In good company with: Unplugged

The origin story that isn't in the pitch deck, plus the case against your smartwatch.

In good company is where we sit down with the brands, founders and partners we rate. First up: Grace from Unplugged, the people behind the off-grid, no-wifi, phone-in-a-box cabins scattered within a couple of hours of most UK cities. The occasion was their new Big Green Egg cabin, built for people who'd rather cook over fire than answer their emails. What came back was the honest version. Solar panics, a banned tagline, and a very firm opinion on your smartwatch.

Unplugged started the way a lot of good things do. Two friends, thoroughly burnt out, clocking eleven-hour screen days at a tech startup until something gave. One silent retreat later, the fix became the business: tech-free cabins where you padlock your phone on arrival, get handed a map, and don't get it back for three nights.

That was 2020. There are dozens of cabins now, each named like a slightly eccentric uncle. This particular one comes with a Big Green Egg out front, which is where we came in. We wanted to know what a food-first cabin looks like from the inside, and got rather more than we bargained for.

First, the origin story that isn't in the pitch deck

Basically nothing worked the first month. Barely anyone came to stay, and we were running out of solar power in the middle of summer. We had no experience building cabins and barely any in marketing. Just a lot of faith in our mission.

What were you completely certain about that turned out to be wrong?

We put "digital detox" on our brand do-not-use list. After a while we begrudgingly adopted it, and now it's what we're known for.

We also gatekept the cabins' locations, so people only had a rough idea of the area. We thought the mystery was a special part of the experience. Turns out people didn't want to book a cabin in the middle of nowhere, from a very small brand, without knowing exactly where they were going.

A tiny detail you obsess over that most people never notice?

So many things, but storage is a big one. Because the cabins are so remote, having the space to store everything seamlessly, without getting in the way of the guest experience or the cleaning, has taken years to get right.

Most overrated thing in your world right now?

Wearable tech. It's made us obsessed with tracking what we can measure, at the cost of what we can't. Humans evolved with a very advanced intuition, and wearables risk overriding it. Life is for living, not optimising.

Whose work do you admire?

Ffern. They don't follow the normal rules of fragrance, and their content is rooted in filmmaking, which is worthy of attention. We also love Bold Bean Co, for their simplicity and everything they stand for.

So how did the Big Green Egg partnership actually happen? Who slid into whose DMs?

We slid into Big Green Egg's. After huge success with our Wellbeing Cabin with Healf, we wanted to do more curated edits, and a foodie collab was the obvious one. So many of our guests already hunt out cabins near great pubs and restaurants.

Big Green Egg are the dons of outdoor cooking, and you can make anything on one, from pizza to slow-cooked feasts. It was one of those partnerships that just made sense. The location helped too. It's fifteen minutes from a brilliant farm shop that also delivers hampers to the cabin, and it's surrounded by award-winning restaurants. One of them is run by a MasterChef: The Professionals champion.

Walk us through the perfect food-cabin evening

You get back from a warm (not sweltering) summer walk, having stopped at the local farm shop for some top-notch ingredients. You fire up the Big Green Egg and the hot tub, then take a quick cool shower. You follow an easy but delicious recipe, grazing on Torres crisps and dip while you go. You serve up, eat up, and play a game of cards before a soak in the hot tub with your book and a last glass of vino. Then bed, for a bit of pillow talk or reading.

Don't think it gets much better than that.

No budget. The one ingredient in every cabin.

Torres Truffle Crisps. Or a fresh loaf of sourdough and salted butter. Too hard to choose.

Best thing to cook with no signal and no plan?

Homemade pizzas with your favourite toppings. Or honestly, anything grilled on the Big Green Egg. The simplest things taste incredible.

The last meal that made you go quiet at the table?

Sausage tagliatelle.

Finally, the local spots worth the detour

Belvoir Farm Shop is a fifteen-minute walk from the cabin, stocked with local produce, much of it reared on the doorstep. Belvoir Castle runs brilliant events too, including outdoor pizza evenings through summer.

For pubs and restaurants, the Martin's Arms and the Chequers Inn are both in the Michelin Guide, and Restaurant Jericho is a proper farm-to-table experience.

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Fancy an evening like Grace's? The Big Green Egg cabin is bookable through Unplugged.

Book the Big Green Egg cabin on Yonder →

That's the first of In good company. More brands, founders and partners we rate to come.