Alex, senior gardener at The Small Holding on the farm
September at The Small Holding, Kent
Green Michelin Star 2021/22/23
360 Guide Three Green Circles 2024
September is one of our favourite months at acre and it’s all about the harvest. At The Small Holding, it’s a whole-team effort preserving the summer gluts, and preparing both the farm, and the larder, for the leaner months ahead and creating new layers of flavour for winter. The last of the late summer tomatoes, sweetcorn and sweet red peppers are enjoying the sunshine and the Uchiki Kuri squash are pushing on to full ripeness and flavour for this month’s menu. It is also the start of the autumnal plums, apples and mushrooms.
The Small Holding
The September menus bridge this golden hour in the season; dishes become richer and more deeply flavoured as the season starts to turn. The first squashes from the farm are ready and see their way to chef James Chatfield’s menu paired with smoked sheep’s cheese, pumpkin seed, charred kale and herb pesto, while everybody’s favourite sweetcorn is cooked down into a smooth cream and served with meltingly soft braised pork cheek and barbecued chicken of the woods mushroom. For one of the two desserts on the September menu, there is a woodruff baba cake soaked in plum brandy with plum sorbet, woodruff ice cream and smoked pumpkin seed praline.
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The September Full Acre menu at The Small Holding
Snacks, Sourdough and Hinxden Butter
Tomato and chilli
Squash, sheep's cheese, kale
Trout, cucumber, radish
Cod, crab, agretti
Pork, sweetcorn, mushroom
Hogget, aubergine, pepper
Apple, lemon verbena, yoghurt
Plum and woodruff
Cheese (optional)
Sweet Treats
The Small Holding is open Wednesday to Sunday with an eight-course Full Acre menu costing £95 per person and a five-course Half Acre menu costing £75 per person, with the option of a wine flight. A three-course set menu (from the full acre menu) is available on Thursday and Friday lunch time, priced £55 per person. The drinks list also includes housemade soft drinks, kombucha and non-alcoholic wine, beer and spirits.
About The Small Holding
The Small Holding is a Michelin green-starred kitchen and farm on a country lane in the village of Kilndown on the Kent and East Sussex borders. Run by brothers Will and Matt Devlin, as Chef and Head of Operations, respectively, The Small Holding is part of Acre, which also includes Birchwood in Flimwell, East Sussex.
The 36-cover restaurant and farm is set in one acre of land, permitting a unique connection between the land and table. Growing, foraging and cooking the best ingredients is at the core of The Small Holding, with monthly changing tasting menus, using home-reared and home-grown ingredients from the farm, which is less than 10 feet from the kitchen.
The menu is defined by the farm’s own produce. Vegetables and fruits are harvested within hours of guests arriving; while charcuterie, sourdough and cultured butter and zero waste animal cookery from the farm’s own livestock, are made on site. The kitchen team works directly with growers, farmers and fishermen who share the same core values, and the team forage in the nearby hedgerows and woodland.
“Growing our own produce on the farm brings an understanding and honesty back to the kitchen, and vital freshness. Making the most of our harvests when the ingredients are at their prime - whilst also preserving and conserving them to use throughout the year, keeps us concentrated on the natural cycle of the land and helps us to create full flavoured and imaginative dishes.” Will Devlin