December at The Small Holding, Kent

A snowy Decmber day at The Small Holing, Kent

December at The Small Holding

Green Michelin Star 2021/22/23
360 Guide Three Green Circles 2024
Number 69, Harden’s Top 100 Restaurants
Number 89, Square Meal’s Top 100 Restaurants
Good Food Guide 2024 and shortlisted for best Farm to Table restaurant

December

The December menu at The Small Holding, Kent finds partnership in the soft, earthy and comforting flavours of root vegetables, brassicas, mushrooms, cream and fat tempered by the tartness of ferments, vinegars and pickles. Now is the time for the larder to shine, stacked high with Kilner jars, to brighten these cold, thin days providing a burst of invigorating colour, taste and texture for the plate and palette.

The Small Holding

As winter tightens his grip, The Small Holding’s December menu moves from ‘just picked on the farm’ to the preserves of the pantry, where the most important ingredient is ‘time’. Barbecued Orkney scallops are dressed with yuzu vinaigrette, preserved wild garlic and smoked scallop roes; beef sirloin is paired with black garlic purée, nasturtium flower vinegar gel and dried calendula and finished with a beef sauce made with smoked bone marrow, while one of the two desserts this month is Douglas Fir, Plum, Yoghurt Whey where plums are fermented with plum brandy and served with toasted buckwheat and a foraged Douglas Fir sorbet.

Book a Table at The Small Holding

The December Full Acre menu at The Small Holding

Snacks, Sourdough and Hinxden Butter

Brassicas, cheese, tomato
Jerusalem artichoke, walnut, gherkin

Scallop, squash, wild garlic
Bass, celeriac, mushroom

Turkey, bread, sprouts
Beef, potato, cabbage

Douglas Fir, plum, yoghurt whey
Chocolate, chestnut, chicory root

Cheese (optional)
Sweet Treats

The Small Holding is open Wednesday to Sunday with an eight-course Full Acre menu costing £95 per person and a five-course Half Acre menu costing £75 per person, with the option of a wine flight. A three-course set menu (from the full acre menu) is available on Thursday and Friday lunch time, priced £55 per person. 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 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 

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

July at The Counter by Robin Read

July at The Counter by Robin Read, Tunbridge Wells

“This new venture… is the best news for Tunbridge Wells. It has the makings of a destination – a relaxing neighbourhood restaurant with a big-city attitude” Good Food Guide

July at The Counter, the debut restaurant of ex-Firmdale Hotels Executive Chef Robin Read in Tunbridge Wells, sees a beautiful new seasonal tasting menu full of summer produce from Kent and Sussex, including tomatoes, courgettes, peas, artichokes, cucumber, mint, basil and strawberries. Cooking is classic and clean with elevated technique to let the natural flavours shine. Robin seeks out independent suppliers and family businesses to work with including Kentish fruit and vegetables from T H Brown & Son and Myatts of Mockbeggar, fish from Chapmans in Sevenoaks, meat from Fullers Butchers in Eridge and charcuterie from Beal’s.

The new July menu offers a choice of three-, five-, eight- and ten-course tasting menus, costing £40, £60, £95, and £125 respectively. Three or five-glass wine pairing is £36 or £60 per guest, or a three-glass non-alcoholic pairing is £32. The ten-course tasting menu is reserved exclusively for guests sitting at the pass overlooking the kitchen 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 menu.

July’s eight-course menu at The Counter

Ricotta Rosti Tare, herb salad

Malted sourdough served with ‘waste’ vegetable broth
Chiddingstone Dairy butter

Summer salad Baby leaves & shoots, truffled balsamic, crispy onions and ‘Old Winchester’ wafer

Tomato & Artichokes
Oregano, white wine & olive oil

Steamed wild line caught sea bass
Courgette & basil purée, Hoffman & Rathbone velouté

Roast Sussex chicken
Roast thigh, pea, mint and pancetta

Tunworth
Pain Perdu, beetroot ketchup & watercress
(optional £12 supplement)

Cucumber sorbet

Strawberries & Cream
Compressed strawberries, crème diplomate, frangipane

The Sweet Treat Tower

About Robin Read

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.

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.

Open days and hours:
Wednesday, Thursday & Friday: Lunch 12:00 – 14:30, Dinner 18:00 – 23:00
Saturday: 12:00 - 23:00

For more information about The Counter by 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

ends

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.

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

-ends-

Samphire, a Kentish bistro in Whitstable

Valhalla raw prawn crudo, grilled heads and trout roe by Mark O’Brien at Samphire, Whitstable

Samphire
A Kentish bistro in Whitstable

Samphire is an unfussy, rustic bistro in the heart of Whitstable, with a chalkboard menu dedicated to local fish, meat and seasonal vegetables, served in a relaxed dining room. Being just metres from the sea, there is a strong emphasis on oysters, crustaceans and seafood, plus nose to tail whole animal butchery and creative vegetarian options. Focaccia, chutneys and preserves are made in house and all prepared with produce sourced from well-respected local farms, fishermen, gamekeeper and foragers in Kent and the South-East.

Head chef Mark O’Brien, originally from Dublin, is particularly passionate about live fire cookery and whole fish and animal butchery. Previously at The Dairy and Zebra Riding Club in London, with restaurateur Robin Gill, Mark regularly cooks live fire demonstrations at barbecue festivals Meatopia and The Big Grill. These influences make their mark on the Samphire menu with rubs, smoking and low and slow barbecuing techniques, where Mark fires up the Portico Grill with lumpwood from Kent Charcoal, made with wood only from local sustainable woodlands.

Samphire’s owner, George Begg, trained as a chef in Australia in the 90s. Following a stint in London as an Executive Chef, George moved to Whitstable in 2004 and took on the lease of an empty shop just a short walk from the beach. Samphire was born and became Whitstable’s first bistro to be open all day, every day using the best Kentish produce. Suppliers include The Wonky Parsnip in Chatham for unusual organic vegetables, Sevenscore Asparagus near Sandwich, slow-grown, free-range chickens from Laughtons in Faversham; British cold-water farmed prawns from Valhalla, Stour Valley game, lamb, pork and goat meat from Oink and Udder and vegetables from Mallards Farm.

An early-spring lunch might include smoked cod croquettes with crab mayonnaise; raw prawn crudo, trout roe and grilled heads, followed by Creole mussels with Holy Trinity sauce and smoked prawn butter followed by aged beef porterhouse for two, with beef fat salsa verde.

The British cheese selection is well worth exploring, as are traditional desserts such as Bramley apple and frangipane tart and warm honey cream or rhubarb baked Alaska.

SAMPLE MENU

Rosemary & Roast Garlic Focaccia | 1/2 Dozen Maldon Oysters Juniper mignonette | Aged Beef Tartare Jerusalem artichoke | Grilled Radish radish top pesto, pickled golden beets | Smoked Cod Croquettes crab mayo | Grilled Kohlrabi green harissa, apple | Valhalla Prawn Crudo trout roe, grilled heads | Samphire's Fish Pie Mallard's farm greens | Butter Bean & Tomato Cassoulet polenta, roast shallot | Creole Mussels Holy Trinity sauce, smoked prawn butter | Butternut Squash, Spinach & Pine Nut Pithivier cauliflower purée, pickled wild mushrooms | Aged Beef Porterhouse beef fat salsa verde | House Sausages grilled January King, pickled salad | Dayboat market price

-ends-

Notes to editor
Samphire, 4 High St,
Whitstable, Kent, CT5 1BQ

T: 01227 770075
E: info@samphirewhitstable.co.uk

Mon-Fri: 12pm - 21:30pm
Sat & Sun: 9am - 10pm

For more information, images or to arrange a press visit please contact Hannah@thediningroompr.co.uk | 07730 039361
 

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. 

-ends-

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

The Small Holding (Image Food Story Media)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

About The Small Holding

Will Devlin, 31, is the chef owner of The Small Holding, a kitchen and farm on a country lane in the village of Kilndown on the Kent and East Sussex borders. The 26-cover restaurant was voted the best restaurant in Kent at the Taste of Kent Awards and is set in one acre of land, permitting a unique connection between farm and table. Growing, foraging and cooking the best ingredients is at the core of The Small Holding, with daily changing menus, using home-reared and home-grown ingredients from the farm, which is less than 10ft from the kitchen. There are two poly tunnels, 15 raised beds, pigs, chickens, ducks, beehives and wild flower beds. On site is also the farm’s own alcohol sill, mushroom shed and shipping container with ageing chamber and butchery block.

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

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

Praise for The Small Holding

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

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

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

December at The Small Holding

Partridge baked whole in hay and served with squash and sprouts from The Small Holding farm

December at The Small Holding, Kent

During winter, work on the farm at The Small Holding slows down. Roots such as turnips, celeriac and beetroot are getting a good frost in the ground, which helps turn the starch to sugars, while the leafy brassicas and cabbages are ready for harvest and a welcome hit of green. While it’s cold outside, the kitchen is a hot bed of activity making use of the summer and autumn gluts with the team constantly inventing and experimenting with a diminishing natural larder.

Named ‘Chef to Watch’ in The Good Food Guide 2020, Will Devlin says, “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.” 

The December Full Acre sample menu is £60 per head and includes truffle, turbot, venison, partridge and sprouts. An optional four or six glass wine pairing is £40/60. The Half Acre menu is £30 per person.

December’s Full Acre menu
Artichoke, Mushroom, Truffle
Razor Clam, Eel, Lard
Oyster, Coriander, Ants
Chicken, Egg, Waffle
Turbot, Seaweed, Anchovies
Venison, Celery, Horseradish
Partridge, Squash, Sprouts
Bay Leaf, Pumpkin
Almond, Damson, Goat Milk
Today’s cheese

About The Small Holding
Will Devlin, 31, is the chef owner of The Small Holding, a kitchen and farm on a country lane in the village of Kilndown on the Kent and East Sussex borders. The 26-cover restaurant was voted the best restaurant in Kent at the Taste of Kent Awards and is set in one acre of land, permitting a unique connection between farm and table. Growing, foraging and cooking the best ingredients is at the core of The Small Holding, with daily changing menus, using home-reared and home-grown ingredients from the farm, which is less than 10ft from the kitchen. Will took ownership of The Small Holding in January 2018 and opened in April 2018. A former pub, which was run down and neglected, the site has been transformed into an open kitchen and bar with a large decked terrace looking out over the farm and views of the Weald of Kent. 

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

Praise for The Small Holding

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

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

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

October at The Small Holding

Pigs at The Small Holding (credit Food Story Media)

October at The Small Holding

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

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

Now the days are getting shorter and there’s woodsmoke in the air, the kitchen is preserving as much of the summer gluts as possible. There are autumn raspberries and damsons and blackberries from the hedgerows and woods. Wild mushrooms and cobnuts have been found and are on the menu. Rare breed Berkshire pigs, chickens and ducks roam the farm and sheep for hogget and mutton graze less than half a mile away. 

Everything is home-made at The Small Holding, including sourdough bread and butter, yogurt and ricotta or sourced hyper-locally such as Hinxden Cream who have a herd of pedigree Guernsey and Holstein Friesian cows in nearby Benenden. Ingredients are picked less than 10ft from the kitchen and when there’s a glut, the kitchen preserves, pickles and jars.

The October Full Acre sample menu is below, with full vegetarian and vegan menus available and costs £60 per person with an optional 4 glass wine pairing at £40 and 6 glass wine pairing at £60. The Half Acre menu is £30 per person. 

Cauliflower, Nettle, Truffle
Beetroot, Cheese, Lovage
Squash, Walnuts, Sage
Hake, Leek, Chard
Celeriac, Scallop, Ants
Partridge, Carrot, Rhubarb
Pork, Potato, Chard
Miso, Apple, Cobnut
Plum, Yogurt, Oats
Blackberry, Buttermilk, Brandy

For interview requests with Will Devlin, images, commissioned press reviews or to visit The Small Holding for a Farm and Forage tour please contact hannah@thediningroompr.co.uk or 07730 039361.