My brother Charlie’s Birthday Part 1 - Dinner at WILD

My brother Charlie has been unbelievably lucky this year and had not one but TWO birthday celebrations. For our smaller, family night we headed to WILD in Berkhamsted⁠, somewhere I’d been wanting to try for a while. It’s a pretty new local restaurant and I was itching to try it.

WILD has a pretty cool idea behind it. A lot of the menu starts with what’s growing at its own farm nearby in Radlett, with the chefs working around the seasons rather than deciding on a dish and then finding the ingredients. They’re big on British produce, regenerative farming and using as much as possible, including fermenting and preserving produce to make it last beyond the season.

The absolute star of our meal was the pork chop. The photo doesn’t really do justice to how massive it was. It arrived as this huge sharing chop, perfectly cooked, really juicy and with loads of flavour. Definitely not one for anyone who doesn’t like sharing their food.

My other favourite was the mushroom parfait. It was smooth and light but had a really deep mushroom flavour. It’s actually become a bit of a signature dish at WILD, and I can see why.

I really liked the whole approach to the restaurant. The food is clever without being overly complicated, and there’s a big focus on making vegetables and seasonal ingredients just as interesting as the meat and fish. It also feels relaxed rather than like somewhere you have to whisper over dinner.

And finally, an unexpected bonus — we discovered that the chef and sommelier were Arsenal fans. As far as I’m concerned, that can only improve a restaurant.

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