Venue highlight
Skye Gyngell’s Spring at Somerset House:
Seasonal, sustainable, and sensational
Skye Gyngell
Spring is home to gifted Head Chef, Skye Gyngell. Located in the historic Somerset House, Spring focuses on “heartfelt, hopeful, produce-driven” cuisine, celebrating seasonal delights cooked by experts who appreciate the resources at their disposal.
Spring at
Somerset House
Somerset House has looked over the banks of the Thames for almost five centuries. Originally built as a royal abode in 1547 by Edward Seymour, Lord Protector and Duke of Somerset. Since then, it’s changed hands during a civil war, been renamed Denmark House then back to Somerset House, survived the second world war, and finally opened for public use in 2000. After all of this, it’s now the proud and regal home of Spring.
Under the stewardship of Skye Gyngell, Spring has gone from strength to strength. Born and raised in Australia, Skye came to the UK via training in Paris. Now one of the most respected chefs in Britain, she is acclaimed for the exquisite attention she pays to seasonal and local produce. It was this conscientious approach that saw her rise to prominence as Head Chef at Petersham Nurseries before leaving to follow her passion for produce at Spring.
The future of food – and really the future of our planet – depends on supporting growers and producers who care about the land. It is the one and only way forward.
– Skye Gyngell, Head Chef at Spring
Climate action
at Spring
Skye now oversees the creation of a Scratch Menu celebrating ‘waste’ leftover from other dishes or deemed not aesthetically pleasing enough for supermarket shelves. Not only this, Spring also has an active commitment against use single-use plastic. Inspired by a talk she attended from grass roots organisation, A Plastic Planet, Skye has driven various initiatives that made Spring the first single-use plastic free restaurant in London by 2019.
When asked about the future of food and climate action at Spring, Skye said:
“The future of food – and really the future of our planet – depends on supporting growers and producers who care about the land. It is the one and only way forward. As Spring moves into its 10th year in 2024, it’s still just as important for us to continue building relationships with suppliers who have a vested interest in repairing our broken food system, and a conscience about stewardship of the land. It’s great to see the focus on sustainability changing throughout our industry, but awareness and action are two different things. We need to do more and do it quickly. It can seem incredibly overwhelming and insurmountable, but I find that if you break everything down into small steps, then it starts to become more manageable and, in fact, very inspiring.”
We’ll be keeping an eye out for what Skye does next, as a true pioneer within the sustainability space.
Attend a CWO Dinner
at Spring
Spring is a CWO Dinner guest and client favourite for a reason.
CWO Dinners are regularly hosted at Spring throughout the calendar year, serving immaculately conceived seasonal dishes in a setting we just can’t get enough of. Why not experience this spectacular venue yourself at an upcoming Chief Wine Officer event?