Wyatt & Jones, Broadstairs

Mediterranean inspired small plates cooked over coal (credit Saltwick Media)

Wyatt & Jones

Recommended in The Good Food Guide and Michelin Guide

Wyatt & Jones is a family-owned, independent restaurant on Viking Bay in Broadstairs, north Kent. Painted in a deep olive green with marble tabletops, counter seating and open kitchen, the 30-cover restaurant is situated under the historic York Gate, with views over the sea. The menu offers dishes of Mediterranean-influenced small plates, with a seafood bias, using meticulously sourced produce, cooked over fire in a state-of-the-art Harrison oven, made locally in Ramsgate.

Soon to be celebrating its tenth anniversary of trading, Wyatt & Jones is run by husband-and-wife team, Jan and Kat Wyatt, with head chef Ryan Whitlock in the kitchen. The trio work well together with a mutual philosophy of good ingredients cooked well. Citing restaurants such as Etxebarri in the foothills of Spanish Basque Country, Lennox Hastie at Sydney’s Firedoor and Australian chef and author of The Whole Fish Cookbook, Josh Niland, as inspirations, the kitchen works instinctively with fire in all its forms and seasonal ingredients. Fish and seafood is sourced from Wild Harbour, a Cornish based family run company of day boats specialising in wild, sustainable and ethically caught species on the South coast. The phenomenal, stop-you-in-your-tracks Galician ex-dairy beef and Mangalitza pork comes from Txuleta. Vegetables and fruit come from local North Kent farms. The team’s passion for wine is shown in the interesting and ever-changing list with a balance of New and Old World wines. Everything on the list is available by the glass.

Start lunch or dinner with a barrel aged negroni and grapefruit, or a glass of sparkling Pelegrim, from the nearby Westwell vineyard in the North Downs, alongside a plate of Maldon rock oysters, either natural or dressed with homemade strawberry siracha and Viking sourdough and smoked cultured butter. Sharing from the small plates’ menu try the monkfish crudo with shiso salsa; octopus tentacle with mojo rioja; squid, ink rice, sobrasada and tarragon; butterflied mackerel, xo sauce and burnt lime; Mangalitza pork chop with blackberries and tarragon; 42-day aged sirloin, ancho chilli and aged beef fat butter; stuffed romano pepper, garbanzo beans, romanesco, and feta; layered crispy potatoes, bravas and aioli. For pudding, try pineapple bake, coconut and lime sorbet and grilled pineapple or brioche doughnuts and miso dulce de leche.

Part of what was once three old fisherman’s cottages overlooking the sea, the building houses Wyatt and Jones and the newest addition to the family, Flotsam & Jetsam. What started as a pop up during successive lockdowns serving takeaway seafood, frites and cocktails from a hatch from the closed restaurant, is now a permanent site. An instant hit, bestsellers on the menu include cones of fritto misto, crab dumplings, fish tacos and monkfish scampi in squid ink batter, with 14 home made sauces to choose from such as lobster mayo, squid ink hot sauce and Korean chilli. The team’s hard work didn’t go unnoticed, and they were placed on The Good Food Guide’s Platinum List as one of the 18 restaurants chosen for their remarkable resilience and for thriving in the face of the shifting realities of hospitality during the pandemic.

23-27 Harbour Street, Broadstairs, Kent, CT10 1EU

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Water Lane x Jo Thompson Garden Design

Jo Thompson (credit Rachel Warne)

Water Lane is partnering with Jo Thompson Landscape & Garden Design for the next phase of the historic walled garden

Water Lane, a Victorian two-acre walled garden near Hawkhurst in the High Weald of Kent, is partnering with RHS award-winning Jo Thompson Landscape & Garden Design, to further develop the historic site into a garden for the 21st century, combining recreation, dining, experiences, and education. Jo Thompson has established a worldwide reputation for creating beautiful and sustainable landscapes. Listed by House and Garden and Country Life as one of the country’s top ten garden designers and plantswomen, Jo has won four Gold and five Silver Gilt medals at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, and in 2017 she won the People’s Choice award at the first RHS Chatsworth Flower Show.

Water Lane is a walled garden with a vinery and Victorian glasshouses. A long-term restoration project over many years to come, the site is being managed by custodians Nick Selby and Ian James, who previously created and ran Melrose and Morgan, a grocery store and kitchen in North-West London. The site of Water Lane is a historical horticultural masterpiece with 13 Grade II Victorian glasshouses dating back to the 1800s on what was once the Tongswood Estate. Working alongside Jo Thompson Garden Design and RX Architects, the whole site is being sympathetically transformed into a productive garden with 72 no-dig vegetable and cut flower beds for the restaurant and wholesale to local florists, stock and trial beds, restored vinery, outside spaces and a pavilion for dining and events.

Ian James from Water Lane says, “We are thrilled to be working with Jo Thompson and her team. She brings a sympathetic and holistic vision that marries with our plans for Water Lane, slowly bringing back the garden to its original purpose of growing fruit and vegetables. Water Lane is not a pastiche of a Victorian walled garden. We are respecting its roots, but we want the garden to be accessible to all and have many different functions. Our aim is to create a democratic place where people can come and learn things and where skilled teachers can share their knowledge around horticulture, floral design, any kind of artisan craft and food.”

The plans for Water Lane will progress in phases and will include a rose ‘orchard’ with bulb meadow; a quince tree avenue through the green gates of the pedestrian entrance; perennial and stock beds in the south quadrant; follies and wall borders, a fruit cage pergola; children’s natural play; a forest garden and sculpture trail, nuttery and educational spaces. This summer’s planting palette includes soft purples, pinks, raspberry and apricot tones from plants such Cosmos bipinnatus ‘Apricot Lemonade’; Dahlia ‘Penhill Watermelon’; Phlox drummondii ‘Crème Brulee’; Gladiolus papilo ‘Ruby’; Althea cannabina; Erigeron karvinskianus and Ammi visnaga.

Jo Thompson says, “The extensive and long-term restoration vision for Water Lane, led by Nick Selby and Ian James, is a garden designer’s absolute dream. I am excited to peel back the layers of this historic site and truly understand its history as a horticultural masterpiece.  This is not just any restored walled garden project but a chance to re-imagine Water Lane the ‘place’, respecting its past glory as well as making it an inspirational and welcoming garden for the 21st century and beyond.”

Tongswoods Gardens
Water Lane was previously known as ‘Tongswood Gardens’. It belonged to the Tongswood estate, its name deriving from the Old English ‘Twang’ or ‘Tang’ meaning ‘fork of water’ in reference to the two streams of the river Rother which ran through the estate. Having passed through many families, the estate was bought by Mr Charles Gunther in 1903. In its heyday the two-acre walled garden employed nine gardeners who tended the 13 Victorian greenhouses, including a vinery, peach house, melon house, fern house, fruit house and carnation house. The garden produced beautiful flowers, fruit and vegetables providing ample for the main house, the house in London and even a van of surplus for the local hospital.

Jo Thompson
Jo’s designs are wide ranging - from residential family gardens, historic landscapes, public spaces and country estates to restaurant roof gardens, rooftop terraces and urban boltholes. Other current projects include working with Iford Manor in Wiltshire and the restoration of Highgate Cemetery in London with Gustafson Porter + Bowman. Jo Thompson is a member of the RHS Gardens Committee and Garden Advisor for RHS Rosemoor, an RHS judge, as well as being a member of the RHS Show Gardens Selection Panel. She lectures both nationally and internationally and is a visiting tutor at the London College of Garden Design.

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Birchwood Supper Club series

Will Devlin on the Birchwood terrace at Flimwell Park (photography credit Key & Quill)

New supper club series launches at Birchwood, Flimwell Park, East Sussex

A new series of Birchwood Super Clubs is starting on 21 July. Seated on communal dining tables, the evening will be a glorious way to celebrate summer, starting with drinks on the terrace, overlooking the woods of Flimwell Park, before sitting down to dinner, made from the finest Kent and Sussex produce.

Join chef patron Will Devlin and head chef Nick Ryan for a five-course seasonal dinner of sourdough and miso butter, kimchi cured trout, rib of beef from Paley Farm and for pudding, Lower Ladysden Farm strawberries and white chocolate mousse. It wouldn’t be a feast without a cheese course, with Kingcott Dairy’s Kingcott Blue with truffle honey.

The next Birchwood Supper Club dates are on 16 September and 17 November, starting at 7pm.

Reservations are now live and strictly limited, £45 per person.

Birchwood Supper Club on 21 July, 7pm
Table Snacks
Sourdough Bread, Miso butter
Kimchi Cured Trout, Pickled Sea Herbs, Ponzu Sauce
Paley Farm Beef Rib Eye, Tomatoes, Pink Fir Potato
Ladysden Strawberries & White Chocolate Mousse
Kingcott Blue Cheese with Truffle Honey

About Birchwood

Sitting on the edge of 46-acres of birch and chestnut trees in rural East Sussex, Birchwood is set in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Part of Flimwell Park, a pioneering mixed-use centre of coppiced woodland, Birchwood offers an all-day menu for breakfast and lunch, and is open seven days a week, from 8am-4pm.

Much like Devlin’s first two restaurants The Small Holding and The Curlew, Birchwood is guided by the landscape and self-sufficiency and focused on flavour found in the natural world. Ingredients are local, seasonal, home-grown, and wild. Championing the artisan suppliers of Kent and Sussex, the menu plays host to local cheeses, dairy, wines, spirits, and beer, while many ingredients, such as mushrooms, brambles, elderberries, wood sorrel and birch sap come from the woods, on the steps of the restaurant.

Many of the vegetables, fruit and herbs used at Birchwood comes from the one-acre farm at The Small Holding, less than five miles away in Kilndown, along with eggs, pork, lamb, hogget and mutton from free-range chickens, Berkshire pigs and Romney sheep, who live on site and at a nearby farm.

Environmental, social, and economic sustainability has been at the heart of the construction of Birchwood, with all timber sustainably sourced and weathering steel used for the window bay cladding. Onsite solar power is generated from 300 photo-voltaic cells located on building roofs, cladding, and canopies, with a grid of solar thermal units heating water directly from the sun. The car park SUDS system is made from local stone, geo-textile filtering layers and recycled plastic open-grid surfacing making up the Truck Pav system. Six Tesla charging points have been installed, with two more charging points available for other electric car brands. 

Inside Birchwood, guests have the feeling of the outdoors with a large silver birch tree installation, natural wood beams, smooth concrete floors and large black crittall windows looking out onto the woods, while the warm earth-coloured walls are painted in ‘Red Squirrel’ from Fenwick & Tilbrook. The day’s menu is projected onto the wall to avoid printing paper waste.

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Notes to editors

Birchwood | Flimwell Park | Hawkhurst Road | Filmwell | East Sussex | TN5 7FJ

About Filmwell Park

Flimwell Park, a £6 million pioneering mixed use woodland development, is nearing completion after a decade of consultation, planning and construction. A collaboration between property developer Regalmain and architect Steve Johnson of The Architecture Ensemble and a core team of foresters, ecologists and permaculturists to re-purpose the land, the site has been transformed into an inspiring new model for a sustainable woodland community that blends living, working, recreation and learning. www.flimwellpark.com

Belly London at Compton Arms, Islington

Reece Moore at Belly London, Compton Arms, Islington

Belly London
Chef Reece Moore
Compton Arms, Islington, London

Reservations via Resy
Instagram @belly.london

Belly London is the concept of Reece Moore, the new kitchen in residence at the Compton Arms, Islington, after the hugely successful Four Legs residency ended.

Originally from Australia, Reece has cooked for over 12 years in restaurants around the world, drawing influence from each, including Dabbous, Bao London and stages at The Square with Phil Howard, Portland and Core by Clare Smyth. He was sous chef at Michelin-starred Texture under Andrew Wandless and Icelandic chef Agnar Sverrisson, where he worked with Raymond Blanc, as part of a collaboration. Reece also draws influence from the classic cooking styles of Marco Pierre White, Michel Roux and Japanese sushi master, Jiro Ono.

Passionate about highlighting simple flavours and working with seasonal produce, Reece’s ethos is to cook with purpose and simplicity; his philosophy is to let the ingredients speak for themselves. The Belly London menu has modern global influences from Italy to Thailand offering small and sharing plates using predominantly local, seasonal British produce, dayboat fish and native rare-breed meat. Favourite suppliers include Henderson Seafood, Swaledale Butchers and Shrub Provisions in Sussex. The daily-changing menu might include Grilled Harissa Octopus or Feta with Honey and Sesame; Thai-inspired dishes such as Crispy Beef, Puntarelle and Thai chilli dressing or Langoustine Larb, Mint, Red Onion and Rice Powder; and Italian-style plates like Risotto Milanese with Courgette or Fazzoletti with Lamb Ragu. There are also a few classic British pub classics such as Caesar Salad and Cheeseburger.

The Compton Arms, on a pretty back street of Islington, is famously known as one of former patron George Orwell’s three Canonbury pubs, chosen as inspiration for his perfect watering hole essay, The Moon Under Water. Now a freehouse, the pub has simple, Victorian-style wooden tables in the bar and dining room and a sunny courtyard garden. At the bar try the Compton’s house lager, or dip into the list of biodynamic wines and cocktails, including three different negronis.

Sample menu

Bread and Butter   4
Fried Potatoes, Aioli   4.5
Hummus, Baba Ganoush, Tzatziki, Sourdough   9
Asparagus, Egg, Lemon   12
Feta, Honey, Sesame Seeds   10
Caesar Salad   11
Cheeseburger   10
Mackerel Crudo, Blood Orange, Onion   13
Crispy Beef Salad, Punterelle   13
Whiting on Toast, Peas   10
Fazzoletti, Lamb Ragu, Parmigiana   15
Sea Bass, Courgette, Vinaigrette   19
Saffron Risotto, Langoustine   19
Bavette, Peppercorn Sauce, Dill Pickle   18

600g T-Bone Steak, New Potatoes   45
Tiramisu   7

Lunch by the Lakes

Jamie Daltrey and Will Devlin by the lake at Lakedown Brewing Co (credit Key & Quill)

LUNCH BY THE LAKES

Lakedown Brewing Co beers paired with tasting menu cooked by chef Will Devlin 

Saturday 13 August
Lakedown Brewing Co, Burwash, East Sussex

Reservation link: OpenTable - Choose a time for your experience

@the_curlew | @lakedownbrewingco

Will Devlin, chef and owner of The Curlew and Jamie Daltrey, co-founder of Lakedown Brewing Co. frequently enjoy each other’s cooking and brews, leading to the idea of a one-off collaboration being hashed out over a beer, celebrating local Sussex ingredients and enjoyed in the beautiful setting at Lakedown. 

Lakedown is the scenic, spring-fed lakes that Roger Daltrey of The Who built in the 1970s as a peaceful oasis to escape the mania of touring. It is the location that inspired the family-run, independent microbrewery Lakedown Brewing Co., and home to their taproom bar.

The lunchtime event will take place on the banks of the lakes on Saturday 13th August, with two sittings at 1pm and 5pm.

Chef Will Devlin from The Curlew has created a six-course menu of home-grown and local Sussex ingredients which will be paired with beers from Lakedown Brewing Co. The cost is £85 per person and can be booked via OpenTable - Choose a time for your experience

Dishes shall be based on seasonal produce, but example dishes could include:
Pork Belly Miso Skewers, paired with Lakedown’s tropical, sessionable Vermont Pale
Goudhurst Asparagus, Confit Egg Yolk, paired with Lakedown’s classic and beautifully refreshing Pilsner 
Lakedown Trout, Pickles & Sour Cream, paired with Lakedown’s aromatic Pale Ale
BBQ Monkfish, Fermented Chilli & Red Peppers, paired with Lakedown’s hazy and hoppy full-bodied NEIPA
Mutton, Wild Garlic, New Season Potato, paired with Lakedown’s rich, malty American Red 

Address:
Lakedown Brewing Co.
Swife Lane
Burwash
East Sussex
TN21 8UX

Nearest station: Stonegate

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About The Curlew

Set in picture-postcard Sussex countryside, The Curlew is a Grade II listed former coaching inn with white clapboard façade and views across the fields. The 46-cover restaurant is is part of The Acre Group, led by chef owner Will Devlin, including The Small Holding and Birchwood. Inspired by The Curlew’s countryside location, while only 10 miles to the South Coast, the menu offers seasonal small and sharing plates from land and sea with a Sunday Family Lunch and the entire wine list available by the glass. Ingredients are sourced hyper-locally from the best producers and fishermen or are grown or foraged at The Small Holding, just 8 miles away. www.thecurlew.restaurant

About Lakedown Brewing Co

Lakedown Brewing Co. is a family-run, independent microbrewery and taproom in rural East Sussex, creating modern and traditional beers in can, bottle, keg and cask.

Named after the scenic, spring-fed lakes that Roger Daltrey of The Who built in the 1970s as a peaceful oasis to escape the mania of touring, this rural family farm and fishery is at the heart of the brewery’s story, as the location that inspired Lakedown Brewing Co., and home to their taproom bar. In the ever-evolving world of craft beer, Lakedown Brewing Co. aims to create delicious, honest brews to go back to time and again. The range includes nine refreshing grain-to-glass beers that celebrate flavour, simplicity and quality of ingredients. The team brews with passion, and they brew for everyone.

www.lakedownbrewing.com

Quince launches in Westgate-on-Sea

Quince is the new restaurant by chefs Ben Hughes and Rafa Lopez, in Westgate on Sea, north Kent

Quince is the new restaurant from Goods Shed alumni Rafael Lopez and Ben Hughes opening in Westgate, north Kent, on 27 May

Reservations via www.quincewestgate.co.uk
Instagram @quince_westgate

Quince is the new restaurant by chefs and co-owners Ben Hughes and Rafael Lopez. Having spent years working together at The Goods Shed in Canterbury, this is the duo’s first restaurant launch.

Launching on Friday 27 May, Quince is on Westgate’s Station Road, just 10 minutes from the north Kent Coast and within 15 minutes of many of the restaurant’s produce suppliers. The bistro-style restaurant has 32 covers and will serve British ingredients, mostly from Kentish farms, with a southern Mediterranean flair, alongside a small list of English and other world-class wines, curated by Clive Barlow, Master of Wine.

Ben and Rafa have known each other for years, having spent the last five years working together at The Goods Shed, which under Rafa as its Head Chef for twenty years, became one of the pioneers of the farm to table movement in the UK. This market and ingredient led philosophy will continue at Quince, with the team working closely with day boat fisherman on the Kent and West Coast for seafood and fish, the Quex Estate Sussex beef and lamb, Longland Farm duck, sourdough from Staple Stores, and local farmers for vegetables and fruit.

The strong kitchen team are joined by Ben’s wife Portia heading up Front of House and by recruits in both back and front of house from The Goods Shed and Sargasso, in nearby Margate.

The menu is a happy marriage of north and south European ideals and food; Rafa will reach for the olive oil, while Ben the butter, resulting in a menu that feels comfortingly familiar and is full of Mediterranean warmth.

Sample launch menu

Oysters, rhubarb and dill
Staple Stores sourdough and butter

Braised cuttlefish, hazelnuts, lovage
Sevenscore asparagus, black truffle, hollandaise
Pork, wild garlic and liver terrine, toast, fermented wild garlic
Herb, beetroot and apple salad, crisp duck egg

______

Wild bass, fennel gratin, anchoïade
Longland Farm duck, cos lettuce, PX and lentils
Lamb, courgette, mint & aioli
St George mushroom gougère, asparagus and Lord of the Hundreds

_______
Raw cream, strawberry, elderflower & lemon balm
Valhrona chocolate mousse, raspberries, tuille
Goats curd parfait, honeycomb & rhubarb
Cote Hill Lindum, quince, crackers

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For more information, please contact Hannah Blake at The Dining Room on 07730 039361 or hannah@thediningroompr.co.uk

Notes to editors

Opening hours:
Wednesday: 18.00 - 21.00
Thurs – Saturday: 12.00 -1500 and 18.00 - 21.00
Sunday: 12 -15.00

Reservations via www.quincewestgate.co.uk Instagram @quince_westgate

Will Devlin cooks at The Chef’s Table at Wilderness Festival 2022

Will Devlin from The Small Holding cooking at Wilderness 2022

Will Devlin cooks at The Chef’s Table at Wilderness Festival 2022

Tickets HERE.

Over the years, Wilderness has cemented its impeccable reputation for creating unique and memorable dining experiences filled with Michelin-starred heavyweights, globally renowned chefs, home-grown favourites, and the hottest, emerging talent on the food scene right now.

This year Wilderness presents an all-star line up of chefs who will showcase inspired menus that spotlights equality, zero waste, sustainability, seasonality and a whole platter of epicurean cuisines and styles critical to all diets and lifestyles.

Food For The Future – Zero Waste

Thursday: Will Devlin (The Small Holding)

Friday: Niklas Ekstedt (Ekstedt)

Saturday: Adam Handling (The Frog)

Sunday: Skye Gyngell (Spring)  

Overlooking the majestic Lake Superior, this year’s pioneering Chef’s Table focuses on food for the future, delivering a decadent menu whilst embracing a zero waste kitchen ethos in the field. It’s here, at The Chef’s Table, these innovative chefs will cook a 7 course tasting menu using the freshest ingredients before your eyes, at a spectacular intimate restaurant under canvas.  

Will Devlin, chef patron of The Small Holding, comments, "I'm really excited to be cooking at Chef's Table this year. The way we cook at all our restaurants in the acre group is about making the most of every part of the ingredient from nose to tail, root to flower. We rear our own animals and grow most of the vegetables and soft fruit we use at The Small Holding; when you've nurtured something from seed or bottle fed a sick lamb and put so much effort and graft in, it's impossible to even consider the tiniest wastage. Zero waste is in vogue, as it rightly should be, but for us it's just something we've always done out of sheer respect for the commitment it takes to put food on people's plates.”

Sussex Sparkling wine tasting dinner at The Curlew

Rathfinny Sussex Sparkling wine dinner at The Curlew

SUSSEX SPARKLING WINE TASTING AT THE CURLEW

The Curlew in Bodiam, East Sussex, is hosting a special wine dinner with Sussex vineyard Rathfinny on Thursday 23 June. Hosted by chef Will Devlin and Rathfinny’s brand ambassador, Richard James, the evening is part of English Wine Week (18-26 June) and will pair together Sussex ingredients with Sussex wines.

The evening will commence with a Rathfinny-inspired cocktail, followed by a four-course feast, perfectly paired with four Rathfinny sparkling wines. Brand Ambassador, Richard, will guide guests through the tasting notes of each wine and share an insight into the Rathfinny story.

The Rathfinny Feast costs £120 per person for all food, cocktail and four glasses of Rathfinny wine. The evening offers a chance to enjoy the best food and drink Sussex has to offer.

About The Curlew
Situated in Bodiam, an idyllic countryside village in East Sussex, The Curlew is an award-winning, Michelin-recommended restaurant by chef, Will Devlin. Inspired by The Curlew’s countryside location, while only 10 miles to the South Coast, the menu offers simple and seasonal small and sharing plates from land and sea. Ingredients are sourced hyper-locally from the best producers and fishermen or are grown or foraged at The Small Holding, just 8 miles away.

About Rathfinny
Established in 2010 by Mark and Sarah Driver, Rathfinny produces Traditional Method vintage Sussex Sparkling wines that are a true expression of their terroir. Produced from hand-harvested grapes that are whole-bunch pressed and patiently matured on lees and in bottle to develop rich, autolytic notes, with a low dosage that emphasises the purity of the fruit.

The Rathfinny Feast

Gooseberry & Tarragon Focaccia
Smoked Cod’s Roe Mousse
Croquettes, Fennel & Ham
Chimichurri Cured Monkfish
Chive Flower Oysters

Crispy Duck Leg, Farm Salad
BBQ Lamb Belly, Mint Sauce
Courgette Salad, Lardo
Offal Kebabs, Honey Glaze

Turbot, Sea Buckthorn & Sage
BBQ Monktail, Crispy Cheeks, Curry Sauce
New Season Potato, Anchovies
Globe Artichokes, Summer Savoury
Carrots, Prawn Floss & Nasturtium
Potato Terrine, Thyme & Chicken Skin

Strawberry & Meadowsweet Terrine
Sweet Treats

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For more information, press reviews and images please contact Hannah Blake at The Dining Room on hannah@thediningroompr.co.uk

Notes to editors

Address

The Curlew
Junction Road
Bodiam

East Sussex
TN32 5UY
www.thecurlew.restaurant

info@thecurlew.restaurant

Opening times

Wednesday 6-11.30pm (Dinner)
Thursday to Saturday 12-3pm (Lunch), 6-11.30pm (Dinner)

Sunday: 12-2.30pm
Closed Mondays and Tuesdays

The Small Holding named Restaurant of the Year

Freshly harvested beetroot at The Small Holding (credit Key & Quill)

The Small Holding has been named Restaurant of the Year in the Taste of Kent Awards 2022

The Small Holding in Kilndown, Kent has been crowned Restaurant of the Year at the Taste of Kent Awards run by Produced in Kent. The restaurant, led by brothers Will and Matt Devlin was described by the judges as “an unforgettable rural delight”. The award is given to a restaurant actively using Kent produce where and when available and demonstrating this commitment in menus and marketing.

The Small Holding has retained its Michelin Green Star for the second year and was also listed at number 25 in the Harden’s Top 100 Restaurants.

Floortje Hoette, chief executive of Produced in Kent, said, “the judges and I were blown away by the exceptional food and drink we have in Kent, and it’s wonderful to see support for buying local hasn’t faded post pandemic. This year’s winners and finalists have shown innovation, diversification, sustainable practices and immense talent within their specialist fields.”

Will Devlin, chef owner of The Small Holding, commented, “We’re really thrilled. This award is for everyone on the team, in the kitchen, on the floor and on the farm who all work so hard and really deserve this, I’m so proud.”

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www.thesmallholding.restaurant

@the_small_holding_

Ranters Lane | Kilndown | Kent | TN17 2SG

About The Small Holding

Will Devlin is the chef owner of The Small Holding, a kitchen and farm on a country lane in the village of Kilndown on the Kent and East Sussex borders. The 38-cover restaurant is number 25 in Harden’s Top 100 Restaurants in the UK and has won best restaurant at the Taste of Kent Awards. Growing, foraging and cooking the best ingredients is at the core of The Small Holding, with daily changing menus, using home-reared and home-grown ingredients from the farm, which is less than 10ft from the kitchen.

For more information, images, interview or to visit The Small Holding, please contact Hannah Blake hannah@thediningroompr.co.uk

Design Restaurant by Social Pantry opens in Chelsea Harbour, London

House cured salmon pastrami, toasted rye and smoked creme fraiche (credit Milly Fletcher)

Design Restaurant by Social Pantry to open in March at Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour

Design Restaurant by Social Pantry, an exciting new partnership with Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour, is opening in March 2022 and will launch to coincide with London Design Week 2022, 14 -18 March.

Design Restaurant by Social Pantry will be located in the Design Avenue, a stunning architectural space at the heart of the world’s premier design destination. Flooded with natural light, it will be open throughout the day, from Monday to Friday, 8.30am - 5pm. Social Pantry will also take over the running of the existing Dome Café.

The relaxed and stylish restaurant will bring something new to the renowned interior design hub. An all-day dining menu offers everything from a healthy breakfast to informal lunches - all brought to the table by the friendly team. Everything will be prepared on site with an emphasis on fresh, seasonal ingredients and frequently changing menus.

Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour is the first port of call for professional designers, architects and design enthusiasts. The Design Restaurant by Social Pantry is just steps away from 120 international showrooms, making it the perfect place for destination dining during a day of sourcing. Whether a first-time or seasoned visitor, you can make time to catch up with friends, colleagues and clients in the convivial space or pull up a stool at the bar.

Passionate about the future of food and the farmers who feed us, founder and CEO Alex Head is mindful that Social Pantry makes a meaningful impact through food and the new menu at the Design Restaurant reflects this. Fresh and simple with British and Mediterranean influences, it celebrates seasonal organic vegetables and fruits, a minimal use of red meat and a focus on conscious consumption. Social Pantry works closely with a small and carefully considered group of famers, suppliers, and producers, who mirror its values and ethos towards sustainable farming, eating and zero waste. The menus will follow the seasons closely, welcoming forced rhubarb and wild garlic in March, followed by British asparagus in April before the peas, broad beans, and early salads in Spring.

Sample highlights from the launch menu include Social Pantry granola, The Estate Dairy organic yogurt and compote; Turkish eggs and Lincolnshire poacher for breakfast. For lunch, choose from starters such as torched mackerel Caesar, with strozzapreti, artichoke pesto, pea and broad bean to follow. For pudding, there is forced rhubarb and hibiscus custard tart and Neal’s Yard cheese British plate with zero waste chutney.

A great deal of time is spent at Social Pantry committing to circular economies, zero waste initiatives and menus are designed with this in mind, incorporating nose to tail and root to flower dishes.

The wine list has been thoughtfully curated by Liberty Wines who share Social Pantry’s focus to help curb the effects of climate change, protect our vineyards and ensure the sustainability of the global wine industry. They recently became the only ‘carbon neutral plus’ UK wine supplier – offsetting more emissions than the business generates to achieve a positive environmental impact.

Supporting and championing several charitable causes, Social Pantry works closely with initiatives that connect with their values and only work with producers who follow good practice through farming, fishing, rearing, handling and producing. Collaborators include Natoora, Shrub Provisions, The Estate Dairy, Pump Street Chocolate and Toast Beer.

Alex Head, Founder and CEO of Social Pantry comments, “I’m very excited about the partnership between Social Pantry and Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour. We share many of the same values for craftsmanship and striving for excellence and we hope Design Restaurant by Social Pantry will be a destination dining experience for those wanting brilliant food and drink in the prestigious and globally recognised design centre.”

Claire German, CEO of Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour says, “we’re thrilled to be working with such a dynamic company as Social Pantry whose boundless enthusiasm, commitment to sustainability and passion for provenance is key to their core values. The permanent restaurant marks the next step in the Design Centre’s expansion, offering more reasons for visitors to spend time here. As beautiful as the designs within the showrooms, every aspect has been conceived to create the ultimate environment. The Design Restaurant by Social Pantry will be an essential ingredient of the experience, gathering people together around good food.”

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For more information about Design Restaurant by Social Pantry, interview opportunities with Alex Head or images, please contact Hannah Blake at The Dining Room hannah@thediningroompr.co.uk | 07730 039361

Notes to Editors

Address: Design Avenue, Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour, Lots Road, London SW10 0XE

Website: Design Restaurant by Social Pantry at Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour (dcch.co.uk)

Social: @social_pantry #bysocialpantry

About Social Pantry

Founded by Alex Head in 2011, Social Pantry is London’s go-to caterer for seasonal, creative and delicious food, delivering events with a social conscience, at some of London’s most prestigious venues, including Battersea Arts Centre, Central St Martins, The Serpentine and Woolwich Works. Since 2013 Social Pantry has also launched restaurant and café locations across London, beginning with Social Pantry Café on Lavender Hill in Battersea and Crane’s Kitchen, a contemporary Café Restaurant in Peckham attached to the South London Gallery, and now the launch of Design Restaurant by Social Pantry at Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour.

Founder Alex works closely with charities and enterprises that connect with the values of Social Pantry. Since 2015, Alex has been an ambassador for Key4Life, a young ex-offender’s charity who help rehabilitate ex-offenders and break the cycle of re-offending. Social Pantry offers personal mentoring, hospitality training and job opportunities to ex-offenders assisting with their rehabilitation and helping to equip them with new skills. Ten per cent of Social Pantry’s current workforce is made up of former offenders. Social Pantry also work with Bad Boys bakery, a social enterprise inside HM Prison Brixton, and Redemption Roasters, a coffee-roasters, based inside prisons, to supply goods across their locations.

@social_pantry | www.socialpantry.co.uk

About Alex Head- Founder & CEO of Social Pantry

Alex Head is the founder and CEO of Social Pantry. Social Pantry makes a meaningful impact through food and Alex works closely with charities and enterprises that naturally connect with the values of the company; offering mentoring, hospitality training and employment opportunities to young ex-offenders, assisting with their rehabilitation and equipping them with the skills they need to succeed; Alex is a proud to be the leader in ex-offender employment within the hospitality industry. Social Pantry is opening a training kitchen & café inside HMP Feltham in April 2022.

@alexhead_sp | www.alexhead.co.uk

Sustainability

Social Pantry is on a mission to become the first zero-waste caterer and in 2021 recruited Nash Gierak to the team as Sustainability Consultant. Nash’s role is to review all parts of Social Pantry, from zero waste menus to sourcing in the supply chain, to becoming single use plastic free.

Social conscience

Social Pantry is committed to creating fair opportunities for people who are skilled and able to work. During a time in which the hospitality industry is struggling for staff, it makes sense to reduce the unnecessary exclusion of capable candidates. Removing barriers to employment can bring diverse talent and essential skills into the UK workforce.

In 2021 Social Pantry was recognised as an accredited Ban the Box employer, which means the tick box that asks about criminal convictions has been removed from job application forms.

Social Pantry was one of the first 15 companies awarded the Key4 Life YOUNITED kitemark flag, for businesses which hire ex-offenders. Key4Life is a crime prevention charity which encourages companies to employ ex-offenders and give them another chance.

A weekend to celebrate the Spring Equinox at Water Lane, Kent

Poster designed by Silvana Leon @rent.a.name

Water Lane x SSAW Collective
Spring Equinox weekend 19th - 20th March

On 19th and 20th March, SSAW Collective, a community of florists, growers and chefs who create experiences that celebrate seasonality and advocate for positive change in the food and floral industries, is celebrating Spring Equinox with a weekend of events at Water Lane, Hawkhurst, in the High Weald of Kent.

Drawn to one another’s businesses by the same love for nature, craftsmanship and bringing people together, the event will welcome the onset of Spring with educational workshops led by inspiring growers Charlotte Heffernan and Chrissy Harrison, followed by a spring feasting lunch set in the Pelargonium glasshouse, by SSAW’s Head chef Lulu Cox and Water Lane’s Jed Wrobel.

Chrissy Harrison, founder of Keats Organics, an organic vegetable farm in South London, will focus on no-dig gardening techniques and soil health, while Charlotte Heffernan, head gardener at Naum House, will be demonstrating holistic cut flower growing practices and propagating. Everyone will have the opportunity to make an organic fertiliser to take home with them.

Lunch will be served to share with a menu that focuses on seasonal dishes with a produce and provenance led cooking style, created by Lulu Cox and Jed Wrobel. Guests can expect springtime dishes such as wild garlic focaccia and fava beans, nettle gnocchi, pickled pumpkin, goats curd and bitter leaves and rhubarb and custard Queen of Puddings for dessert.

The day will be a full circle celebration of Spring awakening and the garden practices that are so crucial at this time of year, as the earth starts to tilt more towards the sun, resulting in increased daylight hours and warmer temperatures. It is an important date in the growing calendar, as many plants respond with a surge of new growth. For many, it is the unofficial time to properly start gardening again, sowing seeds, adding amendments, and prepare for the season ahead. From curious beginners to seasoned growers, it is hoped there will be something for everyone, not least the opportunity to meet and share enthusiasm and set intentions for the year ahead.

Tickets cost £120 per person, including all events and lunch and are live on SSAW’s website now Shop | SSAW COLLECTIVE

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About Water Lane
www.waterlane.net | @water.lane
Walled Garden, Water Lane, Hawkhurst, Kent, TN18 5DH

Water Lane is a walled garden on the Kent/Sussex borders. Dating back to the 1800s, the site includes Grade II Victorian glasshouses, a Melon House, Cucumber House, Pelargonium House, Peach Case and a Vinery, on what was once the Tongswood Estate.

A long-term project over many years to come, the site is being sympathetically restored into a working kitchen garden with vegetable beds, cut flowers, restored vinery, outside spaces and a pavilion for dining and events. The restaurant is in the Carnation House during Winter and on the open terrace, overlooking the gardens, during Summer. There are select garden plants for sale and a small shop selling functional and beautiful objects for the house and garden.

Custodians Nick Selby and Ian James bring with them a wealth of food and horticultural passion from their previous business, Melrose and Morgan, a grocery store and kitchen with shops in London’s Primrose Hill and Hampstead. In collaboration with many partners, notably East Sussex based architectural company, RX Architects, the project has a ten-year timeline to restore the site to its full capacity as a productive walled garden with 13 Victorian glasshouses and 72 no-dig beds, measuring over 650 metres, growing vegetables, fruit, herbs to provide for the garden restaurant and cut flowers for sale, including Larkspur, Dahlias, Sweet Peas, Nigella, Honesty, Cosmos, Zinnia and Cerinthe.

Private dining room at Tallow, Southborough

Private dining room at Tallow., Southborough, Kent (credit Saltwick Media)

Private dining room opens at Tallow, Kent

The new private dining room at Tallow, Rob and Donna Taylor’s new restaurant in Southborough, Kent, has opened. Seating up to ten guests, the dining room is in a private space upstairs in the townhouse style building. The bespoke 9 course tasting menu by chef Rob Taylor includes snacks and a bread course with the further option of a tailored wine flight. Prices for the full tasting menu start at £90 per person.

New dishes on the current menu include breaded partridge breast with katsu curry mayonnaise and pickled radish; pan fried fillet of cod with crispy potato, buttered leeks and roasted prawn bisque; warm pear and gingerbread crumble tart with cinnamon ice cream.

Tallow launched in November 2021 and is open for lunch and dinner from Tuesday to Saturday. Sitting on a village green in Southborough, near Tunbridge Wells, there are 26 covers downstairs in the main restaurant with space for a further 10 upstairs in the private dining room.

The menu showcases chef owner Rob’s unpretentious style where good ingredients are elevated with a sharp attention to detail, using modern techniques and bold flavours. The monthly changing menu has three starters, three main courses and three desserts alongside an interesting and small edit of wines, spirits and cocktails. 

Tallow’s interior design is confidently pared-back with exposed brick, weathered wood and a log burning stove and the walls are painted in a rich liquorice shade.

About Rob and Donna Taylor

Rob and wife Donna Taylor met while both working in restaurants. Donna, a trained pastry chef, now runs front of house. Working for a long time together in Donna’s native Australia, the pair worked in Sydney and Brisbane in senior positions before returning to Kent to take over The Compasses Inn in Crundale, Kent. Running the acclaimed Bib Gourmand and Top 50 gastropub for 8 years, Rob and Donna achieved critical success from the hospitality industry, national restaurant critics and repeat diners, alike.

Rob comments, “We want Tallow to be a neighbourhood restaurant, the type of place we like to go ourselves. The menu will change all the time so there will always be a new menu for regular diners to try.”

“Wherever they go, I will follow” Grace Dent in The Guardian

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Notes to Editors:

Website for reservations www.tallowrestaurant.co.uk
Email info@tallowrestaurant.co.uk
Address 15a Church Road, Southborough, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, TN4 0RX
Opening times Lunch and dinner Tuesday – Saturday

All the truffles at Due South

Coal roasted wild turbot, Perigord Truffle scales, cep mushroom, salsify, parsley buttermilk by Mark Wadsworth at Due South (credit Xavier Buendia)

Truffle Dinner on Thursday 9th December at Due South, Brighton

Dine at Due South, Brighton in the heart of the winter truffle season for a five-course dinner of fresh truffles from England, France and Italy. This very special, one-time-only dinner is a chance to enjoy one of head chef Mark Wadsworth’s favourite ingredients.

The evening will start with wood fired sourdough and white truffle from Alba in Piedmont, Italy with smoked egg yolk and crispy onions; lobster thermidor crumpet with truffles from Périgord, France; coal roasted wild turbot with Périgord truffle scales and ceps and parsley buttermilk; before the star of the menu, whole truffle stuffed chicken with English truffle breast, Alba truffle stuffed wing and Périgord truffle poached leg. Even pudding is full of truffle with dark chocolate mousse, smoked salt, Périgord black truffle and truffle ice cream.

The five-course menu is £105 per person and £55 for a paired wine flight, with one sitting at 7pm. Book a table via the website www.duesouthrestaurant.co.uk.

About Due South

Due South, led by chef Mark Wadsworth, is under the arches on Brighton beach. Cooking over an open fire grill, ceramic barbecue and hearth, the menu is British and seasonal with fanatical sourcing of local, wild and seasonal produce from ethical farms and suppliers, such as Shrub Provisions and NamaYasai, to showcase its creative dishes. 80% of the menu is sourced within 35 miles of the restaurant from independent and small suppliers from Sussex farms and along the South coast.

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Due South
The Arch 139, Brighton beach, BN1 2FN
www.duesouthrestaurant.co.uk
01273 719831 @duesouthrestaurant

November at Water Lane

The green gate into Water Lane (credit Maria Bell)

Winter dining in the Carnation House at Water Lane

With the clocks having gone back and an unequivocal change in the seasons, it is time to move the Water Lane restaurant from the garden terrace into the protection of the Carnation House. Now open, guests are welcomed into the Grade II listed glasshouse for breakfast, lunch and from 24th November onwards for Water Lane’s new Festive Feasting menus in the Pelargonium House. Decked with candles, lights and foraged foliage from the garden, the Carnation House looks beautiful for the festive season. The seasonal garden menus are heartier and the puddings stickier. Hug a bowl of thick Crown Prince soup with sage croutons, followed by duck leg with lentils and green sauce; bitter leaves, Kentish Blue, pear and walnut and for pudding, pear and prune crumble or chocolate and walnut tart.

Reserve your table for breakfast or lunch HERE.

Water Lane Christmas Market
Friday 3 December, 12.00 – 18.00
Saturday 4 December, 10.00 – 16.00

A date for your diary… the Water Lane Christmas Market is on Friday 3rd and Saturday 4th December. A group of creatives, producers and makers will be setting up stalls with their wares. Come for breakfast or lunch in the Carnation House before choosing a Christmas tree and wreath to take home and shop for beautiful and original gifts including cards, candles, baskets, skin care, mince pies and puddings, charcuterie, gin and cheese. There will be a children’s craft table, hot chocolate and marshmallows and hot chestnut soup and wood fired flat breads.

Water Lane’s Festive Feasting menus launch on 24th November. Available for groups of 9+ and by pre-ordering only, these menus are designed to be shared by the whole table with large dishes placed down the centre of the table. We can cater for pescatarian, vegetarian and vegan diners.

Enquire about Festive Feasting HERE.

Water Lane Workshops x Lucy Berridge on 26 November

Receiving hand-written personalised cards and gift tags is always such a joy, for both giver and receiver. In this Modern Calligraphy workshop on 26 November, led by Lucy Berridge, you'll be taught how to pen Christmas cards, gift tags and place names for your festive table.

In Lucy’s workshop you’ll be introduced to the equipment required, inks to use, a range of papers to try and under her careful guidance, led through a range of simple exercises that develop your skills. Designed for complete beginners, or those wanting to refresh their skills, this delightful experience of gentle focused learning costs £120 per person, including tea and coffee and a two-course lunch in the Carnation House.

Book tickets Workshops — Water Lane

For more information, images, interview with Nick Selby and Ian James, or to arrange a press visit please contact Hannah Blake at The Dining Room on hannah@thediningroompr.co.uk

Harvest at Woolton Farm

Harvest at Woolton Farm (credit Saltwick Media)

Woolton Farm, Bekesbourne, Kent | October 2021

Harvest is complete at Woolton Wines Estate. The home of the Mount family in Bekesbourne near Canterbury, Kent and the 2.5 acres of vines growing Chardonnay, Bacchus and Pinot Noir, Woolton Wines have had an extraordinary year.

The Woolton estate Bacchus grapes, always the first to be picked, have produced a good harvest of quality fruit, with the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir left a few days longer to maximise sugar content levels. The balancing act required between monitoring the weather and maintaining premium quality fruit will be just one of the factors influencing the wine making team’s decisions. Plans for the 2021 vintage include a Pink Pet Net made from Pinot Noir with light skin contact and a small percentage of Chardonnay, alongside a still rose wine and a still Bacchus.

Launching in early 2021, the wines from the single estate Woolton Wines vineyard have PDO status from Wine GB producing still and sparkling white and rose wines, including Pet Nat Chardonnay and Sparkling Bacchus Charmat. The wines are garnering acclaimed industry support with high tasting scores from Clive Barlow MW and are already winning awards including the highly covetable Gold Medal at the International Wine Challenge and Gold from Wine GB.

Despite the multitude of challenges English wine producers have had this year, notably adverse weather and climate changes, Sam Mount, MD of Woolton Wines is optimistic and excited about the future of his own estate wines, and of the English wine industry. He comments, “We’ve made a very conscious decision at Woolton Wines not to be comparable. As a family we have a natural inclination towards experimentation and learning along the way and our wines have a unique flavour profile with no pretentiousness. They have a playfulness and are made in the spirit of innovation. English wine needs to have its own story, we’re not interested in mimicking French styles or even following market trends. Our wines reflect that.”

As a small, family run estate all the wines made at Woolton Farm are small batch and experimental with a display of nimble playfulness that larger, more commercial vineyards can’t compete with. 

About Woolton Wines

Woolton Wines are small batch and experimental with all the fruit coming from a single vineyard on the farm, planted in 2011. At first only enough wine was made for the family, and then for family weddings, before launching in 2021.

The vineyard is set in a sheltered site on the east side of the estate and is sheltered by a wood, which helps to protect the grapes from the cold easterly winds usually experienced in East Kent during spring time. Being on the east side also means that there is no shading from the trees, providing an exceptionally warm spot which allows for a longer ripening period.

The soil on the ridges of the farm is gravelly with a mixture of sand and clay beneath. This combination of slightly acid, free draining, gravel soil, with a nutrient rich water retaining base of sand and clay, give a unique complexity and character to the wines. 

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Introducing... Woolton Wines, Bekesbourne, Kent

Woolton Wines (credit Saltwick Media)

Woolton Farm in Bekesbourne, near Canterbury, Kent is steeped in family history and heritage where the Mount Family have been growing fruit for four generations.

Using the same ethos of provenance, authenticity and unique character that goes in to the production of the farm’s internationally award-winning cider, the family and small team have created Woolton Wines, with a limited edition run of nine wines.

A family wedding on the farm was the genesis of Woolton Wines. The wine produced for the party wasn’t just drinkable, it was excellent, and so began the journey to making their single estate wines for a wider audience. The family grow for themselves and their own tastes meaning they can focus on high quality small batches. Each year is treated independently leaving room for creativity and spontaneity over formulation and consistency. 

Under the direction of MD Sam Mount, Woolton Wines echo the people, landscape and rich textures of this much loved place in the Kent countryside. All of the wines are produced from grapes grown exclusively from Woolton vineyard with PDO status from Wine GB. The vineyard produces still and sparkling white and rose wines, including Bacchus, Sparkling Bacchus Charmat, Still Rose, Pet Nat Chardonnay and Pinot Noir Brut. The 2.5 acre site has just 3,300 vines and is divided equally into three, growing Bacchus, Point Noir and Chardonnay grapes. The south facing vineyard has a distinct and beneficial micro climate and is 145 feet about sea level and tucked beneath the top of a ridge with gravel soil and sandy clay beneath.

“
As a family business, we pride ourselves on an absolute passion for taste and flavour. From the fruit to the glass, we set out to make drinks that excite the imagination, challenging ourselves and collaborating with others all under the roof of Woolton Farm barn, a cathedral to wine and cider in the countryside.
”

— Sam Mount, MD of Woolton Wines and Kentish Pip Cider

Vines and wines

Bacchus, Pinot and Chardonnay grapes are grown exclusively at Woolton. The vineyard is set in a sheltered site on the east side of the estate and is sheltered by a wood, which helps to protect the grapes from the cold easterly winds usually experienced in East Kent during spring time. Being on the east side also means that there is no shading from the trees, providing an exceptionally warm spot which allows for a longer ripening period.

The soil on the ridges of the farm are gravelly with a mixture of sand and clay beneath. This combination of slightly acid, free draining, gravel soil, with a nutrient rich water retaining base of sand and clay, give a unique complexity and character to the wines. 

Tasting notes from Clive Barlow, Master of Wine
Sparkling Rose Pinot Noir Chardonnay Traditional Method 2014 Wow! A wonderful expression of mature classic-method notes such as roasted nuts, lemon and brioche with a fine persistent mousse, delicate and sensual. The wine is dry with the fine ripe acidity balanced by the depth of fruit and rich autolytic notes. There is a long flavoursome finish and good depth leading to a conclusion that this is more a sipping and thinking wine than a simple drinking wine. It should partner food dishes such as chicken, guinea fowl and salmon with ease and aplomb. It also has the capacity to evolve over the coming four years. 19

Bacchus Charmat 2017 A lovely scent of grapefruit and kiwi fruit leads onto a palate full of lemon, elderflower and cut grass; England on a Spring morning. The mousse is uplifting and has a good expression of tiny fine bubbles. A really refreshing mouth full. This is wine for lifting the spirits and raising a smile.  17

Sparkling Rosé Pinot Noir and Chardonnay 2015 The nose has a complex and light scent of fresh bread and brioche, with red apple hints, which leads onto a rich biscuity, complex palate. It has a fine balance of apple and red fruits with evolved nut and brioche with a smooth, harmonious feel. The wine is really well balanced and integrated, the mousse is mellow but tantalises the taste buds. This is drinking now but will hold for another 4 years.  18+

Woolton Wines are very individualistic and have started to accumulate some prestigious awards including a highly coveted Gold Medal at the International Wine Challenge 2021 for the 2014 Sparkling Rose.

Chardonnay Pet Nat 2020 (750ml, 11.5%)
A young, exciting and fresh style of sparkling wine. Aromatics of fresh pears and lemon meringue with an off-dry palate filled with sherbet acidity, pear and  a citrus peel finish.

Sparkling Rose 2014 (750ml, 12.5%)
Pinot Noir & Chardonnay, Traditional Method
Notes of roasted nuts, lemon and brioche with a fine persistent mousse. This wine is dry with the fine ripe acidity balanced by the depth of fruit and autolytic notes.

Cuvee No.1 2015 (750ml, 12.5%)
Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, Traditional Method
A very special wine with a light scent of red apple and fresh brioche, leading into a rich, biscuity, complex palate with a smooth, harmonious feel.

Pinot Noir Brut 2017 (750ml, 12%)
Traditional Method
Pale Rose hue with light raspberry and rhubarb compote on the nose. The palate is deliciously dry and delivers gentle fruit notes, umami character with a vibrant and long-lasting mousse.

Sparkling Bacchus 2017 (750ml, 11.5%)
Bacchus, Charmat Method
A lovely scent of grapefruit and kiwi fruit leads onto a palate with tiny bubbles full of lemon, elderflower and cut grass. England on a Spring morning.

Bacchus 2018 (750ml, 11.5%)
A wine to accompany English summers and alfresco dining. A fragrant nose delivering green apple, mown grass and pear notes, leading to a deeply flavoured, vibrant, fresh and dry palate of apple, apricot and lemon with hints of tropical fruits. A long, zingy finish.

Still Rose 2018 (750ml, 11.5%)
Still Pinot Noir and Chardonnay
The nose offers the scent of strawberry and red plums with a touch of crème patisserie. The palate is dry and smooth with a touch of cranberry and cream, finishing fresh and clean.

Tallow, the new restaurant from Rob and Donna Taylor

Rob and Donna Taylor at Tallow, Southborough, Tunbridge Wells (credit Saltwick Media)

Tallow

Tallow is the new restaurant from Rob and Donna Taylor opening on Friday 5 November. Reservations are open now.

Dropbox images here.

Open for lunch and dinner from Tuesday - Saturday, Tallow sits on a village green in Southborough, in the leafy surrounds of Tunbridge Wells and has 26 covers downstairs and a private dining space for 10, upstairs.

The menu showcases chef owner Rob’s unpretentious style where good ingredients are elevated with a sharp attention to detail, using modern techniques and bold flavours. Coming from East Kent, Rob Taylor brings with him a wealth of local suppliers who source from the Kent larder - game birds, mushrooms, oysters, cherries are all local. The menu offers three starters, three main courses and three desserts with a nine-course tasting menu available in the private dining room, alongside an interesting and small edit of wines. Sample dishes include treacle cured beef, glazed ox cheek, braised baby gem and English mustard clotted cream; Stour Valley quail with Kentish cherries and black pudding; crispy confit lamb, mint pesto and goats’ curd; roast loin of venison, celeriac puree, pickled girolles and potato terrine; roscoff onion and cheddar cheese tart and pickled walnut ketchup and for dessert, pressed apple mille feuille and caramelised mascarpone.

Tallow’s design is confidently pared-back providing a cocooning dining space with exposed brick, weathered wood and a log burning stove. The walls are painted a rich liquorice shade that make for an interior to feel grounded and comforted in.

Rob and wife Donna Taylor met while both working in restaurants. Donna, a trained pastry chef, now runs front of house. Working for a long time together in Donna’s native Australia, the pair worked in Sydney and Brisbane in senior positions before returning to Kent to take over The Compasses Inn in Crundale, Kent. Running the acclaimed Bib Gourmand and Top 50 gastropub for 8 years, Rob and Donna achieved critical success from the hospitality industry, national restaurant critics and repeat diners, alike.

Rob comments, “We want Tallow to be a neighbourhood restaurant, the type of place we like to go ourselves. The menu will change all the time so there will always be a new menu for regular diners to try.”

“Wherever they go, I will follow” Grace Dent in The Guardian

Notes to Editors:

Website for reservations www.tallowrestaurant.co.uk
Email info@tallowrestaurant.co.uk

Address 15a Church Road | Southborough | Nr Tunbridge Wells | Kent | TN4 0RX

Opening times Lunch and dinner Tuesday - Saturday

Bloom & Burn at Water Lane

Graeme Corbett from Bloom & Burn at Water Lane Walled Garden, Hawkhurst, Kent

Bloom & Burn floral workshops at Water Lane Walled Garden

Water Lane Walled Garden, Water Lane, Hawkhurst, Kent, TN18 5DH
www.waterlane.net | @water.lane

Water Lane Walled Garden in Hawkhurst, Kent has partnered with floral stylist Graeme Corbett from Bloom & Burn to create a series of floral styling workshops.

With dates running from the end of September to December, Gee will teach how to style seasonal British flowers, with flowers freshly cut from Water Lane’s cutting garden to make Hand-Tied Bouquets, Styling Flowers at Home, Dried Flower Centrepieces, Halloween Table Centrepieces and Christmas Wreath Making.

In each workshop you’ll learn a range of floristry top tips and tricks to arrange beautiful flowers at home. Led by Graeme, the workshop will start with a short, guided tour of Water Lane’s cutting garden, currently full of late summer blooms such as dahlias, sunflowers and rudbeckia, and will explain what flowers are in season and how Ian James at Water Lane grows and cuts flowers for floristry.

All stems will be cut and conditioned ready for use in the Carnation House and under Gee’s careful guidance you’ll be shown how to create floral arrangements using pin frogs and chicken wire for naturalistic, wild and beautiful displays, showing off the flower and foliage texture and form. Classes start from £70 including all tools, materials, refreshments and cake. Participants are also invited to book a table for lunch at Water Lane’s restaurant.

About Bloom & Burn
Bloom & Burn was launched by owner Graeme Corbett in January 2016 at the kitchen table of a flat in Archway, North London. After five years of creating floral designs for weddings, events, product launches and music videos in the capital Bloom & Burn has moved to Hawkhurst in the Kent countryside. From the workshop in a 19th century brick forge, Bloom and Burn focuses on floral styling, most recently for Jamie Oliver’s new cookbook ‘Together’ as well as teaching one to one workshops for florists and groups of flower lovers. Plans for a product range and a cutting garden are in the works. Graeme is a huge supporter of local growers sourcing British flowers for as long as the season allows and only using sustainable practices to create his designs. Instagram @bloomandburn

About Water Lane
Water Lane is an idyllic walled garden with a vinery and Victorian glasshouses in Hawkhurst, Kent and opened in July 2021. Previously known as The Walled Nursery, the site’s new custodians, Nick Selby and Ian James have taken on the long-term restoration project to sympathetically transform Water Lane into a working kitchen garden. There are 13 Victorian glasshouses, a peach case and vinery, outside spaces and a pavilion for dining and events plus 650 metres of no-dig beds to grow vegetables, fruit, herbs to provide for the garden restaurant and cut flowers for sale. The restaurant serves a short and ever-changing menu by head chef Jed Wrobel who cooks simple and elegant dishes with a focus on vegetables, either grown on-site or from nearby organic and biodynamic farms. Sample menu highlights include overnight oats, apricots, cherry compote; bacon nap and brown sauce; banana and peanut butter and maple butter on the breakfast menu and for lunch, flat bread with tomato and goats curd; summer beans, hazelnut, ricotta and basil; caponata, romesco and crispy polenta and lamb and oregano meatballs with milk and chard and for pudding, plum and almond tart with crème fraiche. There are also select garden plants for sale and a small shop. www.waterlane.net | @water.lane

Opening Hours: Wednesday - Saturdays 8.30am - 5.30pm | Sunday 9.30am - 4pm | Closed on Mondays and Tuesdays

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Birchwood, Will Devlin's third restaurant, launches on 6 October

Will Devlin on the terrace at Birchwood, Flimwell, East Sussex

Birchwood in Flimwell, East Sussex launches on 6 October.

Owned and run by chef Will Devlin, Birchwood is his third restaurant, alongside The Small Holding, which was awarded a Michelin Green Star in 2021, and The Curlew.

Instagram @birchwood_sussex | Website www.birchwoodrestaurant.com 
Open seven days a week from 8am - 4pm for breakfast and lunch only

Sitting on the edge of 46-acres of birch and chestnut trees in rural East Sussex, Birchwood is set in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Part of Filmwell Park, a pioneering mixed-use centre of coppiced woodland, Birchwood offers an all-day menu for breakfast and lunch, and is open seven days a week, from 8am-4pm. Reservations open on 3 September.

Much like Devlin’s first two restaurants The Small Holding and The Curlew, Birchwood is guided by the landscape and self-sufficiency and focused on flavour found in the natural world. Ingredients are local, seasonal, home-grown, and wild. Championing the artisan suppliers of Kent and Sussex, the menu plays host to local cheeses, dairy, wines, spirits, and beer, while many ingredients, such as mushrooms, brambles, elderberries, wood sorrel and birch sap come from the woods, on the steps of the restaurant. b

Many of the vegetables, fruit and herbs used at Birchwood comes from the one-acre farm at The Small Holding, less than five miles away in Kilndown, along with eggs, pork, lamb, hogget and mutton from free-range chickens, Berkshire pigs and Romney sheep, who live on site and at a nearby farm.

Environmental, social, and economic sustainability has been at the heart of the construction of Birchwood, with all timber sustainably sourced and weathering steel used for the window bay cladding. Onsite solar power is generated from 300 photo-voltaic cells located on building roofs, cladding, and canopies, with a grid of solar thermal units heating water directly from the sun. The car park SUDS system is made from local stone, geo-textile filtering layers and recycled plastic open-grid surfacing making up the Truck Pav system. Six Tesla charging points have been installed, with two more charging points available for other electric car brands. 

Inside Birchwood, guests have the feeling of the outdoors with a large silver birch tree installation, natural wood beams, smooth concrete floors and large black crittall windows looking out on to the woods, while the warm earth-coloured walls are painted in ‘Red Squirrel’ from Fenwick & Tilbrook. The day’s menu is projected on to the wall to avoid printing paper waste.

EAT & DRINK

Opening at 8am for breakfast, there is home-smoked trout, duck egg and sourdough crumpet; waffles with fruit compote and woodruff cream or set goat yogurt with local Goudhurst honey and summer berries. Stay for lunch after a walk in the woods for Paley Farm lamb chops and parsley dressing; skate on the bone with new season potatoes and perry vinegar dressing or farm salad with pickles and preserves. The predominantly natural wine list from nearby vineyards complements the Kent and Sussex cheese and home-cured charcuterie boards. 

Launch sample menu

Breakfast 8am-12pm

Smoked trout, duck egg, sourdough crumpet 
Set goat yogurt, Goudhurst honey, summer berries 
Berkshire pig bacon, sausage, black pudding with egg, mushrooms, potato hash and beans 
Waffles with fruit compote and woodruff cream 
Smoked kippers, brown bread and eggs 

Lunch 12-3pm

Bread & butter 
Marinated anchovies 
Crispy sweetbreads, wild garlic mayonnaise
Home-cured fennel salami, coppa and 24-month aged ham 
Summer farm Salad with pickles and preserves 
Skate on the bone, new season potatoes, Perry vinegar dressing 
Paley Farm lamb chops, parsley dressing

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Notes to editors

For more information about birchwood, high-res images, site visit or interview with Will Devlin please contact Hannah Blake at The Dining Room hannah@thediningroompr.co.uk

For more information about Flimwell Park please contact Sarah Jones at Wilderness PR sarah@wildernesspr.co.uk

Birchwood | Flimwell Park | Hawkhurst Road | Filmwell | East Sussex | TN5 7FJ

The Small Holding is an award-winning kitchen and farm in Kilndown, Kent with an ever-changing seasonal tasting menu and has a Michelin Green Star. Growing, foraging and cooking the best ingredients is at the core of The Small Holding, with daily changing menus, using home-reared and home-grown ingredients from the farm, which is less than 10ft from the kitchen.

The Curlew, set in picture-postcard Sussex countryside, is a Grade II listed former coaching inn with white clapboard façade and views across the fields. Inspired by The Curlew’s countryside location, while only 10 miles to the South Coast, the menu offers simple and seasonal small and sharing plates from land and sea. Ingredients are sourced hyper-locally from the best producers and fishermen or are grown or foraged at The Small Holding, just 8 miles away.

About Filmwell Park

Flimwell Park, a £6 million pioneering mixed use woodland development, is nearing completion after a decade of consultation, planning and construction. A collaboration between property developer Regalmain and architect Steve Johnson of The Architecture Ensemble and a core team of foresters, ecologists and permaculturists to re-purpose the land, the site has been transformed into an inspiring new model for a sustainable woodland community that blends living, working, recreation and learning. www.flimwellpark.com

Due South opens on Brighton beach

Natural oyster, pickled gooseberry, elderflower vinegar at Due South (credit Xavier Buendia)

Due South opens on Brighton beach

Due South, led by chef Mark Wadsworth, has reopened under the arches on Brighton beach. Cooking over an open fire grill and hearth, the menu is British and seasonal with Asian inspired touches.

Returning to its original location after a decade-long hiatus, Due South launched in 2004, under the same team as Riddle & Finns, before closing in 2011 to become Riddle & Finns on the Beach, which has now relocated to The Rotunda. Quickly winning acclaim from diners and critics alike, Due South was renowned, and ahead of its time, for the team’s fanatical sourcing of local, wild and seasonal produce from ethical farms and suppliers, such as Shrub and NamaYasai, to showcase its creative dishes.

Now, with the same ethos, Due South has opened once more with head chef and owner, Mark Wadsworth, cooking everything over wood, smoke and open fire. Every part of the ingredient is used, from nose to tail and root to stalk, with Mark sourcing 80% of the menu within 35 miles, working with independent and small suppliers from Sussex farms and along the South coast.

Start lunch with aperol and elderflower sour cocktail, or a glass of Sussex sparkling wine, with a selection of bites such as steak tartare, brioche toast, almonds and smoked mayo; wood fired sourdough with lardo and garlic butter and a plate of oysters, either natural, grilled seaweed butter or with pickled gooseberry and elderflower vinegar. Small plates follow with spider crab stuffed courgette flower and crab bisque; wild seabass sashimi and wasabi crème fraiche or barbecued mackerel with horseradish and cucumber. For main courses, order the dry-aged rib eye steak, caramelised shallot and burnt butter béarnaise; wood fired turbot with charred lemon; sweet miso chilli skate wing with charred lime or smoked hen of the woods mushroom with spinach and garlic gnocchi. Sides such as butter grilled kale, almonds, chilli and ginger; baked pink fir potatoes and crème fraiche and a Nutbourne tomato salad complete the meal. And for dessert, try the wood fired cheesecake with strawberries or a plate of British cheeses from Alsop & Walker, served with quince jelly, celery, pickled walnuts and biscuits.

Mark Wadsworth

Head chef and co-owner of Due South, Mark Wadsworth, began his career staging at the two Michelin starred Latymer restaurant at Pennyhill Park Hotel in Surrey, before moving to The Ginger Pig in Hove. Mark spent eight more years working in restaurants around Sussex before becoming head chef at Riddle & Finn. Mark’s inspiration for his menus draws on his food experiences from the world, and his in depth produce and ingredient knowledge.

For more information, images, interview with Mark Wadsworth or for press visits to Due South contact Hannah Blake at The Dining Room Hannah@thediningroompr.co.uk | 07730 039361