The Bodnant Welsh Food Centre, set along the River Conwy in North Wales, features gardens and stone cottages that evoke a Jane Austen novel.
The River Conwy gently winds its way through North Wales, past ancient castles, quaint villages and grassy pastures blanketed with sheep. The landscape is about as idyllic as it comes. Nestled just above the winding country road with views of the Conwy Valley is Furnace Farm, a sprawling 18th century property located on Bodnant Estates. The estates comprise expansive gardens and several stone cottage rentals that evoke a Jane Austen novel. The centuries-old Furnace Farm underwent a seven-year, £7.2-million ($13.6-million) restoration, opening to the public as a fully immersive sustainable farm three years ago.
The Bodnant Welsh Food Centre makes a destination of the small rural area, offering not just accommodations, but also a restaurant, a variety of stores, including a bakery and butcher shop, and lessons for visitors in cooking with the local fare.
Weekly classes at their Cookery School include one with the famous Welsh cake decorator Sally Owens, whose wedding cake marking Prince William and Kate Middleton's nuptials was auctioned off for charity. Wine classes introduce the novice wine connoisseur to the world of the sommelier. The Cookery School even has a kids' academy for the young foodie-at-heart.
The Hayloft Restaurant boasts high ceilings and long, rustic beams that recall the place's long history. On Sundays the restaurant is crowded with locals enjoying the lunch menu, which includes succulent roast Welsh black beef served with homemade Yorkshire pudding.
One of the menu's specialties is the Bodnant cheese ploughman's. It gives your palette a preview of the fresh cheeses, made on-site, on sale at the Farm Shop. Eighty-five per cent of the products sold there are Welsh. You'll find everything from sea salt to Bodnant's own apple and smoked garlic chutney, which pairs perfectly with their award-winning Aberwen cheese, derived from an ancient recipe that has garnered international recognition. The fresh milk and churned dairy butter are from a herd of cows living on the other side of the River Conwy.
Tucked inside the cool embrace of Bodnant's wine cellar is a selection of quality local wines and others from vineyards as far away as Australia. The cellar also houses Welsh beer, cider, whiskey and liqueurs.
Bodnant is not merely a hedonistic retreat for the discerning foodie. The facility also stresses the importance of producing and consuming locally, and the buildings are kitted out with energy-saving technology – rain water is collected for toilets and solar panels provide a green energy boost.
In order to truly experience everything Bodnant has to offer, you'll need to spend several hours or perhaps a weekend at the on-site five-star luxury accommodations. After a food-filled weekend, the tranquil views of the River Conwy are bound to lull you to sleep.
The writer was a guest of Visit Britain. It did not review or approve this article.