Dan Cox announces his Crocadon restaurant in Cornwall is due to open next month
Dan Cox’s long-awaited Crocadon restaurant is scheduled to open its doors on 3rd February 2023.
Located in St Mellion, Southeast Cornwall, the restaurant is based on a 120-acre organic farm and housed within a historic barn represents years the result of years of hard work for Dan and his team.
Before moving to Cornwall, Dan spent seven years working for the Simon Rogan Group which included helping to establish Simon’s biodynamic farm ‘Our Farm’ alongside time in the kitchen at both L’Enclume and Aulis in the Lake District.
He was then appointed Executive Chef at Fera within Claridges, where he remained for three years. Previous chef roles include at The Greenhouse in Mayfair, Number 14 in Verbier and Can Fabes in Catalonia.
In 2008 Dan was crowned winner of the prestigious Roux Scholarship.
With the farm at the centre of all inspiration, the Crocadon menu will utilise the breadth of regenerative ingredients Dan Cox has cultivated since taking over the land in 2017.
With Dan now focusing on establishing the restaurant, the farming and growing are now under the stewardship of husband and wife duo Tim Williams and Claire Hannington-Williams.
They come with a wealth of knowledge and experience managing leading regenerative farms and permaculture based growing systems.
Dishes on the Crocadon menu will change regularly, presenting Dan Cox’s reactive approach to cooking inspired by what is harvested from the farm that week. Ensuring each plate of food is as rooted in nature as it can be, his aesthetically pared-back yet technically complex cooking style draws on elements of his classical training, whilst still reflecting the humble and rugged facade of Crocadon’s Cornish backyard.
Fermentation and smoking techniques as well as open-fire cooking play a prominent part alongside the use of raw ingredients. The farm will supply the kitchen with hundreds of varieties of vegetables, fruit and herbs throughout the year, with a focus on perennial crops (harvested once to return year after year).
Alongside pear, plum, walnut and cherry trees, the farm is home to two orchards producing several tonnes of apples which are utilised in the kitchen and bottled for juice.
Rare breed sheep and cattle are rotationally grazed around the farm, giving them access to the best pasture possible and resulting in exceptionally healthy and well-fed animals, which are then dry aged for extended periods on farm. Chickens are bred for both their meat and eggs.
A variety of heritage grains and legumes are grown and harvested as part of the wider rotation of the farm, meaning the restaurant is never in short supply of their own flour and grain. Some produce for the restaurant is sourced from local suppliers that share the ethos of the farm, such as mushrooms and seafood.
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