Game

British game season is now upon us, and we’re excited to announce the 2019 line up of our annual international chef event – Game – in partnership with Holland & Holland, Craigellachie and Natoora.

Each year, Game kicks off with James and John handpicking international chefs and inviting them to Scotland’s Eastern Highlands for an itinerary of shooting, stalking and fly-fishing, giving the international chefs a chance for them to see first-hand what’s involved in bringing these incredible ingredients to our table. Once the team returns to London, only a day before the dinners, they’ll start developing their dishes. The resulting menus, which are only revealed on the nights themselves, are different on both nights, with the chefs changing up the ingredients they use to prepare a variation of the dishes each day.

The Game 2019 dinners will be held on Friday 13th & Saturday 14th September. Tickets are now on sale and are priced at £95 for the set menu, drinks and service are not included. Please note that dietary requirements cannot be accommodated for these events.

Throughout past events, the Game dinners have given rise to some highly unique and inventive menus, showcasing the guest chefs' diverse approaches and factoring in influences from across the world. This year’s chefs are:

Blaine Wetzel (Willows Inn, Lummi Island) - Blaine Wetzel, the Head Chef of The Willows Inn on Lummi Island, grew up in Washington. Since arriving on Lummi Island, Wetzel has brought international attention to the island. Blaine was listed by Food & Wine magazine as the Best New Chef of 2012. In 2014 the James Beard Foundation named him Rising Star Chef of the Year and in 2015, he was awarded Best Chef Northwest. The Willows Inn has been ranked as the #1 Restaurant in North America by Opinionated About Dining in 2016, 2017 and 2018.

Oswaldo Oliva (Lorea, Mexico City) - Oswaldo’s decade-long journey from his homeland to Spain took him to two of the most iconic restaurants of the world where his talent was honed under the guidance of a couple of the world’s best mentors - Joan Roca of the El Celler de Can Roca in Girona and Andoni Aduriz of Mugaritz in Spain’s Basque Country. He returned to Mexico City and opened his first restaurant, Lorea, where Oswaldo creates a new tasting menu every day, highlighting Mexican produce and elegant vegetal flavours. The restaurant is about more than food and Oswaldo’s goal is to give his customers an extraordinary experience. He speaks passionately about Mexican cuisine, ethical suppliers and sustainable neighbourhoods.

Jowett Yu (Ho Lee Fook, Hong Kong) - Jowett Yu brings his diverse culinary background and passion for Chinese flavours to his position as Executive Chef at Ho Lee Fook. Yu’s cooking style reflects his Taiwanese heritage and extensive time spent in Chinese communities around the globe. His distinct take on regional Chinese cuisine combines the familiar flavours of traditional dishes with premium local ingredients, modern techniques and refined aesthetic sensibilities.

Agata Felluga (Ex Jour de Fête, Strasbourg) - Agata Felluga has passed through some of the best kitchens in her home country and France. Having recently stepped down from heading up the kitchen at Jour de Fête in Strasbourg to travel and cook across France and Switzerland, Felluga focuses on infusing simple ingredients with her creativity and technical prowess. Considering herself as an artisan, the influence of nature, the seasons and her global travels are rife within the story of each dish. With a deep interest in cooking, from her family and having left Rome to follow her culinary passion, Felluga worked her way up through kitchens. Her experience took her through two Michelin star Senderens, three Michelin star L'Astrance and Le Chateaubriand, learning under some of Paris' greatest chefs including Pascal Barbot and Iñaki Aizpitarte and developing her appreciation of traditional French cuisine, and seasonal and global influences.

Christopher Kostow (Meadowood, Napa Valley) - A Michelin-starred chef before the age of 30, Christopher takes a thoughtful approach to food, drawing upon his own American upbringing and the bounty of the surrounding environments, creating an extraordinary experience for diners at The Restaurant at Meadowood, The Charter Oak and the latest endeavour, Ensue. Christopher and The Restaurant team have retained the three stars from Michelin for the past nine years consecutively, including the recently released 2019 edition of California guide; as well as the four stars in San Francisco Chronicle. In 2013, Christopher was awarded Best Chef: West by the James Beard Foundation.