once went after a four-day restaurant-building session and ordered two curries each.’
Best place for autumnal feasting?
‘The Pig in the New Forest is really atmospheric when the mists come down,’ says Aurora. ‘There are deer and horses roaming around so you get an autumnal forest feel that’s romantic and cosy.’
Photography by Guy Harrop.
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