As high summer unfolds across the hills, our kitchen leans into the season’s richness. Ingredients are arriving with intensity, deep colours, concentrated flavours, and the kind of variety that invites creativity. From the Brasserie to the 1919 Restaurant, August is about using produce at its absolute peak.

This month, squashes are taking a leading role, vibrant and full of character. In the Brasserie, you’ll find them woven into velvety purées and warming soups that speak to summer’s softer side. Their natural sweetness and texture offer a satisfying depth to our vegetarian dishes, without ever overpowering.

On the sweeter end of the spectrum, soft stone fruits and berries are having their moment. Blackcurrants and damsons are especially good now, tart and rich. They’re being used across our pastry section and with our cheese plates, where they bring sharpness and structure. Whether as a vivid coulis or folded into a gel, they lend a bracing contrast to soft, creamy textures.

The first crab apples have started to come in, a true signal that the season is turning. We’re simmering them into a light, fragrant jelly that’s set within our pork pies. A subtle burst of acidity that lifts the richness and brings a distinctly seasonal twist to a classic.

And while game is more often associated with autumn, we’re preparing for the first of the venison to arrive before the month is out. Early-season venison has a gentler flavour, and we’re working on a new dish for the 1919 tasting menu that will showcase it.

August is generous. It brings with it a spectrum of flavours, from the brightness of fruit to the warmth of late-summer vegetables. In the kitchen, that means layering, preserving, and balancing, letting ingredients speak clearly, while gently shaping them into something memorable.