Bolthole
Atlanta House
Local produce and great restaurants are on your doorstep at this Cornish coastal self-catering house near Padstow
Photographs JOHN HERSEY, ALEX COLLINS.
What makes it unique
A family-owned and run business, Atlanta House is one of three discrete properties ideally situated opposite Trevone Bay beach, a pretty spot to go rockpooling and crabbing. The house is as comfortable as it is luxe, with a huge, bright, well-equipped kitchen, dining space for up to 10 and a living room with open fire. The owners are passionate about promoting local businesses and happy to share recommendations for nearby places to visit, shop and eat.
On the menu
Take a short drive to Padstow Kitchen Garden to stock up on seasonal veg, meat and dairy (padstowkitchengarden.co.uk). Farmer and chef Ross Geach also runs regular polytunnel pop-ups that sell out fast, and offers cooking lessons centred around a Big Green Egg barbecue, often featuring pork from Cornish Black pigs raised on the farm (see recipe opposite). Lola’s Cornwall is another family-run affair: chefs Louise and Tim can deliver a four- or five-course meal that requires minimum prep and comes with a beautiful handwritten and illustrated menu. It might include a sourdough loaf, chicken liver parfait and pickled grapes, lemon verbena gin, bouillabaisse, Sharpham camembert, rye crackers and a galette of seasonal fruits and clotted cream (follow on Instagram @lolas_cornwall).
Highlights
Take an easy, scenic 45-minute coastal walk to Harlyn Bay, a sheltered sandy beach. A little further inland is The Pig at Harlyn Bay, one of the character-packed hotel group’s newer properties. Its lively inside/outside restaurant The Lobster Shed has a small menu of shellfish, local wines, beers and ciders (thepighotel.com/at-harlyn-bay). In Padstow, chef Paul Ainsworth’s outposts range from casual pub The Mariners and Italian-focussed Caffè Rojano, to his Michelin-starred No 6 (paul-ainsworth.co.uk). At Trevone Beach Stores, you can get a decent coffee or watch the sun set over the bay with a beer at Bruno’s.
What you’ll want to recreate at home
While the sound of the waves breaking in the bay is impossible to bottle, be revived by Atlanta’s calm interiors with quirky touches, such as the vibrant pelican painting in the master bedroom. Wooden floors, jute rugs and vintage fishing pictures speak to the coastal setting. Three bedrooms feature crisp linen, cosy blankets and North Cornwall’s reviving Land & Water bath and body products. From £1,300 per week, atlantatrevonebay.com.
Pork chops with braised butter beans
At Padstow Kitchen Garden, Ross Geach cooks pork belly sourced from the pigs on site, which is boned, rolled and stuffed with sausagemeat. It’s served at long table feasts on the farm, and the pork is cooked for 10 hours, low and slow on a Big Green Egg. At home, you can make this recipe with sausages or pork chops.
SERVES 2 | PREP 10 MINS | COOK 35 MINS | EASY
50g unsalted butter
2 high-welfare pork chops
1 small onion, finely diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 thyme sprigs
100ml cider
500ml chicken stock
400g tin butter beans
salsa verde and long-stemmed broccoli to serve
1 Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Put 10g of butter in a flameproof baking dish and melt over a high heat. When hot, sear the pork chops on all sides, including the fatty sides, for 8-10 mins. When the chops are golden brown, remove to a plate and cover.
2 Melt 20g of the butter in a frying pan over a medium heat and cook the onion, garlic and thyme for 5-6 mins or until the veg has softened. Add the cider and cook for a few minutes, then add the stock and continue to cook for 5 mins until the liquid has reduced by half.
3 Meanwhile, drain the beans, reserving 50ml of the liquid from the can. Tip the beans into the dish you seared the pork in, along with 10g of butter. Season and cook over a medium heat for a few minutes until warmed through. When the cider mixture has reduced, pour it over the beans. Reduce the heat to low, add the remaining butter and simmer the mixture, stirring. Cook until reduced to your liking or, if it’s too thick, add some of the reserved liquid from the beans.
4 Once you’ve reached your desired consistency, layer the pork chops on top of the beans and transfer the dish to the oven. Cook for 10-12 mins or until the pork has an internal temperature of 65-71C. If you’re using high-welfare pork and you know its history, you should be safe to cook the chops to a lower internal temperature, leaving them slightly pink.
5 Serve topped with salsa verde alongside long-stemmed broccoli, if you like.
PER SERVING 668 kcals | fat 39.9G | saturates 20G | carbs 20.8G | sugars 5.1G | fibre 9.4G | protein 48.4G | salt 1.6G