Cornwall Life – October 2019

Cornwall Life: August 2019Š 19

October. Even in that time you can’t

really say you’re going to catch it – but I

guess that’s why it’s called fishing and not

catching because there’s no guarantee to

it. I love crab, that’s probably my favourite

shellfish, and I think scallops are great.

“The more luxurious fish I like, which

is quite expensive to buy, is probably a big

John Dory, or a nice bit of turbot, they’re

both fantastic. Then there are the unsung

heroes, like a megrim sole or a gurnard,

or a weaver fish – all these things that

you wouldn’t necessarily see too much of

anywhere else.”

Outlaw’s inherent trust in the quality

of the Cornish seafood scene is clear – “If

I could get away with perfectly cooking a

piece of mackerel and then serving it with

a wedge of lemon,” he laughs. “I would!”

This partnership between his restaurant

and local suppliers and businesses also

forms the cornerstone of his continued

professional Michelin-starred success,

the expectations of which he is under no

illusions about.

“If you’re coming into Restaurant Nathan

Outlaw you should expect to have a good

time, because the guys out front are really,

really good and they’ve been with me a

long time,” he says. “And I think you’re

going to get the best seafood that you’re

ever going to eat. It’s taken that long to get

to that point, but people do expect that,

those are the expectations that are on my

shoulders, they’re expecting perfection.”

Fans of Outlaw’s work who may have

visited Port Isaac and left with a full belly

but a hunger to learn more can even take

on some of the recipes served up at the

industry-leading establishment with the

recent release of Outlaw’s eighth and latest

cookbook, Restaurant Nathan Outlaw.

“This book is much more about a

snapshot in time of my restaurant,

something that I have been working on for

a long time, and it’s a view of 12 months of

INTERVIEW

‘Outlaw is quick to heap praise on

his culinary contemporaries who

are making the county a place

where visitors are going to struggle

to know where to go because

there are so many good places’



Photo: David Loftus

Nathan Outlaw’s latest book Restaurant Nathan Outlaw is ‘a snapshot in time’ of his restaurant