The Counter by Robin Read

Robin Read at The Counter, Tunbridge Wells, Kent (credit Stuart Mack)

The Counter by Robin Read

The Counter is the debut restaurant of ex-Firmdale Hotels Executive Chef Robin Read, launching on Thursday 2nd May in Tunbridge Wells, Kent.

www.thecountertw.com
Reservations open on 22nd April

Images available to download, credited to Stuart Mack HERE

After years of planning, whilst building up a strong customer base through pop ups and private dining, The Counter is the fruition of the long-held dream of Robin Read to have his own restaurant. Born from a long family history of serving the best produce over a counter, Robin’s maternal grandfather was a Master Butcher in Rugeley, Staffordshire, while on his paternal side, his great-grandfather was a Greengrocer in Lewisham, South London. Together with his wife Greta Boccia, they have taken on a 200-year-old Georgian building in the heart of Royal Tunbridge Wells, which includes the main restaurant with table and counter dining, private dining room, small wine bar and courtyard garden, with raised beds and pots growing herbs, salads, and brassicas.

Offering a choice of five-, eight- and ten-course tasting menus, costing £60, £95, and £125 respectively, Robin has years of experience sourcing the best seasonal and local produce, predominantly from Kent and Sussex, but also within the British Isles. His menus are created from a love of classical cookery and a curious mind for new techniques, with dishes such as Cured mackerel croustade with broccoli purée, Birchden asparagus and seaweed; Cavolo nero cavatelli, Old Winchester & sage; Steamed brill, lobster mousse, caramelised cauliflower, and seaweed confit potatoes; and rosemary & fennel granita on the opening launch menu. The ten-course menu is offered at the counter and gives diners an interactive experience watching Robin and his team of chefs cook and plate up at the pass; the menu is more experimental, taste-testing dishes that are in development for the next month’s menus.

Robin’s vision of a modern-day restaurant is that of a responsible and sustainable one with seasonal cooking, few food miles and using every part of an ingredient. He seeks out and nurtures a strong network of small, independent farmers, growers, and producers from farm to sea and takes great care and pride to meet all his suppliers and visit their farm, forest, river, warehouse, or barn across the country. This ensures he has first-hand knowledge of the produce, and relationships with the people whose hands create, grow, or farm them.

Suppliers at The Counter include Kentish fruit and vegetables from T H Brown & Son, fish from Chapmans in Sevenoaks, meat from Fullers Butchers in Eridge and charcuterie from Beal’s. The wine programme is headed up by Greta Boccia and is a curated edit of English and European wines alongside several English spirits, such as Hepple gin and vodka and Vault vermouth and botanical spirits, on the list.

The restaurant features original artwork on display, and for sale, by Venezuelan artist RAA, a close friend of Robin and his former sous chef. The multi-media works combine acrylics, oil pastels, colour pencils and spray paint in bold and graphic shapes.

About Robin Read

Prior to opening his own restaurant, Robin was Executive Chef of the Firmdale Hotel Group for 16 years, overseeing six new Firmdale openings, including four hotels, a bakery and training academy, all with great success. He worked with head chefs in eight sites (UK & internationally) with over 200 kitchen staff, to maintain the highest of standards.

Robin began his cooking career at the age of 16 with work experience at the Roux Brothers’ London patisserie, where he trained in 1990. His love and passion of the industry continued to grow, working and training with some of the best chefs this country has produced. He spent two years at Chez Nico under Nico Ladenis as sous chef, which held three Michelin stars, before working with Marco Pierre White at Mirabelle, becoming Head Chef, and retaining their one Michelin star. Robin also spent time in the kitchens at Le Gavroche, The Square and Restaurant Paul Heathcote.

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Notes to editors
The Counter
77 Calverley Road
Tunbridge Wells
Kent, TN1 2UY

www.thecountertw.com
@the_counter_tw
@robin__read

For more information about The Counter and Robin Read please contact Hannah Blake at The Dining Room on 07730 039361 or hannah@thediningroompr.co.uk

March at The Small Holding

Will Devlin picks wild garlic at The Small Holding

March at The Small Holding

The transition from winter to spring is the longest wait, but with the beginning of March, the seasonal shift is clear to see. Daffodils and primroses line the banks of the entrance up to The Small Holding, but for all the optimism in the air and a hint of warmth in the sun, March is the ‘hunger gap’ in the kitchen. The winter produce is almost gone, and ingredients associated with Spring aren’t ready to harvest yet.

In many ways the Full and Half Acre March menus at The Small Holding are some of the most exciting of the year, as Owner Will Devlin and Head Chef James Chatfield call on the well-stocked pantry of preserved, pickled, and fermented foods, while looking to nature herself for wild food. The team makes use of the previous summer and autumn gluts, especially when there is an almost empty natural larder. The clocks will soon change, the evening light will linger just a little longer and wild food such as young nettles and the first wild garlic shoots can be found. Come April and May there will also be wild rocket, sorrel, and elderflower – all of which will be on the menu.

On the March menu snacks plate are the first English asparagus, served with raw scallop in a croustade of smoked crème fraiche, lime kosho and coal oil dressing, smoked roe, and primrose flowers, while the new season tender wild garlic leaves are pureed with buttermilk for fried chicken nuggets and hot honey, made with fermented chilies from the farm. March calls for creativity from the pastry team while waiting for seasonal fruit. One of the desserts this month is an incredible sorbet of fermented Crown Prince pumpkin, sea buckthorn, chicory root crumble and pumpkin seed oil.

The March Full Acre menu at The Small Holding

Snacks, Sourdough and Hinxden Butter

Lion’s Mane, Horseradish, Sourdough
Potato, Onion, Three-cornered Leek

Cuttlefish, Barley, Fennel
Halibut, Mushroom, Purple Sprouting

Lamb, Wild Garlic, Raw Yoghurt
Pork, Cabbage, Apple

Pumpkin, Sea Buckthorn, Chicory Root
Rhubarb, Raw Buttermilk, Honey

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The Small Holding is open Wednesday to Sunday with an eight-course Full Acre menu costing £85 per person and a five-course Half Acre menu costing £75 per person, with the option of a wine flight. The drinks list also includes housemade soft drinks, kombucha and non-alcoholic wine, beer and spirits.

From April, the price per person of the Full Acre and Half Acre menus will increase to £95 and £75, respectively. This price increase reflects rising prices from the producers and suppliers we work with and our commitment to always pay a fair price to farmers to help protect their livelihoods, while continuing to produce outstanding quality ingredients.

About The Small Holding

The Small Holding is a Michelin green-starred kitchen and farm on a country lane in the village of Kilndown on the Kent and East Sussex borders. Run by brothers Will and Matt Devlin, as Chef and Head of Operations, respectively, The Small Holding is part of Acre, which also includes Birchwood in Flimwell, East Sussex. The 36-cover restaurant and farm is set in one acre of land, permitting a unique connection between the land and table. Growing, foraging and cooking the best ingredients is at the core of The Small Holding, with monthly changing tasting menus, using home-reared and home-grown ingredients from the farm, which is less than 10 feet from the kitchen.

The menu is defined by the farm’s own produce. Vegetables and fruits are harvested within hours of guests arriving; while charcuterie, sourdough and cultured butter and zero waste animal cookery from the farm’s own livestock, are made on site. The kitchen team works directly with growers, farmers and fishermen who share the same core values, and the team forage in the nearby hedgerows and woodland.

“Growing our own produce on the farm brings an understanding and honesty back to the kitchen, and vital freshness. Making the most of our harvests when the ingredients are at their prime - whilst also preserving and conserving them to use throughout the year, keeps us concentrated on the natural cycle of the land and helps us to create full flavoured and imaginative dishes.” Will Devlin

January at The Small Holding

THE SMALL HOLDING

Green Michelin Star 2021/22/23
Number 69, Harden’s Top 100 Restaurants
Number 10, Square Meal’s Top 100 Restaurants
Good Food Guide 2023

January

Despite the bitterly cold weather, there is something deeply cleansing and restorative about January; the thin, cold blue light, frozen ground and the beauty of skeleton trees huddled on the horizon. And of course, the food. While the farm is cold and quiet, it’s a hotbed of activity in The Small Holding kitchen. New Head Chef James Chatfield and the team make full use of the summer and autumn gluts and are constantly inventing and experimenting when there’s such a diminished natural larder. There’s fermented wild garlic stored to add deep umami funk to dishes, and pickled summer currants to add some welcome acidity.

The Full Acre menu at The Small Holding:

Snacks, Bread & Butter

Kale, Sea Beet, Cheese
Potato, Girolle, Leek

Scallop, Gooseberry, XO
Trout, Celeriac, Butter

Game Sausage, Quince, Chilli
Partridge, Parsnip, Plum

Rhubarb, Yoghurt, Sweet Cicely
Chocolate, Cherry, Meadowsweet

The Small Holding is open Wednesday to Sunday with an eight-course Full Acre menu costing £85 per person and a five-course Half Acre menu costing £65 per person, with the option of a wine flight. The drinks list also includes housemade soft drinks, kombucha and non-alcoholic wine, beer and spirits.

Grow the Seasons at The Small Holding

Now is a great time to get out into the garden and learn some of the fundamentals about soil health, the principles of ‘No Dig’ and planning for the growing year ahead. Learn to ‘Grow the Seasons’, a series of horticultural courses held on The Small Holding’s farm. The day-long courses are for people of all skills and ages who are interested in gardening, growing and understanding more about how food goes from plot to plate, as well as giving a behind-the-scenes experience of the day-to-day running of a Michelin green-starred restaurant.

Find out more and book for February, May, August, and November 2024 www.growtheseasons.com

About The Small Holding

The Small Holding is a Michelin green-starred kitchen and farm on a country lane in the village of Kilndown on the Kent and East Sussex borders. Run by brothers Will and Matt Devlin, as Chef and Head of Operations, respectively, The Small Holding is part of Acre, which also includes Birchwood in Flimwell, East Sussex.

The 36-cover restaurant and farm is set in one acre of land, permitting a unique connection between the land and table. Growing, foraging and cooking the best ingredients is at the core of The Small Holding, with monthly changing tasting menus, using home-reared and home-grown ingredients from the farm, which is less than 10 feet from the kitchen.

The menu is defined by the farm’s own produce. Vegetables and fruits are harvested within hours of guests arriving; while charcuterie, sourdough and cultured butter and zero waste animal cookery from the farm’s own livestock, are made on site. The kitchen team works directly with growers, farmers and fishermen who share the same core values, and the team forage in the nearby hedgerows and woodland.

The Michelin Green Star for sustainable gastronomy recognises restaurants with a focus on environmental practices; it encompasses everything about The Small Holding and the teams’ drive for sustainability.

James Chatfield appointed new head chef at The Small Holding, Kent

James Chatfield has beeb appointed new head chef at The Small Holding, Kent

New Head Chef appointed at The Small Holding

James Chatfield, 28, from Hailsham, East Sussex has been appointed as the new Head Chef at The Small Holding, the Michelin green star restaurant in Kent, owned and operated by brothers Will and Matt Devlin, and part of the Acre group including Birchwood.

James started his new role at the farm to table restaurant with one-acre of productive land growing vegetables, fruit, herbs, plus beehives, ducks and chickens, in early December. Having grown up and worked in East Sussex in restaurants including Gravetye Manor, Restaurant Tristram, 64 Degrees and Murmur, James’ most recent role was Senior Chef de Partie at Tommy Banks’ Michelin star restaurant The Black Swan at Oldstead in North Yorkshire; James and his wife, Gabby Chatfield who worked in Front of House, were in position there for just under a year, with Gabby now joining James at The Small Holding as a supervisor.

Coming from a family farming background, with his uncle and grandfather owning the award-winning Hook & Son dairy and beef farm, James has had hands-on experience of good produce and close relationships with suppliers since a young age. He brings with him to The Small Holding a shared ethos to Chef Owner Will Devlin of sourcing, growing, and foraging the best quality ingredients, combining time-old preservation techniques with modern innovations.

James’ appointment sees the departure of previous Head Chef Duncan Moran who was at The Small Holding for five years and has been a pivotal member of the team. Duncan has joined The Black Swan Oldstead as Chef de Partie.

Will Devlin comments, “Duncan leaving us is bittersweet as he’s been an amazing part of The Small Holding and the wider Acre team. He’s been with Matt and I since the early pop-up days, through lockdowns, catching escaped sheep and cooking some incredible food together. He is on to great things and we’re all really happy and proud of him. We’re excited to welcome James to the team, we share the same passion and values, and he has some fantastic experience and skills; I can’t wait to get behind the stoves with him.”

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About The Small Holding

The Small Holding is a Michelin green-starred kitchen and farm on a country lane in the village of Kilndown on the Kent and East Sussex borders. Run by brothers Will and Matt Devlin, as Chef and Head of Operations, respectively, The Small Holding is part of the Acre Group which also includes Birchwood in Flimwell, East Sussex. 

The Small Holding is open Wednesday to Sunday with an eight-course Full Acre menu costing £85 per person and a five-course Half Acre menu costing £65 per person, with the option of a wine flight. The drinks list also includes house made soft drinks, kombucha and non-alcoholic wine, beer, and spirits.

The 36-cover restaurant and farm are set in one acre of land, permitting a unique connection between the land and table. Growing, foraging, and cooking the best ingredients is at the core of The Small Holding, with monthly changing tasting menus, using home-reared and home-grown ingredients from the farm, which is less than 10 feet from the kitchen.

The menu is defined by the farm’s own produce. Vegetables and fruits are harvested within hours of guests arriving; while charcuterie, sourdough, and cultured butter and zero waste animal cookery from the farm’s own livestock, are made on site. The kitchen team works directly with growers, farmers and fishermen who share the same core values, and the team forage in the nearby hedgerows and woodland.

The Michelin Green Star for sustainable gastronomy recognises restaurants with a focus on environmental practices; it encompasses everything about The Small Holding and the teams’ drive for sustainability.

“Growing our own produce on the farm brings an understanding and honesty back to the kitchen, and vital freshness. Making the most of our harvests when the ingredients are at their prime - whilst also preserving and conserving them to use throughout the year, keeps us concentrated on the natural cycle of the land and helps us to create full flavoured and imaginative dishes.” Will Devlin 

Notes to editors
The Small Holding| Ranters Lane | Kilndown | Kent | TN17 2SG
www.smallholdingrestaurant.com | @the.small.holding

Green Michelin Star 2021/22/23
Number 25, Harden’s Top 100 Restaurants
Number 10, Square Meal’s Top 100 Restaurants
Good Food Guide 2023

The Cloudberry, Cranbrook

Set custard, plum and lemon madeleines at The Cloudberry (credit Saltwick Media)

THE CLOUDBERRY

Set in a Georgian townhouse with high ceilings, original wooden floors and tall sash windows, The Cloudberry sits at the end of a stretch of small independent shops, pubs, and cafes in the historic High Weald town of Cranbrook, Kent. Outside and to the right of its handsome façade pokes a windmill from weather boarded houses, and to the left, the line of shops disappears towards the church.  

Run by husband-and-wife team Toby and Beverley Welfare, who run the kitchen and front of house respectively, The Cloudberry is a tiny 16-seat restaurant, inspired by the bistros of Provence and the osterias of Tuscany. Drawing on a varied and informed palette, flavours on the menu also come from Spain, Scandinavia and Asia, and is a homage to a lifetime’s love affair with food, cooking and eating. The pair are well-travelled, well-fed and well-read, with inspiration coming by way of Simon Hopkinson, Richard Olney, Le Manoir and The Silver Spoon.

Toby and Beverley Welfare at The Cloudberry (credit Saltwick Media)

The Cloudberry has taken shape over 14 years, from being just a dream to becoming a reality. Both Toby and Beverley walked away from well-paid careers in London television jobs, with Toby working in restaurants to gain experience. The couple finally left the city for the south coast where Toby’s passion for cooking was persistent enough to take on roles in kitchens, including St Clements in St Leonards on Sea,  before becoming Head Chef at Alistair Hendy’s eponymous Homeware Store’s seafood restaurant, in Hastings.

Toby cooks The Cloudberry’s short, focussed menu solo, while Beverley runs front of house, giving a warm and personal service. The four-course menu is £45 per person, with a choice of four starters and main courses, which change regularly and seasonally. Dinner starts with an amuse bouche, such as potato soup with Jerusalem Artichoke crostini, followed by starters such as mackerel, beetroot & apple puree, horseradish, pickled cucumber & kohlrabi or wood pigeon, chicken liver parfait on toast with spiced pears. Main courses might include sea bass with mussels, potatoes and fennel in a crab bisque or roast pork belly, baked apple, raisin & cider sauce and braised lentils. Vegetarian options might include chive gnocchi, goats’ cheese and leek, roast beetroot, kale & salsa verde. A choice of one pudding or cheese is offered such as set custard, plum compote, ginger crumb & lemon madeleine or a plate of Kentish and Sussex cheeses, crackers, and chutney, alongside a small and considered wine list of mainly English, Italian and French wines.

Head chef and owner Toby Welfare, comments, “The seed of The Cloudberry was first sown when, as a five-year-old, I sat at a restaurant table and wondered how I could possibly recreate the food I’d just eaten. A question that nagged then resulted in years of hot kitchens and long days honing my skills as a chef. A persistent hunger for cooking that has remained since and led to opening this restaurant.”

The Cloudberry is named after the Nordic plant which has small and tart yellow-orange berries, that grows in harsh conditions, but still manages to bear fruit. “What the plucky little Cloudberry has taught me” says Toby, ‘is that small can be beautiful.”

Guinea fowl, fondant potato and black pudding at The Cloudberry (credit Saltwick Media)

Customer reviews

‘Exceptional food in a cosy, relaxed atmosphere with an engaging host who was friendly. The perfect spot for a special occasion - my wife and I thoroughly enjoyed our evening at The Cloudberry and will tell anyone who will listen about this gem of a restaurant.’ TripAdvisor 5 stars

‘Really enjoyable dinner at the Cloudberry. Everything we had was delicious - can’t wait to return!  A gem of a restaurant to have in Cranbrook.’ TripAdvisor 5 stars

‘This is a charming, intimate restaurant with lovely service and very good competitively priced food. It’s well worth a visit and we will return for sure.’ TripAdvisor 5 stars

‘My absolute favourite restaurant! Every dish is special and tastes fabulous. Lovely little touch with their amuse-bouche. Outstanding value for money.’ TripAdvisor 5 stars

‘Book a table now... It is a most welcome different offering to the local food scene... This is a chef that understands food and clearly loves what he does. We will be back soon.’ TripAdvisor 5 Stars

‘The food is wonderful, the room atmospheric and it made for a really memorable evening. Highly recommended.’ TripAdvisor 5 stars

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

The Cloudberry, Stone Street, Cranbrook, Kent, TN17 3HE
Tel: 01580 712 336
www.thecloudberryrestaurant.com

October at The Small Holding

October at The Small Holding

October is a month we instinctively start to retreat, and crave warmth and comfort. The smell of woodsmoke is in the air and toffee-coloured leaves crunch underfoot, while root vegetables, wild mushrooms, new season mutton, plump scallops and milky cobnuts, arrive on the menu.

The October Full Acre and Half Acre tasting menus at The Small Holding welcomes the new seasons’ ingredients, and starts to look inward to the larder and pantry for preserved oils, vinegars and pickled ingredients, providing points of light and shade on the menu. Scallop, Apple, Gooseberry features a raw Orkney scallop dressed in reduced apple and fennel vinegar with Bramley apple butter, preserved gooseberry and nasturtium oil; while Blackcurrant Leaf, Buckwheat, Elderberry is a sorbet made from preserved blackcurrant leaves, with toasted buckwheat crumble and finished with elderberry balsamic vinegar.

Each month on the menu there is a special focus on one meat, using different cuts in different dishes. This is to showcase excellent meat, but also to reduce any waste across the carcass. Romney Marsh mutton, from nearby Paley Farm, is at its prime in October, after two summers on open grass and pasture, ensuring a rich, full-flavoured sweet and tender meat. On the menu is Mutton ribs, Onion, Wild garlic of slow cooked ribs, wild garlic mayonnaise and pickled onions, before Mutton Loin, Kohlrabi, Tomato with barbecued loin, pickled and fermented tomatoes, black garlic ketchup and creamed savoy cabbage.

October Menu at The Small Holding

Snacks, Sourdough & Hinxden Dairy Butter
Cep, Walnut, Thyme
Potato, Leek, Cheese
Scallop, Apple, Gooseberry
Halibut, Celeriac, Cobnut
Mutton ribs, Onion, Wild Garlic
Mutton Loin, Kohlrabi, Tomato
Blackcurrant Leaf, Buckwheat, Elderberry
Beetroot, Chocolate, Cream Cheese

The Small Holding is open Wednesday to Sunday with an eight-course Full Acre menu costing £85 per person and a five-course Half Acre menu costing £65 per person, with the option of a wine flight. The drinks list also includes housemade soft drinks, kombucha and non-alcoholic wine, beer and spirits.

About The Small Holding

The Small Holding is a Michelin green-starred kitchen and farm on a country lane in the village of Kilndown on the Kent and East Sussex borders. Run by brothers Will and Matt Devlin, as Chef and Head of Operations, respectively, The Small Holding is part of the Acre Group which also includes Birchwood in Flimwell, East Sussex. 

For more information and images for The Small Holding, Will Devlin and The Acre Group,
please contact Hannah Blake at The Dining Room 07730 039361 | hannah@thediningroompr.co.uk

Grow the Seasons at The Small Holding - new course dates for 2024

Will Devlin at The Small Holding, Kent

Grow the Seasons

Learn to ‘Grow the Seasons’ in 2024 with new dates announced for chef and grower Will Devlin’s horticultural courses at his Michelin green-starred restaurant and farm, The Small Holding. 

Led by Head Gardener Sara Cushing and Assistant Head Gardener Alex Cairns, Grow the Seasons is for people of all skills and ages who are interested in gardening, growing and how our food goes from plot to plate, as well as giving a behind-the-scenes experience of the day-to-day running of a michelin green-starred restaurant. 

The full-day course starts with coffee and pastries on The Small Holding’s one-acre farm, and is a balanced mix of hands-on practical and theory learning, as guests discover and share in the team’s knowledge on seasonal vegetable and fruit growing, ‘No Dig’ principles, soil health and composting, and how to take sustainable practices home to their own gardens, plots and allotments. 

Each quarterly course is in tune with the growing season, including ‘Fresh Start’ in February looking at no-dig beds and planning for the growing year ahead; ‘Planting Out’ in May looking at sowing, planting, support structures, companion and succession planting; ‘Harvest Time’ in August is about reaping the rewards, composting and organic feeds and finally, ‘Winter Planning’ in November, which will cover the end of the growing season, mulching, lifting and dividing and overwintering crops.

Each full-day course costs £195 per person and includes coffee and pastries, lunch at The Small Holding, learning sheets and a practical gift bag to take home.

Find out more and book for February, May, August and November 2024 www.growtheseasons.com.

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“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

Forge, Fire & Food at The Small Holding

Alex Pole at the forge (credit Tim Booth)

FORGE, FIRE & FOOD

Alex Pole Blacksmith x The Small Holding
Sunday 3rd September, 12.30-15.30
£70 pp including knife making demonstration, cocktail and lunch
Reservation link here.

Blacksmith Alex Pole will join executive chef Will Devlin and guests at The Small Holding for an exclusive ‘Forge, Fire & Food’ event on Sunday 3rd September.

Alex Pole has worked as a blacksmith for over 30 years and founded Forge Kitchenware in 2015, making traditionally hand-forged kitchenware and cooking utensils, made in the fires of his Dorset workshop. Forging is the ancient art of shaping metal by heating it by fire and hammering. It is a highly skilled art full of tradition and folklore, and with infinite modern applications.

Alex makes pieces for home kitchens, outdoor cooking and bespoke pieces for chefs and restaurants including The Small Holding, L’enclume and Ikoyi. One of Alex’s primary aims is to promote blacksmithing and traditional crafts to show their importance in the 21st century.

This one-off event at The Small Holding will begin with a knife making demonstration from Alex and his senior assistant Jack Pardoe. Each piece of Forge Kitchenware, be it a knife, skillet or coffee scoop, starts as a simple bar of steel, which is heated and repeatedly hit on the blacksmiths’ anvil, until it is the correct size, shape and style. Some pieces can take hundreds of strikes before it is right. Alex will offer insight into the ancient traditions and techniques of European knife making and the creation of pieces that are beautiful and tactile, yet wholly functional.  

Throughout the demonstration Will and Alex will be talking about his craft and how he became involved in the food world, along with serving snacks and negronis, created with The Small Holding’s own house made Campari-style liqueur, made with foraged bitter botanicals. This will be followed by a fire-cooked family style feast of Paley Farm mutton and produce from The Small Holding’s farm, using Alex Pole’s cast iron skillets.

Will Devlin says, “Alex is a true craftsman and artist and it’s a joy to use his hand-forged pieces in both the kitchen and as part of our tableware service. His pieces combine beauty and function and will last a life-time if treated well and looked after. These values of craft, design and sustainability are fundamental to us at The Small Holding, and combined with food and fire is irresistible.”

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About The Small Holding

The Small Holding is a 36-cover restaurant and farm set in one acre of land, on a country lane in the village of Kilndown, on the Kent and East Sussex borders. The farm is less than 10 ft from the kitchen, growing nearly 200 varieties of vegetables, fruit and herbs, permitting a unique connection between the land and table. Native breed Large Black pigs, chickens and ducks roam the farm and sheep for hogget and mutton graze less than half a mile away. The Small Holding was awarded a Michelin Green Star in 2021, and was one of the first seven restaurants in the country to be recognised for its commitment to sustainability in gastronomy and low-impact environmental practices. Growing, foraging and cooking the best ingredients is at the core of The Small Holding, with monthly changing ‘Full Acre’ and ‘Half Acre’ tasting menus, using home-reared and home-grown ingredients from the farm and foraged in the nearby hedgerows and woodland.

Run by brothers Will And Matt Devlin, as Executive Chef and Head of Operations, respectively, The Small Holding is part of the Acre Group which also includes Birchwood in nearby Flimwell, East Sussex.

Summer terrace restaurant opens at Water Lane

Clams with fregola, peas and coriander on the May menu at Water Lane

May menu on Water Lane’s restaurant terrace

The opening of the terrace restaurant heralds the start of summer at Water Lane. Opening the season on Wednesday 24th May, the terrace restaurant has a new menu from Head Chef Jed Wrobel, bringing sunshine and Mediterranean warmth to this corner of Kent.

On the menu is Sussex asparagus with ajo blanco and nasturtium capers; squeaky fresh radishes and their leaves and lovage butter; flatbreads cooked in the wood oven with peas, goats curd and mint; summery crab and sorrel salad; clams served over Sardinian pasta in a spiced light broth with peas; bavette with creamed chard and onion rings; punched potatoes with rosemary, thyme and garlic. While the soft berries and stone fruit from the walled garden are a little way off, there is Jed’s legendary tiramisu, plugging the seasonal gap, and a tart and fruity rhubarb and toasted almond fool.

The full menu:

- Asparagus, ajo blanco and nasturtium capers
- Pea, goats curd and mint flat bread
- Radish and lovage butter
- Chicken livers, rhubarb ketchup and thyme crumbs
- Crab and sorrel salad
- Clams, fregola, peas and coriander
- Farinata, golden beetroots, feta and chickpeas
- Bavette, creamed chard and onion rings
- Rhubarb fool
- Tiramisu

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Water Lane Menu Series Two - Simon Hopkinson

Marmalade sponge pudding and blood orange custard by Jed Wrobel

Water Lane Menu Series Two – Simon Hopkinson

www.waterlane.net

During the early months of 2023, Water Lane’s head chef Jed Wrobel is writing the Carnation House menus by drawing inspiration from some of his favourite cookery writers. The series launched with sunny warmth of Claudia Roden; for the second menu in this series, he looks to the honest, nostalgic and anecdotal words of Simon Hopkinson. ‘A classically trained chef with the heart of a home cook’, his writings transport the reader to the comforting and enlivening experience of food and flavours. Often hailed as the ‘food writer’s writer’, his critically acclaimed books include Roast Chicken and Other Stories and The Prawn Cocktail Years, which demonstrate his natural understanding of ingredients, his practical approach to cooking, and his love of good food. Seasonality is at the core of his recipes, and the Water Lane menu celebrates his influence alongside what the garden has to offer in March. Simple cooking with the best possible ingredients.

2 Courses £27 (starter & main or main & pudding)
3 courses £32 (starter, main & pudding)

To start
Beetroot soup with a horseradish dumpling
Eggs mayonnaise with anchovy and chive
Chicken livers, parsley salad with garlic dressing

Followed by
Risotto Milanese, grilled leeks and almonds
Smoked haddock fishcakes with sauce messine
Mutton shoulder with fennel dressed in plum and Pernod
Plat du jour – Whole plaice, winter greens and three-cornered leek butter (£6 supplement)

With
Carrot, raisin and parsley salad £4.50
Potatoes and Winnie’s Wheel £5.50
Garden leaves with garden herb dressing £4

To finish
Coffee granita with cream
Marmalade sponge with blood orange custard
Stilton, pickled pear and hazelnut crumble

About Water Lane
Water Lane is a walled garden with a vinery and Victorian glasshouses on the Kent and Sussex borders. A long-term project, 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.

During the Winter months the restaurant is in the heated Carnation glasshouse. In the summer, it moves to the outside terrace, overlooking the vegetable and flower beds. The menu at Water Lane reflects its sense of place in the English countryside with a short and often-changing seasonal menu by head chef Jed Wrobel. Much of the restaurant produce is grown in Water Lane’s vegetable beds or sourced from organic and biodynamic farms. Meat is from pasture raised herds and day boat fish is from nearby Hastings and Rye. 

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Cookery writer Winter menu series at Water Lane, Kent

Clam, haricot and green garlic at Water Lane, inspired by Claudia Roden

New Winter Series with menus inspired by the writings and recipes of some of Water Lane’s favourite food writers and cooks

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

Water Lane has launched a series of set lunch menus inspired by the writings and recipes of some of Head Chef Jed Wrobel’s favourite food writers and cooks. The series has launched with recipes from Egyptian-born British food writer, Claudia Roden. Best known for her Middle Eastern cookbooks including A Book of Middle Eastern Food and Arabesque - Sumptuous Food from Morocco, Turkey and Lebanon, Claudia’s food is full of warmth, sunshine and flavour. In the heated Carnation House at Water Lane, try Burnt leeks and cobnut tarator and Taramasalata, farinata and radishes before Clams, haricot and green garlic or mutton meatballs, kalettes and orzo. For pudding, blood orange flan and poached rhubarb or spiced rice pudding and butter baked bramley apple.

Next in the series is British food writer and chef Simon Hopkinson. Hailed as the ‘food writer’s food food writer’, Simon led the kitchen of Terence Conran’s Bibendum in the late 1980s, before leaving the restaurant trade to concentrate on cookery writing, notably Roast Chicken and Other Stories, which was declared ‘the most useful cookbook of all time’ by Waitrose magazine. Jed’s take on Hopkinson’s classic Southern French cooking includes dishes such as Beetroot dumplings with horseradish cream, Grilled pork belly and chicory gratin, Seabass and fennel a la Grecque and Junket pudding with rhubarb and vanilla. 

Two courses for £27
Three courses for £32
Lunch is served Wednesday to Sunday, 12-3pm.

About Water Lane
Water Lane is a walled garden with a vinery and Victorian glasshouses on the Kent and Sussex borders. A long-term project, 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.

During the Winter months the restaurant is in the heated Carnation glasshouse. In the summer, it moves to the outside terrace, overlooking the vegetable and flower beds. The menu at Water Lane reflects its sense of place in the English countryside with a short and often-changing seasonal menu by head chef Jed Wrobel. Much of the restaurant produce is grown in Water Lane’s vegetable beds or sourced from organic and biodynamic farms. Meat is from pasture raised herds and day boat fish is from nearby Hastings and Rye. 

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The Stables by Mark Charker launches at The Bell in Ticehurst

Head Chef Mark Charker at The Bell in Ticehurst at the launch of The Stables

The Stables by Mark Charker launches at The Bell in Ticehurst

“The Stables tasting menu deserves a Michelin star or two - superb.” Guest, Autumn 2022

“The flavours were amazing, the presentation of the food was beautiful, an incredibly warm welcome from the team and service impeccable. Wonderful evening and experience, thank you.” Guest, Autumn 2022

The Stables by Mark Charker at The Bell in Ticehurst has been transformed into a fine-dining experience. Having launched for the first time in Autumn 2022, the menu has been created by Head Chef Mark Charker. Launching on Wednesday 8th February, and available on Wednesday - Saturday, the five-course tasting menu is offered alongside paired wines and bespoke cocktails.

This special occasion menu will take guests on a journey from the sea to the best lands in Sussex and the garden of England, including locally sourced meat, fantastic day boat fish, seasonal fruits and vegetables, and cheeses. It’s a surprise menu on the night but to whet the appetite, sample dishes might include Lamb with Jerusalem Artichoke and Hen of the Woods and Caramelised Milk Chocolate, Toffee and Fig Leaf Milk Sorbet. 

Suppliers include local crab, scallops and halibut from Chapmans, Wagyu Sussex beef from Trenchmore Farm, goat meat from Cabrito, free-range eggs from Spurs Farm and a bespoke chocolate made from scratch, using fresh cocoa beans, from J.Cocoa in West Sussex.

Hanging alongside The Stables is a limited edition signed print by Francis Bacon. A triptych in a riot of reds and oranges, the magnificent work is a guaranteed conversation starter.

The Stables tasting menu costs £65 for five courses and £35 for the wine flight pairing, per person. Reservations can be made via thebellinticehurst.com or by calling 01580 200300.

About The Bell
For centuries, The Bell has been at the very heart of Ticehurst village, geographically and emotionally. After closing in 2008, The Bell underwent painstaking renovation, opening in November 2011 welcoming locals and visitors from further afield.

The Bell’s design is eclectic in the truest sense of the word - the building looks as if an eccentric nobleman has travelled the world and filled his house full of curiosities from his travels. The result is quirky and utterly charming. The eleven guest rooms offer a highly individual design, with features including silver birch branches (a nod to the derivation of Ticehurst’s name, which is “the wooded hill where goats graze”), huge copper bathtubs, upside-down tiles and randomly placed light features. Eschewing room numbers, each of The Bell’s guest rooms has its own distinctive name, from “The Benefit of the Doubt” to “Smiles of Memories.”

Quirky touches continue in the public areas, from bowler hat lights and a floor-to-ceiling book pile in the main pub area, to mismatched vintage-style wallpaper and Wagner Tubas for urinals in the gents. Each room offers the curious visitor a feast of visual surprises, not least a fine collection of art by Tracey Emin, Henry Moore, Banksy, Graham Sutherland, and Picasso. The neon sign in the aptly named Stable with a Table, a dining room with a unique sunken oak table for groups of up to 18 feasting friends or family, fondly observes “I will always love you my friend”, summing up the sense of constancy yet originality awaiting visitors to The Bell.

Food
Head Chef, Mark Charker, cut his culinary teeth at Ockenden Manor Hotel, working under their Michelin Star chef. At just 23, he was the youngest successful candidate for the Roux Scholarship. Mark believes in cooking for the guest, not the chef, and promises a creative menu of essentially British cuisine with French influences at The Bell.

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Notes to editors

Room rates from £165 - £325, including breakfast

01580 200300 or www.thebellinticehurst.com @thebellinticehurst

The Bell in Ticehurst, High Street, Ticehurst, Wadhurst, East Sussex, TN5 7AS
Instagram: @thebellinticehurst

Birchwood Studio Launches

Isobel Spence natural dye workshop at Birchwood Studio

Introducing Birchwood Studio

Feeding the mind, body, and spirit.

www.birchwoodrestaurant.com

Birchwood Studio is a new space at Flimwell Park in rural East Sussex. With offerings focusing on crafts, mindfulness, exercise, education, food and drink, Birchwood Studio hosts like-minded local brands and businesses for courses, events and workshops, with the primary aim of improving and nurturing our sense of self and well-being.

Birchwood Studio overlooks 46-acres of birch and chestnut woods with far reaching views over the High Weald and is part of the Acre group including Birchwood, a restaurant and private dining space, and The Small Holding, which has a Michelin Green Star for sustainability and gastronomy. The Acre group is led by brothers Matt and Will Devlin.

Saturday 4th and Saturday 25th February: ‘Functional Breathwork’ and ‘Conscious Connective Breathwork’ with Nina Carter
Bodywork therapist and energy practitioner, Nina Carter, works with clients who have reached a transitional time in their lives, whether that is feeling lost, restricted or maybe something much deeper. Within her embodied practice she uses science backed techniques combined with the art of breathwork to release and integrate, which can help bring people back to their most authentic and optimum self.

Saturday 11th and Saturday 18th February:
Yoga with Flock Yoga, 8.30-9.9.30am, £12 per session
Flock Yoga has been a certified and practicing yoga studio since 2018 blending lyengar, restorative, yin and vinyasa styles. These one-hour sessions in the Birchwood Studio are orientated towards alignment and flow yoga, breath work and mediation, in addition to stamina, strength and balance. There is limited availability for these classes.

Sunday 26th February: ‘Introduction to Plant Dyeing’ with Curious House
Working with forager Isobel Spence, this workshop will introduce how to dye fabric using colours extracted from local flora and fauna. The day will explore the joys of this slow, sustainable craft that results in a slightly different natural hue every time. Students will learn which plants and trees create what colours and how to prepare the cloth to absorb the dye and how to ensure it stays. At the end of the day, participants will go home with a beautiful naturally dyed silk scarf and the enthusiasm to carry on experimenting. The day is £135 per person, which includes refreshments, a light lunch and all materials.

Every Thursday: ‘Allergy Testing’ with In the Clear
Clinic with Adele Rogers for all well-being needs for allergies, anxieties and trauma for ultimate physical and mental health.

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Autumn Equinox at Water Lane with SSAW Collective

Autumn Equinox at Water Lane with SSAW Collective

Water Lane x SSAW Collective
Autumn Equinox on 24th September

Autumn Equinox at Water Lane | SSAW COLLECTIVE

Saturday 24th September
10.30-4.30pm
£175 per person

On Saturday 24th September, SSAW Collective, a community of florists, growers and chefs who create experiences that celebrate seasonality, is hosting an event to celebrate the Autumn Equinox at Water Lane, Hawkhurst, in the High Weald of Kent.

The Autumn Equinox was traditionally marked to reflect on the past season and to pay thanks for a good harvest. It was a time when fruits, vegetables and meats were preserved to provide food for the cold months ahead. This event at Water Lane harks back to that spirit and looks at how the British flower growing season can be preserved by producing lasting creations. 

The day will be spent in the beautiful walled garden at Water Lane, learning and creating with Autumn's warm colour palette and celebrating the change in the air, as the nights start to get longer, and days grow shorter.

Guests will participate in a natural dye-making, bundle-drying and eco-printing workshop led by Ros Humphries from The Natural Dyeworks, and a floral workshop with SSAW Collective, learning to combine dried and fresh flowers straight from garden to make an Autumnal table centre piece to take home and preserve into winter. There will be light refreshments in the morning, followed by a delicious feasting lunch created by Water Lane’s head chef Jed Wrobel.

Lunch will be served to share with a menu of seasonal and provenance led dishes with most of the ingredients home grown in the Water Lane kitchen garden. The menu includes Sweetcorn, butterbean and black basil flatbreads, Beetroot, soft boiled eggs and crispy sage, Squash, radicchio, Pevensey Blue and walnuts, Gardener’s Pie with green bean chutney, Leek, broccoli and wild mushroom gratin and for pudding, Roast plums and muscovado meringues, and Hinxden Dairy whipped cream.

Timings:
10.30-45 arrival 
Workshops, followed by an autumnal sharing feast 
Approximate finish time: 16.30
Event Address: Water Lane, Hawkhurst, Kent TN18 5DH

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Wyatt & Jones, Broadstairs

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

Wyatt & Jones

Recommended in The Good Food Guide and Michelin Guide

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

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

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

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

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

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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

The Small Holding named Restaurant of the Year

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

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

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

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

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

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

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www.thesmallholding.restaurant

@the_small_holding_

Ranters Lane | Kilndown | Kent | TN17 2SG

About The Small Holding

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

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

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

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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