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

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

Water Lane Walled Garden opens in Hawkhurst, Kent

Water Lane Walled Garden, Hawkhurst, Kent

Water Lane Walled Garden opens its gates on 2 July

www.waterlane.net | @water.lane

Water Lane is an idyllic walled garden with a vinery and Victorian glasshouses on the Kent and Sussex borders. A long-term project over many years to come, the site is being sympathetically transformed into a working kitchen garden with vegetable beds, cut flowers, restored vinery, outside spaces and a pavilion for dining and events. The restaurant at Water Lane opens on 2 July, alongside select garden plants for sale and a small shop.

Down a pretty, hedgerow-lined lane full of cow parsley, ox-eye daisies and buttercups and with long vistas across the High Weald of Kent, is Water Lane. Step through the large wooden gates to the hidden walled garden, an historical horticultural masterpiece with Grade II Victorian glasshouses dating back to the 1800s, including a Melon House, Cucumber House, Pelargonium House and Peach Case and a Vinery, on what was once the Tongswood Estate.

Water Lane is an ongoing restoration project in the hands of new custodians Nick Selby and Ian James who 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.

The site of the old poly tunnel in the garden has been transformed into a beautiful terrace with tented stretch awning, open kitchen, wood-fired oven and tables and chairs from British company Very Good & Proper’s new outdoor sustainable furniture range. Every table has open views out on to the glasshouses, long flower borders and vegetable and cut flower beds.

When Nick and Ian set up Melrose and Morgan in 2004 their intent was to champion the local, the artisan and the small-scale. They were as passionate then as they are now and are delighted to be championing the diverse and brilliant food and drink producers in the High Weald and bringing their produce to the table.

The menu at Water Lane reflects its sense of place in the English countryside. The short and ever-changing menu by head chef Jed Wrobel is guided by the seasons with British produce-led cooking that is simple and elegant but prepared with imagination and care. The menu focuses primarily on vegetables either grown in The Walled Garden’s own no-dig beds or from nearby organic and biodynamic farms. The menu will also include small amounts of grass-fed meat and day boat fish from nearby Hastings and Rye. 

Sample menu highlights include overnight oats, apricots, cherry compote; kedgeree; melon, plum, cherry and mint on the breakfast menu and for lunch, flat bread with potato, cherry and Winnie’s Wheel; pearl barley stuffed peppers and green sauce; wood-fire baked plaice with fennel and olives; lamb and feta meatballs with milk and chard and for pudding, cherry and almond tart or poached peach with bay custard and crumbs.

The wine list is supplied by Keeling Andrew and Co, the merchant arm of Noble Rot, and includes wines from nearby Kent and East Sussex vineyards Tillingham and Westwell, amongst a list of classic options and more interesting and unusual wines. The aperitif menu will change with the seasons and will include the Water Lane Bicyclette, Elderflower Sour, local gin-based cocktails and Vermouths.

A productive garden

The Walled Garden at Water Lane is an on-going project and a labour of love and will take many years to fully restore. The Peach Case and Vinery will be restored while fruit trees, such as apples, pears, quince and fig will be planted and grown ‘espalier’ along the red brick walls. Four of the glasshouses have already been restored in 2017/2018, due to a generous benefactor, the granddaughter of the original head gardener, Ernest Hardcastle. The second and smallest of the four is the Cucumber House. It has raised brick beds and the remains of the original hot water pipes that heated them. For the last few years’, these beds have been boarded over, but now the team are uncovering them and planning their future use. Beneath the boards the team found 18 inches of compacted soil and underneath that a layer of ‘clinker’, a by-product of the boiler that heated the water for the garden and helped create a warm bed for the plants to flourish. The glasshouse is once again being used to grow cucumbers as well as tomatoes, aubergines and other salad crops that will suit the warm conditions.

The Walled Garden holds many aspects of note and will delight both amateur and serious gardeners. In the height of Summer, the focus of floral activity is the incredible Melon House Border that runs nearly 30m long and is 3m deep. The star of the show each Spring is the Euphorbia characias subsp. wulfenii, with its chartreuse-green heads that provides colour and structure throughout the bed and has also, delightfully, self-seeded around the rest of the garden. The acid-green of the Euphorbia is perfectly offset by the deep red and purple of Berberis thunbergii Rose Glow and Physocarpus Diablo with its tiny pink flowers, Aquilegia Ruby Port, Geum’s Totally Tangerine and Marmalade, and the swaying purple pom-pom colour pops from the Allium cristophii.

A programme of courses and events at Water Lane will be announced shortly.

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Water Lane Walled Garden
Water Lane, Hawkhurst, Kent, TN18 5DH
Instagram: @water.lane
www.waterlanet

Limited Edition Billy Tannery Goat Desert Boot

New Made In England Desert Boots. A limited edition collaboration between sustainable leather company Billy Tannery and a Suffolk-based shoemaker.

www.billytannery.co.uk

May 2021… // Innovative British leather brand Billy Tannery launches a new unisex Desert Boot, made in England from its sustainable goat leather. The limited time collaboration sees this iconic boot style made for the first time in British goat leather, produced in the brand’s own small batch tannery.

“The Desert Goat” is available in three colourways - Chestnut leather, Black leather and a stunning Green suede. For £275 the boots will then be made-to-order near Woodbridge in Suffolk by master shoemaker Jadd Friedman of Jadd Shoes.

Billy Tannery began when founders Jack Millington and Rory Harker discovered that due to growing demand for goat meat and dairy in the UK, there were thousands of goatskins going to waste. Now, having partnered with ethical goat meat supplier Cabrito, Billy Tannery uses the leftover hides to produce goat leather in its own “microtannery”, based on a farm in Leicestershire.

Founder Jack Millington said, “Despite being an icon of British footwear culture, it’s sad that most desert boots are now made cheaply in the Far East on an industrial scale from materials that have circled the globe. We think your boots should do most of their travelling on your feet, so are delighted to launch these desert boots made just a couple of counties away from where the leather is made”

Download press kit here

More information can be found at www.billytannery.co.uk and on Instagram @billytannery

Billy Tannery was founded by childhood friends Jack Millington and Rory Harker, both 33 and from the Midlands. Their backgrounds are in marketing and design, so they had no previous experience in the leather industry. After discovering the terrible waste of goat hide in the UK, they decided that they had to act.

Billy Tannery’s range of products includes bags, wallets, aprons and regular collaborations in footwear, headwear and further afield. The brand offers a lifetime repair guarantee on all of its products in an effort to ensure many generations of use, which is one of the main factors in making a product sustainable.

The first leather brand of its kind in the UK, with a vertically integrated supply chain from hide to final product, Billy Tannery is able to offer something extremely rare - genuinely traceable leather goods.

Jadd Shoes was founded by master shoemaker and QEST scholar, Jadd Friedman. It is based near Woodbridge, Suffolk. www.jadd.shoes

Hand forged drinks and cocktail utensils made by Alex Pole Ironwork

Drinks set made by Alex Pole Ironwork at his Somerset blacksmith forge

Celebrate World Cocktail Day with drinks and bar utensils handmade by blacksmith Alex Pole in his Somerset forge

It is World Cocktail Day on 13 May, a global celebration that marks the date of the first definition of a cocktail on 13 May in 1806. As lockdown restrictions lift, and outdoor socialising is permitted, take the cocktail bar outside and up the glamour with traditionally hand-forged black steel and copper drink making utensils.

Alex Pole Ironwork four-piece drinks set

Made in Alex Pole’s blacksmith forge in Somerset, the set includes a corkscrew, traditional bottle opener, ring bottle opener and three cocktail spoons. The corkscrew and spoons are hand forged in ‘black’ stainless steel and the bottle opener in steel with a leather lanyard. (£135 alexpoleironwork.com)

Use the Alex Pole Kitchen Ladle (£65 alexpoleironwork.com), made using forged ‘black’ stainless steel and a hand beaten copper bowl and copper rivets, to serve a fruity summer punch. Created by cocktail mixologist and consultant Nick Strangeway, who is a founding partner of Hepple Gin, the recipe for Summer Punch is extracted from The Forge Kitchen, written by Alex Pole and Pooch Horsburgh (£25). The Forge Kitchen cookbook is a culinary collaboration between one blacksmith and 21 chefs. Each of the Forge chefs, including Nathan Outlaw, Mark Hix, Thomasina Miers and Gill Meller has taken their recipe inspiration from cookware handmade by Alex Pole. They have given the cookware and utensils purpose and function, creating delicious recipes suitable for anyone to cook at home.

Summer Punch by Nick Strangeway, founding partner of Hepple Gin

Makes 8-10 servings

It gets extremely hot in the forge! Here's something to cool a blacksmith - or anyone else - down after a hot day.

Lemon sherbet
3 unwaxed lemons
Caster sugar

Raspberry syrup
100g caster sugar
100g frozen raspberries

Ingredients

200ml Hepple Gin
100ml Hepple Douglas Fir vodka
100ml Martini Rosato or other rosé vermouth
100ml raspberry syrup (see above)
50ml lemon juice
20ml lemon sherbet (see above)
600ml chilled green tea

To finish garnish with plenty of herbs, flowers and fruit.

Method

To make the lemon sherbet, zest the lemons and place the zest into a bowl. Juice the zested lemons and place into a measuring jug. Weigh the amount of lemon juice you have. Weigh out the same/equal weight of sugar (to the weight of lemon juice) in a separate bowl. Add the sugar to the lemon zest and mix well. Leave to one side to allow the sugar to draw out the oils from the zest. Stir occasionally. Once the sugar is quite wet and beginning to dissolve, add the lemon juice. Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. Sieve the mixture and store in the fridge until ready to use. This will make more sherbet than you need for the recipe. Any leftover can be frozen for future use, or it’s great for making sorbet with.

Meanwhile, make the raspberry syrup. Place the sugar into a bowl and cover with the raspberries. Leave the raspberries to defrost over the sugar, mixing together once the raspberries are soft. Add 50ml of hot water and stir again, mixing well to dissolve all of the sugar. Place the mixture into a sieve over a bowl and leave to drip through the sieve whilst you prepare the rest of the cocktail. The sieved liquid is your raspberry syrup.

Mix the cocktail ingredients together and pour into a punch bowl or small cauldron, filled with a block of ice. Garnish with herbs, edible flowers and fruit and serve immediately.

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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

Rose Veal 'pop up' boxes from The New Meat Project

Rose veal calves in Devon for The New Meat Project

The New Meat Project launches monthly ‘pop-up’ boxes of harder-to-source meat from small production farmers

The New Meat Project is launching a new series of ‘pop-up’ meat boxes. Starting on 1 April with British rose veal, each box will focus on meat that might be hard to source in supermarkets, or the farmer may have difficulties getting their product to market. Each month, The New Meat Project specialist box will include a selection of cuts and five recipes and information about the meat, breed and farmer. The box will go on sale at the beginning of each month and be sent out to customers the first week of the following month.

There are similarities between the fate of billy goats in the goat dairy industry and bull calves born in the cow dairy industry, so it’s fitting that the first meat box for The New Meat Project, whose sister company is Cabrito Goat Meat, should be veal. And, just like goat meat, veal is delicious and deserves to be celebrated.

The New Meat Project veal box costs £70 (including p&p) and includes steak (either rump or sirloin), 500g dice, 500g mince, four burgers, four escalopes, 400g medallions and either rolled brisket or shin.

Sushila Moles at The New Meat Project, comments, “During my ten years at River Cottage and my ten years of being one half of Cabrito, our award-winning goat meat business, I have met and got to know many exceptional British producers and farmers. Champions of sustainability, they are hard-working and dedicated people, who have endless enthusiasm for their work. Knowing how hard they work and wanting to support them, was part of the reason I set up The New Meat Project: to give the public access to them and them access to customers.

She continues, “In some cases, selling these farmers’ products can be tricky because they are quite specialised and they may only have animals at certain times of the year, meaning we can't get a consistent supply. The good news is we have come up with a solution with our ‘pop up’ meat boxes, starting with veal. Veal is still trying to lose its image of cruelty and we will not change the minds of the British public overnight. However, we founded The New Meat Project to strengthen the connection between the UK farmer and the UK consumer, to celebrate and support British farming and to encourage the British consumer to eat ethical, well reared meat. Veal fits those ideals perfectly.”

Veal meat boxes launching on 1 April

Rearing bull calves for meat and selling it as ‘rose veal’, when it is at its best, is something UK farming does really well. However, the awful images of calves in crates being exported to Europe in the mid-1990s and its reputation of cruelty has burned into the imaginations of the British public. That kind of barbaric veal production and transportation was banned across the EU in 2006. 

Veal’s reputation has struggled to recover and many consumers still consider veal to be cruel. The perverse outcome of a justified campaign to end a cruel rearing and export system was the euthanizing of healthy animals, which has in turn, done tremendous damage to this part of the food system. The majority of veal now reared for meat is minced for highstreet burger chains, but this does a disservice to the farmer and cheapens a high-quality British product.

Small herd in Devon

The veal sold through The New Meat Project comes from a small dairy herd of Jersey cows on a farm in mid-Devon, which has won awards from Compassion in World farming for its rearing operation, and whose welfare standards are far higher than those required by law.

The calves are kept in a free-range system in groups of 24, only coming into sheds when the ground is too wet for grazing. Once inside, they are in groups of 12 with plenty of space and bedded on straw.  Aside from natural grazing and milk, the animals are fed a mix of silage and a processed feed, milled on the farm, made from home-grown barley and UK rape seed. There is no soya in their diet and it is a low-impact farming system.

The calves are reared to around six months old, the same as lambs and kid goats, and then hung for two weeks to allow the flavour to develop. It is a truly exceptional product and deserves its place on the table.

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About The New Meat Project

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, predominantly in the South West, 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. All animals travel no more than an hour from the farm to a local, small and family-run slaughter house.

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.”

About Sushila Moles

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.

Notes to editors

The New Meat Project was founded in November 2020 by Sushila Moles

Sushila is co-owner of award-winning ethical goat meat company, Cabrito Goat Meat

Website: www.thenewmeatproject.com
Instagram: @thenewmeatproject

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