Savour The Taste Of Port Eliot With Acclaimed Chef Chris Sherville

One of the culinary highlights of the celebrated Port Eliot Festival is Chris Sherville’s Seafood Restaurant in the Walled Garden. Chris has returned to the Festival each year, serving up fresh crab and lobster, calamari and chips, and cones of whitebait. Such is the popularity of his dishes that on Saturday 16th October, he’ll be running a day-long course in the splendid restored Georgian kitchen at Port Eliot, focusing on seafood. Participants will also have the unique opportunity to enjoy Chris’ cuisine as they dine in the magnificent Port Eliot Round Room and they will be invited to access some of the private areas of Port Eliot House with Lady St Germans.





Chris Sherville trained at the prestigious Leith’s School of Food and Wine and has lived, travelled, eaten and cooked in a variety of places around the world, from the Far East to the South West. He’ll be showing his participants how to cook some of the recipes from the Festival, and there will be an opportunity to taste, ask questions and pick up invaluable tips on technique and kitchen shortcuts. After meeting for coffee and homemade pastries in the Big Kitchen, Chris will start the day with a demonstration of how to dress a crab, moving on to making west coast crab cakes, prawn and crab skewers with ginger dipping sauce, crab bisque and crab ravioli with sauce vierge.

Much of the additional fresh produce that will be used during the day has been grown on Port Eliot Estate at Buttervilla Farm, which recently featured in Rose Prince’s Good Food Producers Guide 2010. Buttervilla’s delicious funky leaves, vegetables and fruits are hand grown in using organic methods with much love and care and are completely chemical-free.

Before a lunch of Chris’ Port Eliot fish pie and lemon tart with wine, set amongst the awe-inspiring Robert Lenkiewicz murals in the Round Room, there will be a wine tasting with Donald Hodgart of Inverarity Vaults who will discuss pairing wine with fish dishes from different parts of the world. The day will conclude with a sumptuous afternoon tea, followed by a tour of the rooms ‘below stairs’ led by Lady St Germans.

The course runs from 9.30am to 4.30pm. It will be a relaxed, interesting day with great food and wine – and a chance to enjoy the splendours of Port Eliot. The course is suitable for people of all cooking abilities and costs £100 (including lunch, afternoon tea, wine tasting and copies of the recipes to take home). Places are limited, so early booking is advisable.

For those travelling from further afield, accommodation is available on the Port Eliot Estate at the eco-farm boutique Buttervilla B&B. Double en suite rooms cost £75 per night, including their acclaimed local produce breakfast.

For more information about the course, or to book a place, please contact jo@porteliot.co.uk

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Celebrated Chinese Artist Offers Weekend Course at Port Eliot House

Over the weekend of 25-26th September, Port Eliot will take on a distinctly Chinese theme. Following on from his successful taster classes at Port Eliot House in June, renowned artist Xiao Bai Li will be running a two-day course in Chinese brush painting. The course will give people a chance to find out more about the techniques involved and develop their skills under Xiao’s expert guidance throughout the weekend.


Xiao Bai Li was born and grew up in Nanjing, The People’s Republic of China, where his schooling crossed a ten year period during the Cultural Revolution. He moved to England in 1993 and now lives and works in Plymouth. His eloquent work in both portraiture and the art of Chinese Brush Painting focuses on the subject of people. His creative process includes meeting and closely observing people in their familiar environments - conveying a picture of real life in whatever place he is working in at the time.

Xiao says, “Art can transcend many barriers and I feel that by painting people I am able to portray these lives and create a deeper understanding, whilst giving people a chance to show their situation in society and share how they feel connected to it.”


Art-lovers could hardly want more idyllic surroundings to inspire them. The contents of the House include art works by Reynolds Romney, Ramsey, Van Dyck and many of the Dutch Old Masters. Port Eliot also features the work of Robert Lenkiewicz, whose famous dragon mural covers the wall of the magnificent Round Room, designed by Sir John Soane.

Port Eliot House dates back as far as the 5th century and was substantially altered by Sir John Soane at the turn of the 19th century. The idyllic grounds were originally landscaped in the 1790s by Humphry Repton. The Grade I park and more than 100 acres of land include a vast rhododendron garden, a maze, a bowling green, Orangery, arboretum and magnificent views of the estuary culminating in an elegant Brunel viaduct.


One of the participants from the taster sessions earlier in the year said, “The whole day was very relaxing. It was wonderful to watch Xiao Bai Li at work, and have the opportunity to try out the techniques ourselves to create a piece of work we could take home at the end of the day.”

The course takes place from 10am-5pm on Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th September, with an hour each day for lunch. No previous experience in Chinese brush painting is necessary. Early booking is advisable, as the course is limited to 15 people. Participants will also have the option to have a two-course lunch with a glass of wine in the Georgian Kitchen, or if they prefer, they can bring a picnic, stroll the grounds and enjoy the stunning views across the Estate. The cost of the weekend is £130 (including lunch) or £100 (excluding lunch).

To find out more about the course, or to book a place, please telephone 01503 230211.

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