Foraging, Ferments and a Michelin Starred Mindset: A conversation with Chef Jack Bond, The Cottage in the Wood
- James Massoud
- 3d
- 8 min read
Tucked away in England’s only mountain forest, The Cottage in the Wood isn’t just a restaurant — it’s a reflection of place, patience and purpose. At its helm is Jack Bond, a chef quietly rewriting the rules of fine dining in Cumbria. Swapping London deliveries for wild herbs, and Gordon Ramsay’s kitchens for fellside ferments, he’s crafted a hyper-seasonal, sustainability-first approach that’s as thoughtful as it is boundary-pushing. We spoke to him exclusively about foraging calendars, the power of working alongside his wife, and the challenges of providing two distinct tasting menus on consecutive days.
Your menus at The Cottage in the Wood showcase a deep connection to Cumbrian produce. How has your exposure to the Lake District influenced your culinary style and menu development?
I think just by looking at things that are around me, and using what's on the doorstep has really changed the way I normally do it. Traditionally, I've been brought up with a French cooking background, and especially coming from London, you basically get whatever you want, whenever you want. You get first delivery, second deliveries. Here, you're a bit more isolated. The cottage especially, I think, is pretty much on its own. So there's a lot more forward planning that needs to be done using the Cumbrian landscape. We're very much dictated by the seasons, because that basically is our larder. We've got a lot of foraging that we undertake and we follow a calendar that we've built up over the last year, so we know roughly when things are available. The weather obviously can be unpredictable, so some things do change. But, we've got people around us who give us a bit of a heads up. Neighbours will call us and let us go into their gardens and take stuff that's ready. I think that has really made my style a bit more relaxed as well. The vibe in the cottage is a bit more homely. It's what me and my wife strive to do we try, and make it a bit more of an experience where we just welcome people in, because we appreciate where we are.
Sustainability is a key focus in your cooking. Could you elaborate on the specific sustainable practices you implement in sourcing ingredients and designing your menus?
When it comes to sustainability, it's part and parcel of where we are. We're not on mains water, so we use water from the fell and the brook that we have to treat ourselves. The menu can potentially run the hazard of being a bit hyper-seasonal. One week, we might have an abundance of a certain ingredient, and then after that, we might end up picking a different herb that has just come back into season, and we're really excited to see it. Then being in the only mountain forest in the UK, we do feel a sense of responsibility that we need to we need to be as sustainable as possible, and we need to make sure that our impact in our environment is so little because it's such a beautiful surrounding.
After working in renowned establishments, what motivated you to take the helm at The Cottage in the Wood?
When I was in London it was always something that I thought I can't do. I've always just been someone who's put my head down and cracked on. But then it came to a point in our lives when me and my wife were thinking about the next steps that we wanted to take, and Beth was very much a driving force in 'let's go to Lake District'. We wanted to settle more up north being as we're both northerners. But I think one of the real pushing factors was probably when I raised the question to Matt Abé when we were both at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, and he said, go for it – you'll be fine. He very much instilled a very good standard of work ethic in me, and it's something that we've brought here.
Your restaurant offers two distinct tasting menus on consecutive days. What inspired this approach, and how do you ensure each menu provides a unique experience for returning guests?
We don't want anyone to eat same thing twice. We offer a two night package at the cottage, so the task of coming up with sometimes up to 28 dishes is a bit daunting, but we stick to a very clear blueprint. This keeps the chefs engaged, it keeps the front-of-house interested, it keeps the guests wanting to come back, because they're saying, oh so what's on tomorrow's menu?
Competing in the Great British Menu 2025, you represented the North West region. How did this experience challenge you as a chef, and what did you take away from the competition?
I didn't know what to expect when I went into it. One thing I did learn very quickly was that time disappears awfully fast when you're in that kitchen! Thankfully, I worked with a lovely bunch of people from the Northwest, and that really settled my nerves. There were no egos in there or attitudes, everyone was so supportive. You looked around and you realise you were working with chefs who were at the top of their game. It's completely different to the restaurant side, which is something I found hard to grasp. It was a steep learning curve, but I like to think I grew into the competition. Your creativity can go a little bit wild. You try some dishes that you'd never do in the restaurant, but you know that they will really spark someone's curiosity. I think that something I'll take from it is be be wild with your expectation, then hopefully you can achieve something close to it.
Given the restaurant’s location, do you incorporate foraged ingredients into your dishes? If so, how does this practice enhance the dining experience?
We forage a lot. We have a lot of ingredients that might not necessarily be the highlight of the dish, but we'll certainly create something. Sometimes they might not appear until a few months down the line. We make a lot of ferments like kombucha. We also do different types of vinegars, and we brine a lot of ingredients so we can use them for the winter months. We capture everything when it's at its best, and we don't necessarily release it all because we want to make sure that we've then got this wealth of larder in a different season. You really can capture one moment in summer, so that you can then shed a bit of sunshine in the winter – I think that's the best way to put it.
Working alongside your wife, Beth, who manages the restaurant, how do your roles complement each other in creating a cohesive dining environment?
We both share the same vision. We both want the best for the restaurant and for the team. I think people see our relationship, and how we treat each other and how we expect others to follow. I learned a lot from when I was abroad at Eleven Madison Park, about how the dining room and the kitchen is one team. We really break that down at the cottage; chefs come out and serve one in every two courses. I think that's another unique thing that we do at the cottage, just to make people feel a bit more comfortable. Beth and I can sort of read each other's minds and we've got a really good rule of when we're in work, it's all very serious, and we do everything that we need to do.
The Cottage in the Wood has earned accolades, including a Michelin star. How do these recognitions influence your approach to maintaining and elevating the restaurant’s standards?
Retaining the Michelin star in the first year was incredible. That showed us that everything we're doing is right. It's a fantastic guideline of how we want to approach the restaurant and what we are doing. You know, we don't wear suits or anything like that in the restaurant – we're a bit more casual than that – but it just shows that we're still hitting the levels that are expected at the standard that is the Michelin star. And then also, as the year went on, we gained the three rosettes, which, again, is another fantastic indicator that we were going in the right direction, and that's really what drives the standards for us.
With chefs occasionally serving and interacting with guests, how does this practice impact the overall dining atmosphere and guest satisfaction?
When I was growing up, I used to get this anxiety of going to a one star restaurant or a two or three star. Am I wearing the right shoes? Am I wearing a shirt? Do I need to wear a blazer? And all this would really impact me. So it's one thing that we're really keen that we want to make sure doesn't happen here at the cottage. I think the chefs coming out gives you a sense of ease, we can answer whatever questions you want. And it allows us to ask questions too, because at the end of the day, it's really important that while you're in our care we make you comfortable and get everything just right. We're always happy to tailor our menus for our guests.
Are there any new culinary projects or innovations you plan to introduce at The Cottage in the Wood?
We're in our second year of running the cottage. We've already renovated the areas that would affect the guests the most, so the reception area and the restaurant. Looking forward, we're planning to develop the garden, to grow our own and protect our own a little bit more, so that we can have more control. Rooms are going to get redeveloped slowly but surely – these things take time. But before we push ahead with all that, we really want to go for the sustainability aspect of everything. We want to be a leading light in Cumbria when it comes to that. .
How do you balance staying true to your culinary vision while adapting to evolving food trends and diner expectations?
It starts out with, whenever we create a dish, we as the chefs will put the dish down in front of us, and we'll run through a list of criteria where we ask, does it look good? Does it look appetising? Does it taste good? Has it got enough texture? Is it exciting? We'll do that, and we'll stick to that, mainly before we start looking at the food trends because some food trends just don't work for us. The menu needs to be a story, it needs to follow a certain narrative, so we can't stray too far. When it comes to food trends, we do look at the ones that can benefit us the most. So we look at things like the use of koji for example. I think that builds a better experience and a better story.
Drawing from your extensive experience, what advice would you offer to young chefs aiming to make their mark in the culinary world?
I think my advice to anyone who's coming into the industry is, don't try and get to the top as quickly as you can. Take your time. Spend more than a year in some places, be a sponge, work through all the seasons and try and get through all the sections that you want. But definitely travel, go to different countries, see a different perspective because I think perspectives are the most important things when it comes to food. It makes you a more understanding chef. It makes you more understanding to the guests. You can see it how they see it. I just think it's the experience that you need.
