A Festive Foodie Production

NATALIE MILLAR-PARTRIDGE hears about the curtain going up on a unique Devon dining experience in the run-up to Christmas

ANNIE McKenzie is a Devon-based chef with a focus on good, honest home cooking, utilising the best flavours of the South West. Annie champions local seasonal produce with the addition of a touch of her French origin.

Both founder and creator of Scripts For Supper, Annie has honed a unique foodie experience that combines theatre and dining in the form of a theatrical five-course feast.

Her latest series of feasts will be based around a classic festive adaptation of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and will be hosted at three unique venues in Devon over three weekends throughout December.

Scripts for Supper was developed throughout 2016, with idea manifesting after Annie’s Masterchef appearance. Having previously trained as an actor, Annie set out to find a way to combine her two greatest loves; food and theatre.

She believes in the seasonality of ingredients and in buying local wherever possible: “I believe in shared experience, be that sharing a meal or sharing a piece of theatre with an audience. To be able to cook for and share food with others is a wonderful thing, I’m very lucky.”

Finding culinary inspiration comes from friends, family and the world around her. “I love going on the Eat The Seasons website and seeing what’s in that week, then creating a dish around it.

“I spend hours poring over recipe books or trawling the internet for new ways to cook beetroot or pumpkin. I also love going to friends’ houses who claim they have nothing in the cupboards and challenging myself to make something from that nothing,” adds Annie.