For the ultimate escape, head to Norway’s Holmen Lofoten, where you can stay in a fisherman’s hut, hone your culinary skills and feed your soul.Welcome to paradise at the edge of the world..
I stand looking out across the calm, mirror like waters. An assortment of gnarly rocks jut out of the water like peaks of mountains above the clouds, breaking an otherwise unspoilt horizon.

It’s early autumn, I’m standing on the coast of Søvågen on the Lofoten archipelago; it’s taken three flights to get me here. Thankfully before boarding my first, I bumped into an old friend of Hole & Corner, the blacksmith Alex Pole. He is travelling out to teach knife making for the guests of this unique experience I’m about to sample. He’s been before and can give me some insight into what to expect, but in truth I think even the finest
wordsmiths may struggle to paint the picture I witnessed as we drove from our final landing at Leknes airport to Holmen Lofoten. The hour-long drive takes many a twist and turn, as an ever-changing landscape unfolds before us, snow-capped peaks and rocky hillsides, unmistakably Scandinavian houses and cottages dotted throughout the landscape in pops of red, yellow ochre and white; it’s later explained that red was the colour of the working buildings, yellow for basic housing and the white for the more affluent.

The crystal clear waters that surround us as we travel through the islands reflect an incredible scene from the sky, rainbows, clutches of rain clouds, clear blue skies, beams of sunlight breaking through the clouds; it changes constantly as the weather is blown across the islands. It seems fitting that I will see the end of the rainbow land in the waters immediately outside Holmen Lofoten over the following days.

I’ve come here to join the three-day gourmand experience, Kitchen on the Edge of the World, which is exactly how it feels. We’ll dine and learn from some of the best talents of British cooking, eating in a restored fishing hut and sleeping in traditional fishermen’s cabins or the more recent additions by architects Schelderup & Gram. It promises to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I take a deep breath of what must be the cleanest air and allow my stresses to drift away.
To understand a little more about how it came to pass that a bunch of chefs from Dorset, (Valentine Warner, Mark Hix and Gill Meller) are holed up in an old fishing hut on a small Norwegian island, cooking for a group of guests that have travelled from Melbourne, Los Angeles, Florence and London, I take a walk with the founder and visionary behind Holmen, Ingunn Rasmussen. We make our way to a town with potentially the greatest and simplest name ever – Orr, or Å as it’s written.  means a small stream in Norwegian. It’s also home to a bakery that churns out wonderful cinnamon treats.

Rasmussen grew up on the island with her 12 siblings (six brothers and six sisters). She talks of how they were working in the fishing community from the age of five, her father was an accomplished carpenter and fisherman, and by the time they reached double figures she and her siblings were virtually self-sufficient, foraging, catching food and making clothes.

Rasmussen has been developing her small island hotel since 2002, with a loving and sympathetic restoration of a collection of traditional fishing buildings with the help of her carpenter brother. There have been more ambitious building developments added over years with her architects: ‘They’ve been involved since the start; they specialise in old coastal and fishing buildings. They have had a huge role in the development of the site, blending the traditions and materials, allowing the
new structures to weather and age as the [original] buildings have.’

However it was with the kitchen that Rasmussen really wanted to make a name for the hotel. She knew they had amazing produce, fishing and landscapes surrounding them and that with the right vision it could really be a focus for the hotel.
‘We needed to have a strong kitchen, my idea was to talk to a chef that understood about cooking from different perspectives, to help us understand what we could use
the place for.’ It wouldn’t be until 2013 that Rasmussen would stumble across someone who would help her finally realise the future of their food offering – and in the most random of scenarios.

‘I was watching television in my room in South Korea [having travelled there with her then husband for his work]. As I flicked through the channels I landed on the BBC and [there was] Mr Warner with his hair all over the place and wearing a big woollen sweater, in Scandinavia. Then I heard this voice: “deep fried salmon skin with ponzu sauce”. It was a commercial for the next show to be broadcast.’ A seed was planted with Rasmussen. ‘I started to discuss with family, “he might be the right sort of guy to come to Holmen”.’ The series Rasmussen had stumbled upon was Valentine Warner eats Scandinavia, broadcast in 2013, where he travelled to the Lofoton islands to cook at the Viking Museum.
Rasmussen decided to send him an email: ‘I thought if he says no, he says no. I can’t say exactly how long it took for a reply, but it was pretty quick. Valentine expressed his interest at returning to Lofoten. A year passed and then he was here!’

Warner describes how he was charmed by her enthusiasm, wit and erudite vision, and so decided to go and check things out for himself. ‘When you arrive at any tiny airport in the world you immediately know you’re probably in quite a good place,’ he says now. As we drove to Holmen I was thinking, “How is it that one gets so directly answered by the things you want in your life?” By the time I’d had an hour in the car with Ingunn – kind of fallen in love with her – I then arrived at this place that just took my breath away and made me quite emotional.
‘With my upbringing in rural Dorset, I had an immediate love of the woods, mosses and nature,’ he continues. ‘As a child I read books with trolls and Vikings. After filming the series for the BBC in Scandinavia I wanted to come back more and more. I realise it’s a place I really love.’ Together they developed the concept for the Kitchen on the Edge of the World, which is now the showcase event for Holmen, gathering some of the world’s great chefs on a remote island, to work within the landscape and concoct wonderful food experiences with locally sourced ingredients. This approach tofood is inherent in the approach Warner is famous for and the respect and enthusiasm for local provenance shared Rasmussen’s vision – a location far away from the stresses of daily life.

Talking with Warner, it’s clear what a visit here can do for the soul: ‘It’s an incredible space to think, the junk from my head is blown away over the ocean like a plastic bag across a beach, it leaves me with a clear head. It’s a fantastic place, for artists, writers and makers to work.’

During this recent period of isolation, many of us have appreciated just how important and restorative the power of nature can be; tending to window-boxes, veg patches and visits to our nearest green spaces. It is here, in these incredible islands, that you really can feel a million miles away from the fast-paced, throwaway culture we’ve been driven towards.

And Warner’s work here is created from a direct response to the surroundings. ‘When you stand in a place like Holmen, your menu is decided for you. If I’m standing next to the juniper and the sheep are down by the water’s edge among the seaweed – you cook the lamb in seaweed and serve it with the juniper. If you’re out on the hills shooting the ptarmigan and then on your way back you’re picking mushrooms and berries… You don’t really have to do much, the natural world around you dictates the plate.’

While Kitchen on the Edge of the World experience is centred around the meals, our days will be spent exploring the local landscape, hunting, fishing, foraging, with our local guides Håvar and Auden. We’re also joined by ornithologist and wildlife guide Oliver Rampley who has flown in from Italy to lead small groups of guests out into the island’s many hidden corners. Rampley’s enthusiasm for the landscape and wildlife is infectious – it needs to be with a 4am wake-up call. When he returns mid-morning the level of excitement and satisfaction on everyone’s faces shows exactly how magical their time has been. These hikes, as well as sea fishing trips, happen each day and every one of their finds impacts operations in the kitchen.
As Warner explains, ‘[Holmen is] a place for practical cooks, you arrive with ideas, but the menu changes several times throughout the day, a boat arrives with some halibut and it’s going on the menu, then a young chap walks through the door late morning with three ptarmigan and the starters changed again.’

In the kitchen Valentine Warner, Mark Hix (who is returning after his first taste of Holmen), Gill Meller (a first timer) and new resident chef Richard Cox (formerly head chef of The Ethicurean restaurant) banter and explore ideas for the fresh produce they have been given; caught or foraged from the local hills. It’s a satisfying scene, possibly made even more so by the fact we’re able to sit in our Carl Hansen wishbone chairs and enjoy all the action from the cosy eating area.

I sit down with Meller over a beer to hear how it’s going. ‘There’s always a friendly feeling, an aspect of fun and tomfoolery,’ he tells me, ‘but ultimately we want to make something delicious and provide an experience for the guests to remember. Some of the most profound and long lasting memories are created with food; who you eat with, the conversations you have, the relationships you build.

‘We’re here at a very good time of year for ingredients,’ he adds, ‘everything is fruiting or available in abundance. We’ve cooked hare, but we created three dishes with the one animal, served on separate occasions; offal in a terrine, the loins were lightly cured and smoked, and the front and back legs were stewed. It’s the nose to tail approach, it is really what island life represents, no waste, making the most of the ingredients you have, we’ve done the same with the fish. A craft approach to cooking if you like.’
This craft approach to cooking is reflected in the workshops that are offered during the stay. We spend an afternoon making our own knives with Alex Pole and Ed Hunt, both of whom have collaborated with Hole & Corner over the years. It has always been an important element of the H&C vision that craft is reported and celebrated in all its many nuances, be that food, fishing, or knife making and here at Holmen, also with drinking. Nick Strangeway is an expert cocktail and drinks creator, a long-term collaborator with restaurants and bars across the globe.‘It’s an incredible space to think… it leaves me with a clear head. It’s a fantastic place for artists, writers and makers to work’‘I like working with Val and Mark, I know how good they are at what they do, they have a similar mindset to food as I do with drinks. They’re interested in the quality of the ingredients and the way they relate to the landscape. Having lived in Copenhagen for a long time,’ he continues, ‘a lot of what influences me is Nordic. A lot of the ingredients have that intensity of flavour which is so incredible.’
Strangeway tells me about his first trip to Holmen, in 2017. ‘I was sent a menu ahead of time as I would be on all trips,’ except on this occasion his ingredients were held at customs on arrival. ‘So not having what you wanted was interesting,’ he says now, ‘yet still have to create something that was exciting and interesting for the guests, without showing that you’re panicking on the inside. I had to work with what there was. The nearest alcohol shop is 30 miles away, so I had to draw on my experience of 30 years, and I think that’s exciting – you forget you can do that. If I am at home making drinks, I have technology and any ingredients I want. It’s lovely to return to simpler recipes.’

The use of local ingredients is the overriding theme behind Holmen’s ethos and the reason Warner has managed to gather so many talents to join him and Rasmussen in this quiet corner of the Arctic circle over the past three years.

‘The vegetables up here are super tasty,’ Warner enthusiastically states. ‘There’s a short growing period but of course the amount of daylight is greater – they’re super vibrant and intense. The cheeses are wonderful too. There’s a natural slow food movement, things are still produced in the traditional way. I love that the old ways are still so prevalent wherever you go.’

Meller certainly wasn’t disappointed. ‘Val hooked me in with promises of stunning landscapes, bountiful produce, clean air, clean water and it was all true – he was a man of his word. From the moment we arrived, it was breathtaking, particularly the winding drive to the hotel. I’d never seen anything like it. 
‘Some of the most profound memories are created with food; who you eat with, the conversations you have, the relationships you build’The days spent at Holmen have been both exhilarating and relaxing in equal measure. Heading out to sea with Håvar and our skipper for a few hours of fishing, my low level of anxiety is soon cast away, as we seem to have picked the most tranquil morning for a boat trip. Håvar and the skipper look amused – the sea is as still as a village pond, glassy, not a flicker, just a couple of fishing boats cutting through the water. Our trip is fruitful; landing my first cod was a rush I’d long forgotten, taking me back to my days of fishing with my dad as a youngster. Coalfish (coley) and cod will be added to the menu this evening. As we chug back to land it’s hard not to be moved by the beauty of the cliffs and snow-capped peaks. Upon arrival we present our catch to grateful chefs and regale them with our stories of landing these whopping beauties.

After a drink we are introduced to local potter Gunvor Tangrand, who runs the ceramics workshops at Holmen. Her work is rustic, organic and textural – and very popular. All the while we’re accompanied by the sound of rhythmic hammering in the adjacent shed as Alex Pole guides a guest through the completion of their handcrafted knife, while fellow bladesmith Ed Hunt stokes the fires of the waterside hot tub, soon put to use by a guest coming back from a wild swim (wetsuit essential).

Drinks are prepared in the bar and we sit down to a seven-course feast, amusingly titled Three Dorset Knobs (inspired by the county’s infamous savoury biscuits).The menu kicks off with ptarmigan on toast with lingonberries, smoked pollack with leek and crisp rye bread, followed by baked potato with caviar, hare fillet with roasted oyster and reindeer moss, and our catch of the day, coalfish, cooked in olive oil with mousseline potatoes. Nick has been working all afternoon on drinks to pair with each course, no easy feat given the additions and tweaks from the kitchen. Before we take our seats we join Warner in the sitting room for a reading from his new book, The Consolation of Food, ‘a story book with recipes, not a memoir but a collection of oddities that seemed relevant for a life so far.’ While the days are packed with activity, so much of that time is mindful and free from the constraints of modern life that you feel relaxed and rejuvenated. Warner relates this to a new definition of luxury: ‘Luxury is decoded now, you can’t just give someone a mahogany box with a crystal bit on the top and say it’s luxury; for me luxury is to spend time in nature and spend time with those who truly understand their skill.’

While Holmen’s 2020 plans were curtailed, the line-up for 2021 promises to be a rich experience, with Niklas Ekstedt, Nuno Mendes, Hugh Fearnley- Whittingstall and Angela Hartnett joining Warner and Strangeway across four events planned between March and September.

As we strive to overcome the new lifestyle challenges we’ve been dealt, travel is no doubt going to be more complicated and will only emphasise the need for unique experiences to provide precious memories. Holmen certainly ticks that box. Gill Meller puts it simply: ‘Good ingredients, beautiful landscape, lovely people and good food.’ I’m in.
holmenlofoten.no
WORDS SAM WALTON | PHOTOGRAPHS SAM WALTON