Host of household names announced as guest chefs for Latitude restaurant

Emma Freud & Richard Curtis,  Don Letts,  Rachel Parris & Marcus Brigstocke and Sophie Ellis-Bextor & Richard Jones have been announced as the Guest Chefs for this year’s Latitude. The festival returns to the picturesque grounds of Henham Park, Suffolk, on  20-23 July 2023  where music and arts meet foodie feasts and family fun in a joyous weekend of cultural discovery. New to the Latitude Festival last summer, The Guest Chef is an innovative 300-cover restaurant at the heart of the festival providing dinner service from Thursday and lunch and dinner service from Friday – Sunday. Reservations are open now.

The Guest Chefs will collaborate with Social Pantry to present a delicious lineup of mouth-watering menus in their own imitable and unique style On the day, they will host the meal for diners at the festival and share a little more of the story behind their food.

Local legends Richard Curtis and Emma Freud host Thursday night’s dinner. Richard Curtis is a film writer and director, responsible for iconic films such as Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill, Bridget Jones’ Diary, Mr Bean, Love Actually, and Yesterday( which was written in Suffolk, set in Suffolk, and begins and ends at Latitude). He is the co-founder and vice-chair of Comic Relief.

Emma Freud is a hugely accomplished presenter with a wide range of broadcasting experience. She has helped produce Red Nose Day for 30 years, was a co founder of the Make Poverty History campaign and was producer of the Live 8 concerts. Emma was also the public face of the National Theatre. Since 1991 Emma has worked with Richard Curtis as either script editor or co-producer. She is also currently a columnist for BBC Good Food and an interviewer on Radio 4’s Loose Ends. Their meal will be called Suffolk Actually, a celebration of all things Suffolk.

Emma Freud said,  “Richard and I are very excited to have been asked to ‘guest chef’ this dinner.

Suffolk is the warmest and most magical county in Britain… it has massive skies, stunning beaches, the kindest communities and its culinary wonders are stunning.   We want to showcase some of our favourite food and drink producers in the county, so every ingredient in our dinner will be fresh, local, seasonal and artisanal. We’d love to share this meal with you, whether you’re local or visiting.

Simon, the cocktail king in our village, is creating the welcome drink using ingredients from our pub’s allotment.  Jonny the (handsome) farmer who invented Baron Bigod is making our amazing cheese starter.  Steve the fisherman will catch our main course – he visited our village every week in lockdown to deliver fresh seafood from the back of his van.  The Suffolk Crullers for pudding are a local secret and maybe the greatest dessert you have ever eaten.  And we’re asking some of our favourite Latitude talent to come and be amusing/interesting/fabulous between courses.

In the early 1930s, many members of my German Jewish family arrived in Suffolk and were made to feel welcome.  Nearly 100 years later – we’re still here.  On July 20th, in our beautiful tent, we would love to welcome and feed you, the Suffolk way”

Celebrated British Musician, DJ, Film Director and cultural commentator Don Letts hosts on Friday. Letts has always defied conformity. A British-born son of Windrush parents, he seamlessly pivoted between London’s punk and reggae scenes earning his reputation as the ‘Rebel Dread’.  First coming to prominence as the DJ that turned a generation of punks on to reggae back in 1977 he went on to direct hundreds of videos for the likes of Bob Marley, The Pretenders, The Psychedelic Furs, Elvis Costello, Musical Youth, In the eighties, he formed Big Audio Dynamite with Mick Jones making music that incorporated dance, reggae, rap, film samples and Rock ‘n’ Roll. Since 2009 he has also presented ‘Culture Clash Radio’ a weekly show on BBC 6Music. Don will release his first solo album  Outta Sync this summer and is also performing at this year’s Latitude. Don believes that the “connection for me between food and music is that they’re both enjoyed at their best as a collective experience.”

Don said, “Food glorious food not my words but I’d certainly second that emotion. In these digital days, anything that brings us together for a collective synchronised experience is crucial for our well-being. Music still offers that possibility as does sport but I don’t do that. Along with music, sharing a meal would be my preferred option. As a child of the Windrush generation I’ve gone with a menu that reflects something I took for granted as a child and  it’ll be served with a bass-heavy soundtrack.

Comedic couple and Latitude favourites  Marcus Brigstocke and Rachel Parris are Saturday’s guest chefs.  Marcus Brigstocke is a major British comedy talent as a writer, actor, presenter and performer. It’s said he is heard on Radio 4 more frequently than the shipping forecast. Star of Argumental, Live At The Apollo, Have I Got News For You and Mock the Week his live performances sell out across the country. On the big screen, he has appeared in Love Actually, Piccadilly Jim, Telstar: The Joe Meek Story, and Beyond The Sea.

Rachel Parris is a BAFTA Nominated comedian, musician, actor and improviser, best known for her viral segments on BBC2’s The Mash Report. She has appeared on Live At The Apollo, Mock The Week, QI, Would I Lie To You, Hypothetical and recently, Comedians Giving Lectures, and Harry Hill’s ClubNite on Channel 4. As a musical comedian, she has won critical acclaim for her solo shows which have run at the Edinburgh Fringe, the Soho Theatre London and on national tours.

Marcus and Rachel said, “We are delighted to combine our favourite festival with our favourite foods. It’s fair to say Marcus and I enjoy food in different ways. Marcus is a foodie, he likes things as complicated and exotic as possible. I like the simplest, easiest foods and ideally in SEPARATE AREAS OF THE PLATE.

With us both being comedians it was perfectly obvious what the unifying theme of our meal should be…

Musical Theatre! Of course.

Chitty Chitty Bang bang chicken?

Anything Gyoza?

Defying Gravy-ty?

And for Sweet [Charity]… Totally Devoted to Yuzu and Pear-Spray with a Come From A-Wafer?

The puns will be appalling. The food will be delicious, we promise, and we can’t wait to share it with you.

Supercalifragilisticexpiadelicious! (we went too far with this one) “

Singer-songwriter  Sophie Ellis-Bextor, her husband bassist Richard Jones from the band The Feeling and their five boys brought joy to millions throughout lockdown with their Kitchen Discos. Last summer, the couple wrote a cookbook in the same spirit. Love. Food. Family: Recipes from the Kitchen Disco, is an exciting look into what they love to make at home, inspired by family dinners through the years and adventures abroad. They join Latitude as Sunday’s guest chefs with crowd-pleasing feasts for eating together, proving that everything tastes better with a little bit of disco!

Sophie & Richard said,

“We’re both big foodies and love cooking — it’s a huge part of our family life.  Cooking reflects who we are! Music and cooking are so intertwined. When you create a song, you have to develop all the elements beginning with the drums and the bass and working into the percussion and the vocals. In a meal, it is so similar,  you have to build around the palate from the bottom end and the bass notes to the top end, the vocals are in the spice, the oil and seasonings. Our meal at Latitude, taken from our cookbook, ‘Love Food Family’, will be like an invitation to our family home including a large helping of disco for good measure!”