In a league of its own

Letitia Clark embraces Sardinia's distinctive culture, bold colours and pared-down cooking

- Letitia Clark

Island in the sun: Sardinia's independent nature is reflected in its culture and cooking

MOVING countries means you feel like a newborn every day. It’s a constant learning experience: when I moved to Sardinia, Italy, five years ago, I had a lot of cliches and stereo-types in my head that were quickly removed— cultural differences are one of the most challenging aspects of living abroad, but also one of the most stimulating.

Moving abroad hadn’t been my plan initially —working at a restaurant in London, I had been thinking of ways to set up something back where I’m from, in Devon. One of my colleagues, a Sardinian chef, was also dreaming about opening up his own place, so we decided perhaps we could do it in Sardinia. I didn’t know a word of Italian, but very quickly fell in love with Italian food, culture and language.