BBQ and fire cooking tools by Alex Pole Ironwork

BBQ Tools Kit by Alex Pole Ironwork

Get ready for outdoor cooking this summer with British handmade BBQ tools forged by Somerset blacksmith

www.alexpoleironwork.com

Barbecue season will start early this year with the slight easing of restrictions meaning up to six people can meet outdoors. As lockdown restrictions lift and outdoor socialising is permitted, the great British barbecue season will begin in earnest.

At Alex Pole Ironwork there is everything a keen barbecue or fire cook needs to cook over flames, including spun iron pans and skillets that can be used on open flame, skewers, spatulas and tongs.

There is a strong and growing movement towards using more sustainable cooking utensils and cookware. That movement also goes hand in hand with the increase in desire to not import goods from the other side of the world.

Alex Pole comments, “The pans we cook in, the utensils we serve with, and the cutlery we use, are as important to any meal as the ingredients, it’s all part of the flavour, and the pleasure of cooking. Why cook an organically reared, 48-day salt-aged steak that cost £40 in a £6 aluminium, chemically coated frying pan? That is about as insulting to both the cow and the farmer as you can get, not to mention the use of the chemicals to make mainstream pans ‘non-stick’.”

The tools we use in the kitchen are probably the most used items in our houses, other than our phones and devices, and as such will start to play a big role in the global push towards more environmentally conscious living - spun steel and cast-iron pans will last a life time (several in fact if well looked after). Make it properly, buy it once, and it can be passed on down the generations.

Buying properly made, British made kitchenware adds to the drive towards a cleaner world. It also adds to the flavour of the food and experience of cooking it.

Cook with Alex Pole Ironwork tools this summer.

BBQ Tools Set

The ultimate tool set for any keen fire chef or BBQ maestro, including six skewers, tongs, spatula and a meat fork, all wrapped up in a beautiful canvas roll made by Francli Craftwear in Cornwall. (£225 alexpoleironwork.com)

11-inch frying pan

Beautiful hand sun carbon steel, which is smooth and naturally non-stick, with forged handles and copper rivets. This beautiful pan will last a lifetime if cared for properly. (£135 alexpoleironwork.com)

Four-piece drinks set

Set up a bar in the garden with a corkscrew, traditional bottle opener, ring bottle opener and three cocktail spoons. The corkscrew and spoons are hand forged in ‘black’ stainless stell and the bottle opener in steel with a leather lanyard. (£135 alexpoleironwork.com)

The Forge Kitchen Cookbook

The Forge Kitchen is full of inspiration and outdoor cooking ideas and recipes. A collaboration between Alex Pole and co-author Pooch Horsburgh and 21 chefs including Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Gill Meller, Anja Dunk, Valentine Warner and Olia Hercules, each of The Forge Kitchen chefs has taken their inspiration from cookware made in the fires of Alex Pole’s Somerset forge.

The Forge Kitchen fuses traditionally made kitchenware with contemporary chefs and the very best ingredients to create a unique set of ingredients. Recipes include scallops with brown shrimp and sorrel butter by Olia Hercules; hogget with salsa verde by Gill Meller; chilli squid with ginger, basil yoghurt and sweetcorn chutney by Nathan Outlaw; beetroot tatin with roasted garlic, thyme and goat’s cheese; and piperade with baked eggs and crispy pancetta by Thomasina Miers.

“The Forge Kitchen celebrates the vital energy between great kitchen tools, great ingredients and great cooking - and the results are beautiful, satisfying and delicious.” Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, River Cottage

The Forge Kitchen is £25 and available to buy at www.alexpoleironwork.com

About The Forge Kitchenware

Alex Pole is a British blacksmith making traditionally hand-forged kitchenware and cooking utensils, made in the fires of his Somerset workshop. Forging is the ancient art of shaping metal by heating it in a fire and hammering. It is an art that is full of tradition and folklore but with many modern applications.

Alex has been working as a blacksmith for over 25 years and founded The Forge Kitchenware in 2015. He makes pieces for home kitchens, outdoor cooking and bespoke pieces for cooks, chefs and restaurants including Nathan Outlaw, Christian Stevenson aka DJ BBQ, Gill Meller, Mark Hix and Thomasina Miers. Each piece is individually forged, using local materials, wherever possible, by a small team of skilled craftsmen dedicated to producing the highest quality work. One of Alex’s primary aims is to promote blacksmithing, and the makers movement, across the UK and to show its relevance in the 21st century.

Every piece of Forge Kitchenware be it a skillet, knife, coffee scoop or an axe, starts as a simple bar of steel, which is heated and repeatedly hit on the anvil until it is the correct size, shape and style. Heat, strike, repeat! The Forge Kitchenware takes the everyday and redefines it to create beautiful and tactical, yet wholly functional, pieces of work. Each piece is designed with simple form, clean lines and functionality and are made to last a lifetime.

Notes to editors

Alex Pole Ironwork
The Forge, South Harp Farm Yard, Over Stratton, Somerset, TA13 5LB

www.alexpoleironwork.com | @alexpoleironwork

Blacksmith courses and Forge and Feast events will resume later in 2021.

For more information, interview or a site visit to The Forge, please contact Hannah Blake at The Dining Room on 07730 039 361 or hannah@thediningroompr.co.uk

Lifeforms Design designs new bar launching in Broadstairs

Visual by Lifeforms Deisgn for Reign in Broadstairs

New Art Deco Bar in Broadstairs, inspired by Art Deco architecture, designed by Lifeforms Design

Lifeforms Design has completed the project brief for the full design and kit out of Reign, a new bar and lounge launching in Broadstairs and due to launch in Spring 2021.

Designed by founder Lee Pollock at Lifeforms, which celebrates its twentieth year in the industry this year, the design of Reign is inspired by the building’s Art Deco architecture. 

With a bold use of colour including midnight blue, forest green, crystal lighting with brass and marble details, Reign is a short walk from the iconic Viking bay and will offer guests morning coffee, afternoon tea, Champagne and cocktails.

With a square footage of 1560, Reign will have a capacity for 50 guests, while the design as a whole is covid compliant and takes into account covid restrictions with spacing and screens between tables.

The building on Albion Street, in the heart of Broadstairs, was built in the 1920s, so the design decision to work with classic turn of the century elements, with a nod to Art Deco design, such as brass and the dark colour palette, was a natural choice. Lifeforms Design have included Deco Modern design details which are complementary to the architecture of the building and also to the Victorian seaside charm and heritage of Broadstairs.

The design of Reign showcases the elegance and opulence of the Art Deco movement and Lifeforms has used key features of the movement to create a breathtaking design, combining geometric shaping, marbleised texture, and metallic finishes. The dark and atmospheric colour palette adds glamour and depth to the space, while statement crystal lighting, supporting various shapes and sizes of glamorous crystal droplets and beads give off a dazzling effect once illuminated. The bespoke furniture, including banquette bar seating has been designed by Lee himself and fabricated by N&J Upholstery.

While the client, Paul and Katy King, had strong ideas for the project, there wasn’t a specific brief given to Lifeforms. Lee worked with Paul and Katy to define the brief and give shape to their ideas, which mostly came from a pinterest board. Lee comments, “Working from a blank brief can be a challenge but by gaining a clients’ trust early on we can take a limited brief and expand it to make all elements work, combining functionality and beauty.”

“We’ve really enjoyed working with Lifeforms Design. Lee understood what we wanted from the very first meeting. He has a fantastic eye for detail and passion and knowledge of his craft. We are absolutely blown away by the end result at Reign and feel it is exactly what we dreamed it would be.” Paul and Katy King, Reign in Broadstairs.

Reign will open for takeaway coffee and pastries on 1 April before the outside space opens, in accordance with government regulations, on 12 April and will open in full, on 17 May.

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About Lifeforms Design
Lifeforms Design by Lee Pollock is an award-winning design practice for restaurants and bars.

Winner at the Restaurant & Bar Design Awards, Lifeforms is based in Margate on the South East coast of England with projects all over the country from London to Leeds.

Celebrating its twentieth year in business, Lifeforms provide a full range of interiors and architectural design services across hospitality, leisure, retail and commercial industries. Colour, form and texture are a signature design trait combining luxe and industrial.

Previous projects include Auberge in Waterloo, London; Peggy Porschen Cakes in Belgravia, London; Skew Restaurant & Oyster Bar in Bishops Stortford in Essex and Livin Italy, Leeds.

www.lifeforms-design.com | @lifeforms_design

About Lee Pollock

Born in Newcastle Upon Tyne, Lee began his route into interior design working at RMJM Architects, Faulkner Browns Architects and V&A Design. Eschewing formal training, Lee learnt on the job assisting on the design, drawing and technical aspects of projects. In 2002, Lee launched his own design practice, Lifeforms Design. His first client was Town Centre Restaurants, a company which is still a Lifeforms client to this day.

With a love of clean lines, in particular the ambition of modernist brutalist architecture and colour, Lee draws inspiration from all aspects of living, from classic cars to the Lake District to the shingle on the beach of his home town of Whitstable, on the south east coast of England.

Lifeforms is now established as a leading design practice in the UK, with a reputation for creating distinctive and imaginative solutions. Lee takes an active role in each project and his experience covers projects from multiple commercial roll-out units to one-off bespoke sites.

“My goal for each project is to provide a space that stimulates, invigorates and engages users. Colour and texture are vital; the shingle on the beach, tents in a campsite, landscapes. Anything can be an inspiration.” Lee Pollock, Lifeforms Design

For all press enquiries, imagery and interviews with Lee Pollock, please contact Hannah Blake at The Dining Room PR |Hannah@thediningroompr.co.uk | 07730 039361

The Small Holding at Pub in the Park, 9-11 July

Will Devlin from The Small Holding at Pub in the Park, Dunorlan Park, Tunbridge Wells, 9 - 11 July

- Festival tour tickets on sale 19 March

- Certified as ‘Good to Go’ with social distancing where needed

- Pub in the Park festival touring eight UK locations from June to September 2021

- Live music from Craig David, Kaiser Chiefs, Rudimental and more

- Michelin-starred food created by Tom Kerridge, Paul Ainsworth, Marcus Wareing and more

- Pub in the Park is throwing a party for key workers, by giving away 8,000 tickets to local heroes

Will Devlin, chef owner of The Small Holding will be at Pub in the Park in Dunorlan Park, Tunbridge Wells, 9-11 July.  It’s the ultimate foodie festival - superstar chef Tom Kerridge will once again be bringing together incredible chefs for restaurant pop ups and live music from James Blunt, Beverley Knight, Craig David and The Lightning Seeds.

Food from The Hand & Flowers | Atul Kochhar restaurants |The Small Holding |The Half Moon Inn |The Kentish Hare

Music from James Blunt | The Kingdom Choir | The James Martin Band |The Lightning Seeds | Nerina Pallot | Paul Dunton | Craig David | Judge Jules | Paul Dunton| Beverley Knight | Toploader | Craig Charles

Tom Kerridge said: “After the year we’ve had, I think everyone deserves a good-knees up - and what better way to do it than Pub in the Park! We’re so excited to be doing what we do best, bringing back our feel-good festival to the towns we love and filling it with lush music and proper good food!”

During the weekend, Pub in the Park will stage a special session called A Thousand Thank You’s, by providing free tickets to local health care heroes and key workers across NHS trusts, the emergency services, and local people. That’s 8,000 Thank You’s across the whole tour. 

Tom Kerridge continued: “Key workers have been the true superheroes of this pandemic, and we want to say thanks by offering 1000 complimentary tickets in each of our towns so these superstars can let their hair down while enjoying some awesome music and lush grub.” 

Pub in the Park has been designed with public health restrictions in place and has been awarded the Visit Britain ‘Good to Go’ certification, meaning the tour will have covid-safety measures in place if needed, but as government restrictions ease so will the events.

Chris Hughes, CEO at Brand Events, said: “We’re thrilled to be bringing back our brilliant food, drink and music festival to eight towns in 2021. All of our events are flexible, adaptable and ready to get even more free as the country begins to unlock. We’re ready to bring the public some much needed fun - watch out for more line-up announcements and tickets on-sale soon!”

For more information please visit: https://www.pubintheparkuk.com/ 

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About The Small Holding

Will Devlin, 32, 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 34-cover restaurant has a Michelin Green Star and was voted the best restaurant in Kent 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.

www.thesmallholding.restaurant
@the_small_holding_

Ranters Lane | Kilndown | Kent | TN17 2SG

For more information, images, interview or to visit The Small Holding, please contact Hannah Blake hannah@thediningroompr.co.uk | 07730 039361

Praise for The Small Holding
A group of folk growing amazing things, then pulling them out of the ground, sometimes knobbly and lumpy, then cooking and serving them. It’s perfectly imperfect and I wouldn’t change a thing.” Grace Dent, The Guardian

“The menu reads like a list of all that is good in a British Larder. Self-sufficiency, careful sourcing, purity of intent and an absolute focus on flavour. It’s easy to fall in love with The Small Holding for the warmth of the staff, its good intent and deft execution.” Tony Turnbull, The Times

The Small Holding and The Curlew reopening on 19 May

The Small Holding, Kilndown, Kent

The Small Holding and The Curlew are opening on 19 May

After a year in lockdown, reservations are open for tables at chef-owner Will Devlin’s restaurants, The Small Holding in Kent and The Curlew, East Sussex.

www.thesmallholding.restaurant | www.thecurlew.restaurant

The Small Holding was awarded a Green Michelin Star in January, while The Curlew will reopen after first launching in February 2020 and being in lockdown, just three weeks later. The Curlew will offer small and sharing plates such as a whole rib of beef from Paley Farm, pork and kimchi dumplings or Tenterden new potatoes with Hinxden Dairy crème fraiche and caviar.

The menu at The Small Holding has evolved and Will has used the time during lockdown to refine the dining experience. The new menu is defined by hyper-seasonal and sustainable ingredients with a focus on the farm’s own produce, but undefined by the number of courses or choice. There will be no formal menu at The Small Holding. Instead, guests will be offered a multi-taste dining experience featuring the best ingredients on that day from the farm and local suppliers. Vegetables and fruits from the farm, harvested within hours of guests arriving, foraged ingredients, homemade charcuterie and zero waste animal cookery from the farm’s own livestock is the main focus.

The new style menu starts with home-made kombucha or broth and breads and fresh butter, made on site with the rich yellow cream from a local herd of Guernsey and Holstein Friesian cows. The menu falls into themes such as ‘The Farm’ with raw peas, elderflower and radishes; ‘The Glut’ with Kohlrabi, green apple and yarrow; ‘Preserves’ of fermented roots and smoked bacon broth; ‘Cured’ with homemade fennel salami and sourdough; ‘Fish’ with oyster, chive and pickle; crab, chamomile and fennel; lobster and tomato and ‘Sweet’ with gooseberry, honey and cream; carrot, cream cheese and hogweed; strawberry, meadowsweet and basil.

The restaurant is open Wednesday to Saturday for lunch and dinner costing £75 per head and for Sunday lunch. A drinks flight including juices, shrubs, wines, beers and kombucha will also be available.

Will Devlin says, “Lockdown gave me the opportunity to focus on our purpose and to remember what The Small Holding is about, which is the deep connection between the farm and kitchen and a sense of place. We nearly lost it all and we need to remember what we’re fighting for. Lockdown has been a massive opportunity to realise that.”

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www.thesmallholding.restaurant
@the_small_holding_

Ranters Lane | Kilndown | Kent | TN17 2SG

About The Small Holding

Will Devlin, 32, 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 26-cover restaurant was voted the best restaurant in Kent at the Taste of Kent Awards and is set in one acre of land, permitting a unique connection between farm and table. 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.

Will’s second site, The Curlew, a former 17th century coaching inn in Bodiam, East Sussex opened in February 2020 and is 8 miles from The Small Holding. www.thecurlew.restaurant

For more information, images, interview with Will Devlin or to visit The Small Holding or The Curlew, please contact Hannah Blake hannah@thediningroompr.co.uk | 07730 039361

Praise for The Small Holding
A group of folk growing amazing things, then pulling them out of the ground, sometimes knobbly and lumpy, then cooking and serving them. It’s perfectly imperfect and I wouldn’t change a thing.” Grace Dent, The Guardian

“The menu reads like a list of all that is good in a British Larder. Self-sufficiency, careful sourcing, purity of intent and an absolute focus on flavour. It’s easy to fall in love with The Small Holding for the warmth of the staff, its good intent and deft execution.” Tony Turnbull, The Times

“Striding confidently into its second year, Will Devlin’s restaurant shows no sign of slowing down, ‘a truly sensational experience’ is one fan’s heartfelt comment. The level of ingenuity generated by a kitchen on turbo drive, fuelled by its own small holding, hen coop and piggery is prodigious.” Will Devlin was named ‘Chef to Watch’ in The Good Food Guide 2020.

Praise for The Curlew

“I must tell you about The Curlew, a restaurant by Will and Matt Devlin, the same brothers who opened The Small Holding in Cranbrook on the Kent-Sussex border last summer… They deserve a bit of smoke blown up their trouser legs for everything they and their excellent staff have achieved in the past 12 months, too. It’s not easy to do clever, complex, locally sourced dining in rural places without coming across as overly earnest and saintly, offering the locals lovely things without a jot of pretension. Almost as lovely as this job gets” Grace Dent, The Guardian

Kid goat offal added to the Cabrito Goat Meat webshop

Cabrito kid heart goulash

Kid goat offal added to the Cabrito Goat Meat webshop

www.cabrito.co.uk/shop

New products, including kid heart and kid liver have been added to cabrito.co.uk, the consumer retail arm of Cabrito Goat Meat. Both cuts are a delicacy and prized by those who love offal. It’s lean, nutritious and simple to cook.

Selling offal via online delivery can be complicated but James Whetlor, ex-chef and founder of Cabrito has reacted to consumer demand for the product.

Since pivoting from restaurant sales and wholesale during lockdown, Cabrito has seen consumer online sales through the website increase by 530%, year on year (Jan ’21). To reflect the increasing demand and appetite from consumers, Cabrito sells kid and ex-dairy nanny goat meat including leg, shoulder, chops, racks, neck, diced and mince plus burgers and sausages. Goat meat is becoming more mainstream as chefs and food writers including Thomasina Miers, Gizzi Erskine and Zoe Adjonyoh cook with it.

James Whetlor comments, “We’ve been asked many times to sell what St John restaurant calls ‘the slippery bits’ for a long time. Offal is very sensitive so it’s taken a while to work through the logistics and treat it right, but I finally feel we can do it justice and have been delighted by the customer demand and response. Carcass balance and using every part of the animal is really important to us, so being able to sell the offal is another way Cabrito is committed to nose to tail and zero waste.”

Cabrito Kid liver is £5 per 600g

Kid liver is delicious served pink after being seared quickly in a hot pan. Try seasoning with cumin and chilli and serving with chopped salad, seasoned yoghurt sauce and lemon wedges, to squeeze over.

Cabrito Kid heart is £4 per 300g (2 pack)

Kid heart needs a little trimming, before slowly braising with onions, sweet paprika, passata and sour cream for a Hungarian style goulash and served with wide ribbon pasta, boiled potatoes or rice.

Cabrito kid offal can be bought online at www.cabrito.co.uk/shop

About Cabrito

Cabrito’s one sentence mission statement is to put all billy goats born into the dairy industry into the meat industry.

Devon based James Whetlor used to be a chef having worked in London for ten years and at River Cottage and knew he could do something about the plight of the male billy goats, who are historically euthanized at birth in the dairy industry. Calling on his 10 years of chef experience and contacts in London, James began working with goat dairies to supply restaurants.

James is International Director of Goatober working with partners in America, Europe and Australia and is consultant for the European ‘Food Heroes’ project, which aims to end food waste in farming across the EU.

James’ first book GOAT: Cooking and Eating (Quadrille Books) has been widely acclaimed as genre-defining and won a James Beard Foundation Award for best single subject book. His second book, Cooking on the Big Green Egg is publishing on 15 April, 2021 (Quadrille Books).

Instagram @cabritogoatmeat

Ooni x Alex Pole Ironwork #100axes

Axe designed by Alex Pole for Ooni Pizza

OONI PIZZA OVENS LAUNCHES OONI AXE IN COLLABORATION WITH BRITISH BLACKSMITH ALEX POLE

Ooni Pizza Ovens, the world’s number one pizza oven company, has launched a limited-edition Ooni Axe in collaboration with British blacksmith Alex Pole Ironwork.

A first for the brand, the Ooni Axe is a unique, original piece forged by hand, heat, and hammer.

The Ooni Axe is the result of a distinctive partnership with Master Blacksmith Alex Pole and his assistant Joe Garnett, who share the same passion for craft and fire as the pizza oven brand. With nearly 30 years’ experience, Alex Pole Ironwork was established in 2006 and delivers high-quality, hand-forged kitchenware, utensils and tools.

The Ooni Axe is forged from top quality Swedish steel where every stroke is unique to that individual product and offers a blend of cutting-edge modern design principles and the most ancient of crafts.

Alex Pole, Founder of Alex Pole Ironwork, said: ‘It has been a fantastic opportunity for all of us at The Forge to work with Ooni on this very special collaboration. The axes that we have forged embrace the values of simplicity, function and traditional craftsmanship - a tool to last a lifetime.’

The handle is crafted from only the finest cuts of exquisite Ash, hand-selected by Sam Morris at the Axe & Edge Tool Co. They are hand-sanded and stained with an ebony wood stain and coated with a protective linseed oil to provide a premium, smooth finish. 

Kristian Tapaninaho, Ooni CEO and founder, said: “ When we decided to create a new axe to capture our love of fire-building, we knew we wanted to make something different and unique, and we needed a partner with that same passion to help deliver our vision. Master Blacksmith Alex Pole is that man. We recognised the same shared passion for craft and fire. And so - the Ooni Axe was born.”

The Ooni Axe is now available for $299 / £249 / €299 from uk.ooni.com. To explore the full Ooni product range, visit uk.ooni.com.

About Alex Pole Ironwork

Alex Pole Ironwork was established in 2006 to deliver high-quality, functional products for the home and garden. The business has slowly evolved over the years and now specialises in hand-forged kitchenware and utensils. 

Only traditional techniques are used at the forge and all work is forged by hand and, wherever possible, materials are sourced from the local area. One of the brand’s primary aims is to promote blacksmithing, and the makers movement, across the UK and to showcase its relevance in the 21st century.

Alex Pole started Art college in 1991 where he first studied jewellery making, then architectural ironwork. In 2013, Alex travelled to Sweden to attend a course at Gransfors Bruks, the world-renowned axe-making centre, and discovered a great love of toolmaking. From this point on, he moved his work in a new direction and included knife and axe-making, as well as developing a wide range of kitchenware.

Alex’s main role today is to design and prototype new products, often assisted by the whole team, and to develop the Forge Kitchenware brand.

Green Michelin Star for Will Devlin at The Small Holding

Will Devlin at The Small Holdinh

The Small Holding, Kent has been awarded a Michelin Green Star in the Michelin Guide 2021.

The new star was given to chef Will Devlin via a digital awards ceremony on Monday 25 January, presented by Kent based TV presenter Davina McCall.

This is the first year Michelin has awarded its green star for sustainable gastronomy to 23 restaurants in the Great Britain and Ireland guide 2021, after debuting in the French 2020 guide.

The award recognises restaurants with a focus on environmental practices and is only awarded to those which hold a Plate, Bib or Star distinction. Many, like Will Devlin at The Small Holding work directly with growers, farmers and fishermen, forage in hedgerows and woodlands and grow their vegetables and rear animals. Other recipients of this year’s Green Star include Black Swan, York; Coombeshead Farm, Launceston; L’Enclume, Cumbria; Restaurant Sat Bains, Nottingham and Silo, London.

Will Devlin, chef owner of The Small Holding, commented, “What an incredible feeling! This Green Star encompasses everything about The Small Holding and our drive for sustainability. 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.”

Gwendal Poullennec, international director of the Michelin guides commented, ‘These restaurants are not only an inspiration for the industry but also for all the readers and users of the Michelin Guide.”

www.thesmallholding.restaurant
@the_small_holding_

Ranters Lane | Kilndown | Kent | TN17 2SG

About The Small Holding

Will Devlin, 32, 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 26-cover restaurant was voted the best restaurant in Kent at the Taste of Kent Awards and is set in one acre of land, permitting a unique connection between farm and table. 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.

Will’s second site, The Curlew, a former 17th century coaching inn in Bodiam, East Sussex opened in February 2020 and is 8 miles from The Small Holding. www.thecurlew.restaurant

For more information, images, interview or to visit The Small Holding, please contact Hannah Blake hannah@thediningroompr.co.uk | 07730 039361

Praise for The Small Holding
A group of folk growing amazing things, then pulling them out of the ground, sometimes knobbly and lumpy, then cooking and serving them. It’s perfectly imperfect and I wouldn’t change a thing.” Grace Dent, The Guardian

“The menu reads like a list of all that is good in a British Larder. Self-sufficiency, careful sourcing, purity of intent and an absolute focus on flavour. It’s easy to fall in love with The Small Holding for the warmth of the staff, its good intent and deft execution.” Tony Turnbull, The Times

“Striding confidently into its second year, Will Devlin’s restaurant shows no sign of slowing down, ‘a truly sensational experience’ is one fan’s heartfelt comment. The level of ingenuity generated by a kitchen on turbo drive, fuelled by its own small holding, hen coop and piggery is prodigious.” Will Devlin was named ‘Chef to Watch’ in The Good Food Guide 2020

The Forge Kitchen cookbook

The Forge Kitchen cookbook by Alex Pole and Pooch Horsburgh (£25)

The Forge Kitchen Cookbook
Alex Pole, £25

The Forge Kitchen is a collaboration between Alex Pole and co-author Pooch Horsburgh and 21 chefs including Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Gill Meller, Anja Dunk, Valentine Warner and Olia Hercules. Each of The Forge chefs has taken their inspiration from cookware made in the fires of Alex Pole’s Somerset forge. The pans we cook in, the utensils we serve with, and the cutlery we use, are as important to any meal as the ingredients, it’s all part of the flavour, and the pleasure of cooking.

Blacksmiths have been forging iron for many thousands of years and a staple of their craft has been the production of kitchenware and cooking implements. The hearth has always been the centre of family life - providing both warmth and sustenance by means of a heat source - and that is still the case today. In fact, it seems to be becoming more and more popular to cook on an open fire, either indoors or out, and the best way to do this is by using iron utensils.

The Forge Kitchen fuses traditionally made kitchenware with contemporary chefs and the very best ingredients to create a unique set of ingredients. Recipes include scallops with brown shrimp and sorrel butter by Olia Hercules; hogget with salsa verde by Gill Meller; chilli squid with ginger, basil yoghurt and sweetcorn chutney by Nathan Outlaw; beetroot tatin with roasted garlic, thyme and goat’s cheese; and piperade with baked eggs and crispy pancetta by Thomasina Miers.

“The Forge Kitchen celebrates the vital energy between great kitchen tools, great ingredients and great cooking - and the results are beautiful, satisfying and delicious.” Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, River Cottage

The Forge Kitchen is £25 and is available from the online shop on www.alexpoleironwork.

Alex Pole Ironwork at The Forge

Alex Pole Ironwork kitchenware

The Forge Kitchenware

Alex Pole is a British blacksmith making traditionally hand-forged kitchenware and cooking utensils, made in the fires of his Somerset workshop. Forging is the ancient art of shaping metal by heating it in a fire and hammering. It is an art that is full of tradition and folklore but with many modern applications.

Alex has been working as a blacksmith for over 25 years and founded The Forge Kitchenware in 2015. He makes pieces for home kitchens, outdoor cooking and bespoke pieces for cooks, chefs and restaurants including Nathan Outlaw, Christian Stevenson aka DJ BBQ, Gill Meller, Mark Hix and Thomasina Miers. Each piece is individually forged, using local materials, wherever possible, by a small team of skilled craftsmen dedicated to producing the highest quality work. One of Alex’s primary aims is to promote blacksmithing, and the makers movement, across the UK and to show its relevance in the 21st century.

Every piece of Forge Kitchenware, be it a skillet, knife, coffee scoop or an axe, starts as a simple bar of steel, which is heated ad repeatedly hit on the anvil until it is the correct size, shape and style. Heat, strike, repeat! The Forge Kitchenware takes the everyday and redefines it to create beautiful and tactical, yet wholly functional, pieces of work. Each piece is designed with simple form, clean lines and functionality and are made to last a lifetime.

Blacksmith courses and Forge and Feast events will resume in 2021.

Alex Pole is founder of The Forge Kitchenware.

Day to day, Alex’s main role is designing new products, often assisted by the whole team and developing the Forge Kitchenware brand.

“I have always had a fascination with metals for as long as I can remember. From sitting with my mum watching her make jewellery as a four-year-old to casting lead soldiers in my pre-teens, it feels like I've always been drawn to this material.

I started back in 1991 with attendance to art college to first study jewellery making, then architectural ironwork. After that came the wandering years - filled with travel, training, exploration, experimentation and a beer or two.

In 2013 I travelled to Sweden to attend a course at Gransfors Bruks, the world renowned axe making centre, and discovered a great love of tool making.  From then on I moved my work in a new direction - this included knife and axe making, as well as developing a wide range of kitchenware. Blacksmithing is not just a craft to me , but a way of life, and one that gives great satisfaction not only to me but, I hope, others as well.”

Valentine's Day from Will Devlin at The Small Holding and The Curlew

Barbecued lobster, fermented tomatoes, sea buckthorn & chervil butter (Key & Quill)

Valentine’s Day from chef Will Devlin at The Small Holding, Kent and The Curlew, Sussex

Chef Will Devlin has created two special Valentine’s Day menus from his restaurants The Small Holding in Kilndown, Kent and The Curlew in Bodiam, Sussex. Both menus are exceptional dining experiences safely delivered to your doorstep while all the prep and hard work has been done, meaning all that is needed is to add the finishing touches, plate up, and enjoy.

Using the best from the farm, land and sea starting with a bottle of English sparkling the menus include home-cured trout, pickled oysters, lobster and venison and of course, chocolate. Each of these elements come with full and easy instructions from chef Will Devlin.

Each menu is available to pre-order now on The Small Holding’s website, until 5pm on 10 February, for local delivery on 13 February.

Valentine’s Menu from The Small Holding

Bottle of Squerryes 2016
Bacon & onion brioche, cultured butter
Oysters pickled in wild garlic vinegar
Wild venison, salt baked celeriac, preserved vegetables
Barbecued lobster, fermented tomatoes, sea buckthorn & chervil butter
Creedy Carver duck breast, slow cooked leg, roasted squash, seaweed sauce
Miso & chocolate pudding, blackcurrant jam
Arthur Allsop’s Winter Truffle Camembert
£180 for two

Valentine’s Menu from The Curlew

Bottle of Oastbrook Sparkling Rose
Gin cured trout, fennel salami from The Small Holding, kimchi squash dumplings
45-day aged rib of beef, triple cooked chips with smoked rosemary salt, winter salad & Sussex Blue cheese sauce
Double chocolate & salted caramel shortbread, preserved cherries, meadowsweet cream 
£120 for two

About The Small Holding

Will Devlin, 32, 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 26-cover restaurant was voted the best restaurant in Kent at the Taste of Kent Awards and is set in one acre of land, permitting a unique connection between farm and table. 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.

www.thesmallholding.restaurant
@the_small_holding_
Ranters Lane | Kilndown | Kent | TN17 2SG 

 For more information, images, interview or to visit The Small Holding, please contact Hannah Blake hannah@thediningroompr.co.uk | 07730 039361

Praise for The Small Holding
A group of folk growing amazing things, then pulling them out of the ground, sometimes knobbly and lumpy, then cooking and serving them. It’s perfectly imperfect and I wouldn’t change a thing.” Grace Dent, The Guardian

“The menu reads like a list of all that is good in a British Larder. Self-sufficiency, careful sourcing, purity of intent and an absolute focus on flavour. It’s easy to fall in love with The Small Holding for the warmth of the staff, its good intent and deft execution.” Tony Turnbull, The Times

Cooking on the Big Green Egg

Cooking on the Big Green Egg by James Whetlor, Quadrille, April 2021

Cooking on the Big Green Egg
Everything You Need to Know from Set-Up to Cooking Techniques, with 70 Recipes

By James Whetlor, published by Quadrille, foreword by Tom Kerridge
1st April 2021, Hardback, £25

Big Green Egg is the pioneer redefining British Barbecue. With a cult following amongst BBQ experts around the world, Big Green Egg has been helping people discover the true meaning of flavour for over 40 years. Rapidly gaining favour amongst keen home cooks who want to cook restaurant quality food, the EGG is a favourite of celebrities such as David Beckham, Holly Willoughby, James Martin and Meghan Markle, and loved by some of the UK’s best chefs including Tom Kerridge, Gordon Ramsay and Daniel Clifford.

The EGG is a kamado-style grill that heats up to 1,000°C using NASA inspired ceramics to hold the temperature rock steady, with a burn time of 18 hours of cooking time, meaning anything from slow-smoked brisket to roast chicken, pizza or even smoked oysters are now easy to achieve. As more and more enthusiasts realise what a versatile and practical piece of cooking hardware the EGG is, experts and amateurs alike are looking for recipes to test out their skills and maximise the EGG's capabilities.

Cooking on the Big Green Egg introduces a new range of techniques previously never possible on the traditional barbecue and gives instructions and recipes for everything you'd ever want to cook on it. Award-winning author of Goat: Cooking and Eating, James Whetlor, guides the reader through the basics of using a Big Green Egg, with a full explanation of how to maxmise its cooking potential, including: How does it work? How do I get started? How do I grill, smoke, pan-cook, cook on direct or indirect heat?

With James's advice, tricks, tips and methods, you're ready to cook your way through 70 original recipes including meat and joints, whole fish, vegetables and jaw-dropping BBQ feasts. With this book by your side, you’ll go from beginner to EGGspert in no time, and be cooking, eating and enjoying delicious food with unparalleled flavour.

About the Author

Winner of a James Beard award for his first book Goat: Cooking and Eating (Quadrille, £20) James Whetlor is the founder of ethical meat business Cabrito Goat Meat. He worked as a chef for 12 years in London, before moving back to his hometown in Devon and working at River Cottage. His award-winning business Cabrito now sells goat meat to restaurants, catering businesses and supermarkets, from a network of farms across the country, as well as his own online shop. Goat also won the Guild of Food Writers Best Single Subject Food Book of 2019.

Feature Ideas

-   Things You Never Knew You Could BBQ: From curries to Christmas dinner, keep grilling all year round

-   Playing with Fire: You’ve invested in a BBQ, now here are the 12 essential recipes you need to become a true grill-master

-  Summer Sizzlers: Menu ideas for BBQ season that will please the whole family 

-   Green Grilling: Barbecuing isn’t just about meat, learn the best ways to barbecue vegetables and even puddings

-   The Heat is On: A guide to charcoal, how it affects the grill and where to buy the best coals

Big Green EGG

The Big Green Egg is the choice of top restaurant chefs and enables home cooks to achieve restaurant quality food at home. The charcoal-fuelled, ceramic Big Green Egg uses state-of-the-art patented technology that is ready to cook on in 12 minutes and provides 80+ hours of cooking in one bag of charcoal. The advanced ceramic insulation and airflow vent accurately control the temperature to maximise cooking time for unprecedented ease of use and complex depth of flavour. Walk away for hours in the confidence the EGG’s temperature will remain rock solid and food is cooked to perfection.

For more information about the book, Big Green Egg or James Whetlor, please contact Hannah Blake at The Dining Room on hannah@thediningroompr.co.uk or 07730 039361

The Small Holding at Home

Duck leg, borlotti beans and chanterelles at The Small Holding, Kent

The Small Holding at Home

The Small Holding at Home is an exceptional dining experience safely delivered to your doorstep from Will Devlin and his chefs at The Small Holding in Kilndown, Kent. The Small Holding team have done all the prep and hard work meaning all that is needed is to add the finishing touches, plate up, and enjoy.

Creating a restaurant quality experience at home is now possible. Using fresh from the ground autumn and winter produce from the farm, The Small Holding team have created three different set menus, with additional bread, charcuterie, cheese plate, wines, beers and soft drinks to choose from, too. The menus will change each week so there will also be a new dining experience from The Small Holding to try at home. Custom from the At Home meals are vitally important as Kent is in Tier 3.

Each menu includes several ready to serve dishes such as home smoked salmon, slow cooked goat terrine or apple and cobnut cake. The main course for each menu has a few elements to be finished at home such as bone in pork chops from The Small Holding’s own rare breed Large Black pigs, hand-dived scallops from Orkney and pan roast venison loin. Each of these elements come with full and easy instructions from chef Will Devlin.

Each menu is available to pre-order for local delivery or collection on Friday or Saturday night and costs from £35 per person.

Will Devlin says, “Our At Home boxes will help us survive this second lockdown but it’s more than that, it’s also about telling a story through the ingredients we grow on the farm and championing the community of incredible suppliers who work with us, such as cheese from Alsop & Walker, cream from Hinxden Dairy, English sparkling wine from Squerryes and craft beers from Cellar Head. We can only get through this if we work together as a community because, together is stronger.”

For Friday and Saturday dinner, orders are available for delivery and collection via pre-booked time slots. Order by 12pm for dinner on Friday or by 12pm on Thursday for dinner on Saturday. Diners are also welcome to collect between 12pm-4pm on their chosen day.

The Small Holding at Home

Menu one                                                          
Home smoked salmon, pickled cucumber, fennel & radish salad
Creedy Carver duck leg, bean stew, chanterelles
Apple & cobnut cake, cream cheese icing

Collection £35pp and delivery £45pp.      

Menu two
Slow cooked goat terrine, preserved vegetables & truffled cheese
Tamworth pork chop, potato & sage terrine, red cabbage, cider sauce
Miso mousse and pine marshmallow

Collection £45pp and delivery £55pp.

Menu three
Grilled Orkney scallop, pumpkin, Exmoor caviar
Wild venison, smoked potatoes, swede fondant, salted baked beetroot, bacon & chestnuts  
Sea buckthorn & dark chocolate tart, meadowsweet cream

Collection £50pp and delivery £60pp.      

-ends-

About The Small Holding

Will Devlin, 32, 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 26-cover restaurant was voted the best restaurant in Kent at the Taste of Kent Awards and is set in one acre of land, permitting a unique connection between farm and table. 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.

Praise for The Small Holding
A group of folk growing amazing things, then pulling them out of the ground, sometimes knobbly and lumpy, then cooking and serving them. It’s perfectly imperfect and I wouldn’t change a thing.” Grace Dent, The Guardian

“The menu reads like a list of all that is good in a British Larder. Self-sufficiency, careful sourcing, purity of intent and an absolute focus on flavour. It’s easy to fall in love with The Small Holding for the warmth of the staff, its good intent and deft execution.” Tony Turnbull, The Times

The New Meat Project launches

Sushila Moles from The New Meat Project

The New Meat Project is a new online butchery launched by Cabrito Goat Meat co-founder and ex-River Cottage events director, Sushila Moles.

From field to fork, ordering fresh meat online from independent farmers reared in the traditional way, has never been simpler. The New Meat Project is an online butchery service delivering native breed, free-range and grass-fed meat from small farms in the Malvern Hills which have been slow-grown to the highest welfare standard. Delivery is convenient and environmentally conscious from farm to doorstep and is fairly priced for both the customer and the farmer.

Founder Sushilia Moles says, “Our mission is to encourage people to change the way they buy meat, to no longer accept the disappointing industrialised food from supermarkets and instead make the choice to support small-scale, family-run farms. Buying meat online, which is farmed using traditional and high welfare, sustainable practices is often too expensive, which is why we focus on offering a fair price to our customers and the farmers we work with, without ever compromising on the provenance of the meat or our environmental policy. I believe good food should be for everyone and we promise the best quality meat at fair prices for both the customer and farmer, which is better for the health of your family and the health of the planet.”

The New Meat Project only works with small farms in the Malvern Hills which are within 75 miles of each other, and with farmers who rear their native breed animals outdoors and to the highest possible welfare standards. The stretch of land between the Wye Valley and the Cotswolds, taking in the River Severn and the Malvern Hills, provides some of the best farmland in the UK, rich in space and fertile soil and grass. All animals travel no more than an hour from the farm to a local, small and family-run slaughter house.

Pigs
The New Meat Project pigs are traditional native breeds including Hampshire, Large Black and a few Welsh sows that lead a properly free-range life on the farm. The sows and boars all live together, mainly living in wooded and scrub areas where their favourite natural behaviour is to root and forage, which in turn gives life to new grasses and wildflowers the following year. They have a happy life and slowly reach maturity for a superior, deep flavour with excellent texture and covering of fat.  

Cows
The New Meat Project heritage breed beef is 100% grass-fed. The calves are born in the field and live outside with their mothers, all year round, only coming in if the weather is so wet that they can't find enough grazing. The Hereford and Aberdeen Angus are two of the best native breeds in Britain, both with rich, beefy flavour, good marbling and layer of fat. All beef is dry-aged for a minimum of 28 days to develop an extra layer of  flavour.

Lamb
The New Meat Project lamb comes from one farmer who grazes his sheep on pasture at the foot of the Malvern Hills. It has won best in show at the Three Counties Show many times over the years. The lamb is 100% grass-fed and hormone and antibiotic-free and the animals spend their entire lives outside. The meat is hung for 10 days to develop flavour and texture.

Chickens
The New Meat Project chickens are fully free-range and slowly grown to the high standards of the Soil Association. The birds are free to roam from dawn to dusk, scratching, pecking and spreading their wings, while at night they come inside to bed in their sheds. With over 50 years of farming experience, the high-welfare calm lifestyle of these chickens is evident in the taste of the meat. 

Founder
The New Meat Project is founded by Sushila Moles. Having gained a Masters in Food Anthropology and worked in food related businesses all of her life, Sushila has first-hand experience that farming is a force for good in society. Her working life has taken her from Michelin-starred restaurant, Rhodes 24 as head waiter to La Fromagerie in Marylebone, where she could indulge her love of cheese and to River Cottage, where she played a lead role in promoting one of the country’s best known sustainable and ethics driven businesses. Sushila is also co-owner of Cabrito, the multi award-winning goat meat business, run by her partner James Whetlor, that has been at the forefront of changing the UK goat dairy practice of euthanizing unwanted male kids and rearing them for meat instead. These experiences combined have convinced her of the importance of high welfare, low impact meat in our food system, both for our own health, the health of our communities and for the health of the planet.

For more information about The New Meat Project or founder Sushila Moles, please contact Hannah Blake at The Dining Room on 07730 039361 or hannah@thediningroompr.co.uk

The Christmas Box

The Christmas Box from The Small Holding and The Pure Meat Company

A collaboration between The Small Holding and The Pure Meat Company

This Christmas order a restaurant quality dinner box from The Small Holding, Kent. Chef Will Devlin from The Small Holding and farmer Tom Cunningham from The Pure Meat Company have created The Christmas Box, filled with everything needed for the main eating event on Christmas Day. This unique partnership sees Kent’s best farm-to-table chef collaborate with a first-generation farmer, who is committed to rearing meat that is ethical and sustainable.

Filled with farm-fresh and restaurant quality ingredients, The Christmas Box centerpiece is a fully free-range bronze turkey, naturally reared on Tom’s farm in Shadoxhurst, Kent, alongside pigs in blankets and stuffing balls from the farm’s free-range Tamworth pigs.

The Christmas Box starts at £130 serving 2-3 people with a boned turkey breast and a boned and stuffed turkey leg, sausage stuffing balls, pigs in blankets, roast potatoes, honey roast parsnips, glazed butter and thyme carrots, braised red cabbage, buttered leeks, redcurrant sauce, bread sauce and roast turkey gravy. All the vegetables are home-grown on the farm at The Small Holding. Diners can choose a larger turkey (up to 8-9 kg) and the option of the bird being whole or having the legs taken off the crown and stuffed and rolled. The medium Christmas Box serves 4-5 people and costs £200 and the large box, serving 6-8 people costs £250.

Each Christmas Box, whether small, medium or large also includes a bottle of award-winning Squerryes Brut 2016 Vintage Reserve, with spiced baked pears on the nose and on the palette an abundance of rich, ripe fruit and a hint of brioche. A perfect bottle of English sparkling wine from Kent to start the Christmas celebrations.

The Christmas Box collaboration between The Small Holding and The Pure Meat Company began in May, when 180 bronze turkey poults were hatched at the farm. From the moment they were born they were nurtured. For the first six weeks of their lives they were nestled up in a warm cosy barn under heaters. Once they have feathered up and can face the weather at around 6 weeks old, they are ready to be properly free-range out in the wildflower meadows. The birds spent their days running, flapping, chasing bugs and pecking grass, slowly growing to full natural maturity at about 7 months. They were fed on a locally milled grain feed with no antibiotics, exactly as nature intended.

The Christmas Box is available to order online from www.exploretock.com/thesmallholding and is to be collected from The Small Holding on Tuesday 22nd or Wednesday 23rd December.

-ends-

For more information, images or interview please contact Hannah Blake hannah@thediningroompr.co.uk | 07730 039361

About The Small Holding
Will Devlin, 32, 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 26-cover restaurant was voted the best restaurant in Kent at the Taste of Kent Awards and is set in one acre of land, permitting a unique connection between farm and table. 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.

Praise for The Small Holding

“A group of folk growing amazing things, then pulling them out of the ground, sometimes knobbly and lumpy, then cooking and serving them. It’s perfectly imperfect and I wouldn’t change a thing.” Grace Dent, The Guardian

 About The Pure Meat Company

The Pure Meat Company is a first-generation family farm run by two brothers, Tom and Sam Cunningham with a clear purpose; to tread a little more lightly upon the planet.

Tom, aged 22, founded the farm in 2017, with a passionate belief that farming could - and should - be done differently. Frustrated by the fast-and-forced farming methods widely employed by the industry, the brothers knew that there is a better way to produce meat.

The Pure Meat Company farms three hundred acres across the Weald of Kent stitched together by dense hedgerows, deep-rooted trees and a network of pure water courses for properly free-range, native breed cows, pigs and sheep to graze, root and forage. The farmland is made up of permanent pasture, 100 acres of wildflower meadows and ancient woodlands, most of which have never been ploughed. Tom and Sam farm ethically and sustainably and the result is slow-raised meat, reared gently and sustainably in the heart of Kent. www.puremeatcompany.co.uk/shop

The Small Holding at Home

Produce from the farm for The Small Holding at Home

The Small Holding at Home

Ranters Lane | Kilndown | Kent | TN17 2SG

#thesmallholdingathome

The Small Holding at Home is an exceptional dining experience safely delivered to your doorstep from Will Devlin and his chefs at The Small Holding in Kilndown, Kent. The Small Holding team have done all the prep and hard work meaning all that is needed is to add the finishing touches, plate up, and enjoy.

Creating a restaurant quality experience at home is now possible. Using fresh from the ground autumn and winter produce from the farm, The Small Holding team have created three different set menus, with additional bread, charcuterie, cheese, wines, beers and soft drinks to choose from, too. The menus will change each week so there will also be a new dining experience from The Small Holding to try at home.

Each menu includes several ready to serve dishes such as hot smoked trout, slow cooked goat terrine or apple and cobnut cake. The main course for each menu has a few elements to be finished at home such as bone in pork chops from The Small Holding’s own rare breed Large Black pigs, hand-dived scallops from Orkney and pan roast duck breast. Each of these elements come with full and easy instructions from chef Will Devlin.

Each menu is available to pre-order for local delivery or collection on Friday or Saturday night and costs from £35 per person.

Will Devlin says, “Our At Home boxes will help us survive this second lockdown but it’s more than that, it’s also about telling a story through the ingredients we grow on the farm and championing the community of incredible suppliers who work with us, such as cheese from Alsop & Walker, cream from Hinxden Dairy, English sparkling wine from Squerryes and craft beers from Cellar Head. We can only get through this if we work together as a community because, together is stronger.”

For Friday and Saturday dinner, orders are available for delivery and collection via pre-booked time slots. Order by 12pm for dinner on Friday or by 12pm on Thursday for dinner on Saturday. Diners are also welcome to collect between 12pm-4pm on their chosen day.

The Small Holding at Home

Menu one
Hot smoked trout, pickled cucumber & fennel
Large Black pork chop, potato & sage terrine, red cabbage, cider sauce
Apple & cobnut cake, cream cheese icing

Collection £35pp and delivery £45pp.

Menu two
Slow cooked goat terrine, preserved vegetables & truffled cheese
Marinated cod, seaweed mashed potato, broccoli and pickled chilli, lovage & wild garlic sauce
Miso mousse and pine marshmallow

Collection £45pp and delivery £55pp.

Menu three
Grilled Orkney scallop, pumpkin, Exmoor caviar
Creedy Carver duck, smoked potatoes, winter truffle sauce
Sea buckthorn & dark chocolate tart, meadowsweet cream

Collection £50pp and delivery £60pp.

About The Small Holding

Will Devlin, 32, 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 26-cover restaurant was voted the best restaurant in Kent at the Taste of Kent Awards and is set in one acre of land, permitting a unique connection between farm and table. 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 | 07730 039361

Praise for The Small Holding

A group of folk growing amazing things, then pulling them out of the ground, sometimes knobbly and lumpy, then cooking and serving them. It’s perfectly imperfect and I wouldn’t change a thing.” Grace Dent, The Guardian

“The menu reads like a list of all that is good in a British Larder. Self-sufficiency, careful sourcing, purity of intent and an absolute focus on flavour. It’s easy to fall in love with The Small Holding for the warmth of the staff, its good intent and deft execution.” Tony Turnbull, The Times

New sense of ‘focus and purpose’ at The Small Holding as the award-winning restaurant re-opens on 17 July

The Small Holding (Image Food Story Media)

New sense of ‘focus and purpose’ at The Small Holding as the award-winning restaurant re-opens on 17 July

www.thesmallholding.restaurant
@the_small_holding_
The Small Holding | Ranters Lane | Kilndown | Kent | TN17 2SG

After three months of lock down, The Small Holding in Kilndown, Kent will reopen its doors, large terrace and garden on 17 July with reservations open for July, August and September.

Named ‘Chef to Watch’ in the Good Food Guide 2020, chef owner Will Devlin says, “As with all restaurants, especially independents with no financial backing, the last three months have been tough. However, it’s given me the opportunity to focus on our purpose and reason and to remember what The Small Holding is about, which is the deep connection between the farm and kitchen and a sense of place. We nearly lost it all and we need to remember what we’re fighting for. Lockdown has been a massive opportunity to realise that.”

From 17 July, the new menu will be defined by hyper-seasonal ingredients with a focus on the farm’s own produce, but undefined by the number of courses or choice. There will be no formal menu at The Small Holding. Instead, guests will be offered a multi-taste dining experience featuring the best ingredients on that day from the farm and local suppliers. Vegetables and fruits from the farm, harvested within hours of guests arriving, foraged ingredients, homemade charcuterie and zero waste animal cookery from the farm’s own livestock will be the main focus.

The restaurant will be open Thursday to Saturday for dinner costing £75 per head and for lunch, with a shorter menu, on Saturday and Sunday, costing £55 per head. A drinks flight including juices, shrubs, wines, beers and kombucha will also be available.

On Wednesday’s the whole team will work on the farm and on research and development.

The Small Holding will continue to sell BBQ and breakfast hampers, vegetable and cheese boxes and the new Wine Club offering which were all launched online during lockdown.

About The Small Holding

Will Devlin, 31, 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 26-cover restaurant was voted the best restaurant in Kent at the Taste of Kent Awards and is set in one acre of land, permitting a unique connection between farm and table. 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. There are two poly tunnels, 15 raised beds, pigs, chickens, ducks, beehives and wild flower beds. On site is also the farm’s own alcohol sill, mushroom shed and shipping container with ageing chamber and butchery block.

Will’s second site, The Curlew, a former 17th century coaching inn in Bodiam, East Sussex launched in February 2020 and will reopen on 10 July. www.thecurlew.restaurant.

For more information, images, interview or to visit The Small Holding, please contact Hannah Blake hannah@thediningroompr.co.uk | 07730 039361

Praise for The Small Holding

A group of folk growing amazing things, then pulling them out of the ground, sometimes knobbly and lumpy, then cooking and serving them. It’s perfectly imperfect and I wouldn’t change a thing.” Grace Dent, The Guardian

“The menu reads like a list of all that is good in a British Larder. Self-sufficiency, careful sourcing, purity of intent and an absolute focus on flavour. It’s easy to fall in love with The Small Holding for the warmth of the staff, its good intent and deft execution.” Tony Turnbull, The Times

“Striding confidently into its second year, Will Devlin’s restaurant shows no sign of slowing down, ‘a truly sensational experience’ is one fan’s heartfelt comment. The level of ingenuity generated by a kitchen on turbo drive, fuelled by its own small holding, hen coop and piggery is prodigious.” Will Devlin was named ‘Chef to Watch’ in The Good Food Guide 2020

BBQ boxes, hampers and home-grown vegetable boxes from The Small Holding

BBQ Box at The Small Holding, Kent (credit Key & Quill)

BBQ boxes, hampers and home-grown vegetable boxes from The Small Holding

www.thesmallholding.restaurant/shop/

The Small Holding in Kilndown, Kent has launched a new BBQ box for local delivery, in addition to its home-grown and organic vegetable boxes and stay at home picnic hampers.

Just in time for the May bank holiday, The Small Holding BBQ box is suitable for 2-4 people sharing and includes two of each beef burgers, chicken kebabs, pork sausages and pulled pork plus buns, flat breads and burger garnish. Also included are tubs of coleslaw, BBQ beans, wild garlic pasta salad and pickled red cabbage. This fantastic feast of a box costs £55 while also for sale on the online shop are beers and wines from local Kent and Sussex producers including Squerryes, Greensand Ridge, Chapel Down and Long Man Brewery.

The new BBQ box is the newest offering from The Small Holding team who are also selling weekly vegetable boxes (£35) with produce grown on site at The Small Holding and from local farms. Celebrating the best of the season with local asparagus, strawberries, beetroot, new potatoes, rainbow chard, carrots, herbs, garlic and more.

The BBQ boxes, vegetable boxes and hampers should be ordered by 5pm each Wednesday for delivery on Friday or Saturday depending on delivery postcode.

For more information, images or to speak with chef owner Will Devlin please contact Hannah Blake at The Dining Room on 07730 039361 or hannah@thediningroompr.co.uk

Notes to editors:

- Orders can be made online at www.thesmallholding.restaurant/shop/

- Image credited to Key & Quill

About The Small Holding

Will Devlin, 31, 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 26-cover restaurant was voted the best restaurant in Kent at the Taste of Kent Awards and is set in one acre of land, permitting a unique connection between farm and table. 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.

Will’s second site, The Curlew, a former 17th century coaching inn in Bodiam, East Sussex opened in February 2020 www.thecurlew.restaurant.

A group of folk growing amazing things, then pulling them out of the ground, sometimes knobbly and lumpy, then cooking and serving them. It’s perfectly imperfect and I wouldn’t change a thing.” Grace Dent, The Guardian

Food and Fire at Bristol Fire School

Genevieve Taylor at Bristol Fire School

James Whetlor, founder of Cabrito Goat Meat is joining Genevieve Taylor at Bristol Fire School on 11 May to co-host a Kamado ceramic oven masterclass. 

James is a huge fan of cooking food over fire and is currently writing a book on how to cook with kamado-ceramic ovens. To cook great food over fire you need to know how to light, control and work with the fire. Fire management is fundamental to success and the foundation of getting everything right and dinner on the table. Master these skills and it just becomes cooking.

The popularity of this elemental kind of cooking has risen exponentially and for very good reason, food cooked over fire quite simply tastes better. “Once you master the fire, it just becomes cooking”, says Genevieve. “The barrier to great fire-cooked food is feeling confident with the fire itself.”

On 11 May, students will go back to basics to learn the fundamentals of how kamado ovens work, how to manage and control the temperature before moving on to learn how to make the most of these amazingly versatile pieces of kit. From low and slow meat and classic direct-heat grilling to breads and lots of glorious vegetable dishes, guests won’t leave hungry.

The day can be booked direct through Genevieve Taylor and costs £144 per person which includes hot drinks, soft drinks and lots to eat. The day will start at 9.30 with coffee, before getting straight into lighting the fires. Together, guests will cook, talk and tend the fires until around 2pm when everyone will sit down for a late lunch of fire cooked food and there will be lots of time for more burning questions. 

About Bristol Fire School

Fire School has one overriding aim - to help people Do Fire Better.

After the successes of her bestselling vegetable barbecue book Charred and the meaty The Ultimate Wood-Fired Oven Cookbook, top fire cook Genevieve Taylor has launched the Bristol Fire School in her home town of Bristol.

Genevieve shares the skills and knowledge that have made her one of the country’s best-known flame-focused cooks. Courses will cover everything from perfecting barbecuing skills to getting a handle on that pizza oven, slow-roasting, smoking and open-fire cooking.

About Cabrito Goat Meat

James Whetlor was a chef for 10 years, working at The Eagle and Great Queen Street in London, before returning to his native Devon to work at River Cottage. Always interested in food production, ethics and sustainability, James set up Cabrito Goat Meat in 2012 with a one-sentence mission statement: to put all billy goats born into the dairy industry into the meat industry.

James is the International Director of Goatober, working closely with partners in New York and North America, Europe and Australia. In 2019, there were Goatober events across the UK, USA, Trinidad, Spain, France and Australia. GOAT: Cooking and Eating, James’ first cookbook, was published in April 2018 by Quadrille. It has been widely acclaimed as genre-defining and won the James Beard Foundation Award for best single subject book and the Guild of Food Writers award for best single subject.

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

Gluts & Gluttony supper clubs for 2020

Kathy Slack from Gluts & Gluttony

Award-winning food writer and cook Kathy Slack, founder of Gluts & Gluttony and formerly of Daylesford Cookery School, has announced the 2020 dates for her seasonal pop-up feasts. Taking place every last Friday of the month in Chipping Norton, in the Cotswolds, Kathy’s four-course organic feast showcases the harvests from her own kitchen garden.

Dates for Gluts & Gluttony supper clubs throughout 2020

Friday 28 February | Friday 27 March | Friday 24 April | Friday 29 May | Friday 26 June
Friday 31 July | Friday 25 September | Friday 30 October | Friday 27 November

Every month the menu puts home-grown vegetables, picked fresh and at their most abundant and tastiest, at the centre. It’s not vegetarian, but vegetables are the stars of the show, supported by the seasonal ingredients from local producers. In the Spring months guests can expect seasonal dishes such as Rhubarb and Rose Cured Trout or Wild Garlic Tortellini and Herby Broad Beans while in the colder months there might be Venison, Cabbage and Apple Remoulade and Pickled Berries or Winter Vegetable Pithivier and for pudding, Quince & Panettone Trifle.

On the supper club night, guests will be welcomed with a seasonal cocktail and nibbles at 7:30pm. At 8pm, everyone will sit down at the communal table to a meal piled high on sharing platters full of vibrant colours and flavours. Throughout the evening Kathy will talk about the food - how it’s grown and cooked - and guests will leave around 10:30pm.

Kathy says: “What I like about the supper club format is that it’s just the right balance between catching up with friends and meeting new people. If you’ve booked as a group, you’ll be sat together but on the communal table, so you’ll have a chance to chat to new people if you want. Plus, everyone’s there to enjoy the same thing so it’s an ideal way to meet like-minded folk.”

Venue: The Tea Set Café, 24 High Street, Chipping Norton, OX7
Time:  7:30pm - 10:30pm
Price:  £50 per person including welcome cocktail and four courses. BYO
Booking:  Essential. Online ticket sales via www.glutsandgluttony.eventbrite.co.uk

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

About Kathy Slack and Gluts & Gluttony

After 12 years as a brand strategist for London advertising agencies, the fun had been had and the rat race was taking its toll. Kathy quit, with no idea what to do next. Rural life beckoned and, as well as starting her blog, Gluts & Gluttony, she took a job growing vegetables at Daylesford organic farm in Kingham, Gloucestershire and later worked in the cookery school. Three years, several placements and lots of training later, G&G has grown into a full-time venture with Kathy teaching private cookery classes, hosting supperclubs and cooking at festivals and events such as River Cottage, Borough Market, Wilderness Festival and Big Feastival. She also writes for publications such as delicious magazine, Waitrose Food, The Simple Things, The Independent and develops recipes for brands including Sharpham Park and Organic UK. Kathy is 41 and lives with her husband, Paul, and their springer spaniel in the Cotswolds. 

Dinner, conversation and sustainability at Coombe Farm Organic

Cabrito Goat Meat at Coombe Farm Organic

An evening of food and discussion with sustainability champions Cabrito Goat Meat and Billy Tannery at Coombe Farm Organic, Crewkerne, Somerset

Price: £60 per person for four courses and welcome drink
Booking via: www.coombefarmorganic.co.uk

On 3 April, James Whetlor from Cabrito Goat Meat and Jack Millington from Billy Tannery will host a dinner of British goat meat alongside Ben White, General Manager at Coombe Farm Organic, a beautiful farming estate in the Somerset countryside. All three partners are united in their passion for sustainability, the welfare of animals and reducing the waste in this part of the dairy system.

Very often the connection between meat and leather is forgotten. Independent producers, Cabrito Goat Meat and Billy Tannery, the UK’s first goat leather micro tannery, are working together, and with restaurants and farmers, to change this.

Certified organic by the Soil Association in 1998, Coombe Farm started out as a dairy farm and has a long and trusted reputation for exceptional diary produce. Now, they also rear organic grass-fed beef, lamb and pork and work with local farmers for organic free-range venison and poultry. Since February 2020, Coombe Farm has also been supplying goat meat (kid and nanny) from Cabrito, which comes from farms less than seven miles away on the Somerset/Dorset borders.

Ben White from Coombe Farm Organic comments; “Working with James from Cabrito Goat Meat complements our philosophy of sustainable farming really well. It yields truly remarkable meat that would otherwise get wasted. Whilst nanny/female goats are reared for replacements in a goat dairy herd, billy/male goats are surplus to requirements. We feel strongly that letting meat go to waste is unacceptable in an age when so much is already wasted and so many go without eating balanced, nutritious produce. Working with Cabrito, who in turn works with the brilliant Billy Tannery to use the goat hides, we have the platform to see that the billy and older nanny goats raised in out from our local area is used responsibly. The goats we butcher and sell come from a farm seven miles away from us on the Somerset/Dorset border and is a truly delicious and versatile ingredient to cook with.”

Billy Tannery is the first leather brand of its kind in Britain, with a vertically integrated supply chain from hide to final product. Co-founded by friends Jack Millington and Rory Harker, Billy Tannery’s goal is to put an end to the thousands of British goat hides wasted every year.

Jack Millington says, “Despite the clear link between meat and leather, the topic is often uncomfortable and rarely discussed. For us at Billy Tannery, leather and leathercraft play a vital role in the reduction of food waste - it takes the dairy and meat by-products and creates unique and sustainably tanned goat leather. It’s great to be on the farm with Ben and the Coombe Farm Organic team to showcase our British goat leather.”

Guests going to Coombe Farm Organic for this special evening will be welcomed with an organic apple martini and nibbles before sitting at 7pm for a short talk from James Whetlor and Jack Millington and hosted by Ben White.

The menu:

• Coombe Farm ex-dairy cow bresola

• Cabrito kid goat kibbeh nayeh with herbs and lemon

• Cabrito goat kebabs with romesco

• Marinated Cabrito kid leg and shoulder with preserved lemon and bay

• Tomato and cabbage pilaf

• Lemon posset and shortbread

Throughout the evening samples from Billy Tannery’s range of goat leather products will be available to view and purchase as will copies of James Whetlor’s award-winning book ‘Goat: Cooking and Eating’ which includes recipes from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Gill Mellor and Gizzi Erskine.

-ends-

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

About Cabrito Goat Meat
www.cabrito.co.uk

Cabrito has a one-sentence mission statement: to put all billy goats born into the dairy industry into the meat industry. Devon based James Whetlor worked as a chef in London for ten years and at River Cottage in Devon. He founded Cabrito Goat Meat in 2012 and was soon supplying top restaurants and butchers around the country.

Cabrito Goat Meat won an Observer Food Monthly Award (2014) for Best Ethical Producer, Good Housekeeping’s Champion Meat Producer (2016), Young British Foodies Meat Award (2016) and was a finalist in the BBC Radio 4’s Food and Farming Awards 2017.

James is the International Director of Goatober, working closely with partners in New York and North America, Europe and Australia. In October 2016, James brought the month-long goat meat celebration, Goatober, to the UK. Originating in New York in 2012, James has been instrumental in turning Goatober into an international campaign bringing together dairies, farmers, NGOs and individuals who are passionate about ending food waste in the goat dairy system. In 2017, James hosted Goatober events in London, Bristol, Manchester, Somerset, Northern Ireland and Amsterdam. In 2019, there were Goatober events across the UK, USA, Trinidad, Spain, France and Australia.

GOAT: Cooking and Eating, James’ first cookbook, was published in April 2018 by Quadrille. It has been widely acclaimed as genre-defining and won the James Beard Foundation Award for best single subject book and the Guild of Food Writers award for best single subject.

About Billy Tannery
www.billytannery.co.uk

Billy Tannery is the first leather brand of its kind in Britain, with a vertically integrated supply chain from hide to final product. It was founded by childhood friends Jack Millington and Rory Harker, both from the Midlands. Jack and Rory’s goal is to put an end to the waste thousands of British goat hides by tapping into the rich leather heritage of the Midlands area.  In 2017, Billy Tannery launched a range of luxury goat leather bags and accessories that are designed and handmade in Britain using entirely British goat leather in their small batch tannery in the Midlands.