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
-ends-
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