It’s a remarkably simple recipe… An old granite barn a few hundred yards from the sea. Whitewashed walls, scrubbed wooden tables and shared bench seats. Crab caught in Scilly’s crystal-clear waters and delivered to the door by the fisherman himself.

This is Pick Your Own – Scilly style. The chef has done the hard bit for you, cutting the carapace in half for easy access, but from there, it’s down to you.

Don your apron, grab your picker, and dig in. There’s no ceremony here; while at first it might seem strange sitting on a bench seat next to someone you don’t know, once the wine starts flowing and the crab starts flying, friendships are born.

Crabs come in medium, large or – occasionally – monster. All the dishes are meant for sharing (but we won’t judge if you decide not to share the Eton Mess…)

We source our crab from the Pender family of Island Fish here on Bryher. Penders have been fishing the waters of Scilly as far back as they can trace. Today, three generations of the family continue that proud tradition, setting sail each day, hauling pots from Round Island to Bishop Rock in search of the finest Scillonian seafood.

If the evening’s diners have a particularly hearty appetite, it’s not unheard of for Mark Pender to turn up in his oilskins with a couple more crabs for the pot.