Shwen Shwen by Maria Bradford: A New Culinary Destination Opening in Sevenoaks

Maria Bradford (credit Dave Saunders)

Shwen Shwen by Maria Bradford: A New Culinary Destination Opening in Sevenoaks

The highly anticipated independent, female-owned restaurant, Shwen Shwen by Maria Bradford opens its doors on 6th June 2025. 

The debut restaurant from award-winning chef and author Maria Bradford brings the bold and vibrant flavours of Sierra Leone to the historic market town of Sevenoaks, Kent. Maria, known for her cookbook Sweet Salone: Recipes from the Heart of Sierra Leone and her role as a judge for the prestigious Fortnum & Mason Food & Drink Awards, is redefining fine dining with her distinctive take on Afro-fusion cuisine.

Blending authentic Sierra Leonean tradition with contemporary influences, Shwen Shwen offers a truly unique dining experience. The name, derived from the Krio language, means ‘fancy’ - but for Maria, it represents much more than just her food. It embodies a way of life, and an invitation to share in something special.

Tucked away down a charming, cobbled alleyway, Shwen Shwen opens into Maria’s re-branded Cotton Tree Yard – an exclusive outdoor terrace - before welcoming guests into an evocative space designed to feel both elegant and intimate. Inside, rich hues of burnt terracotta and smoky aubergine create a warm, cocooning atmosphere, enhanced by tactile surfaces, bespoke hand-painted fabrics, and wallpaper inspired by vintage West African and Sierra Leonean textiles. Every detail has been carefully chosen to create an inviting atmosphere that encourages guests to relax and feel at home.

A Culinary Journey to Sierra Leone

Maria’s passion for food began in her childhood home in Freetown, Sierra Leone, where she learned to cook alongside her mother and grandmother. Drawing inspiration from the streets of Freetown, rural villages, and the Sierra Leone River, her menu reflects the diverse and rich culinary traditions of her homeland.

Using signature ingredients such as moringa, fonio, tamarind, sesame, egusi, baobab and hibiscus, Maria creates bold, layered flavours that transport diners with every bite.

The launch menu, designed for discovery and sharing, features:

• Lamb Belly, Palm Oil, African Five Spice

• Mackerel, Mango, Cassava Flat Bread

• King Prawns, Salone Fire, Lemongrass Gel

• Beef Short-rib, Groundnut, Coconut

• Hibiscus, Caramelised White Chocolate, Fig Leaf, Pepper

• Moringa Mille-Feuille, Benne Cake, Sheep’s Yoghurt Ice-Cream

• Cheese Board featuring Tamarind Jelly & Jellied Hibiscus Flower

Shwen Shwen is more than a restaurant, it is a celebration of heritage, culture, and storytelling through food.

“Shwen Shwen is the realisation of a long-held dream. I want my food to take guests on a journey to experience the vibrant culinary landscape of Sierra Leone. Though my restaurant is in Sevenoaks, every dish is a love letter to my homeland.” – Maria Bradford

Notes to Editors

Shwen Shwen by Maria Bradford
1-2 Well Court
Bank Street
Sevenoaks, Kent, TN13 1UN
Website & Reservations: www.shwenshwen.com
Instagram: @shwenshwenbymaria

About Maria Bradford

Maria Bradford is an award-winning chef, author, and influencer. Born in Freetown, Sierra Leone, she developed her love for cooking at the age of nine, learning from her mother and grandmother. After moving to Kent as a teenager, Maria trained at Leith’s School of Food and Wine before launching her own catering business, Maria Bradford Kitchen, in 2017, now known as Shwen Shwen.

Maria’s work has been widely recognised for its innovative approach to Sierra Leonean cuisine, and she has become a key advocate for West African culinary heritage. Shwen Shwen by Maria is her debut restaurant, opening in June 2025.

Three AA Rosettes and Michelin Green Star for The Small Holding, Kent

Will and Matt Devlin

The Small Holding, Kent has been awarded three Rosettes by the AA Guide and retained its Michelin Green Star for the fifth year in a row

The Small Holding in Kent has been awarded three Rosettes by the AA Guide today, 18th February. Given only to outstanding restaurants that achieve standards that demand recognition well beyond their local area, the award is announced alongside The Small Holding retaining its Michelin Green Star for sustainability in gastronomy for the fifth year in a row.

Only 10% of the restaurants and hotels within the AA Restaurant Guide have three Rosettes and above. To achieve this the cooking must be underpinned by the selection and sympathetic treatment of the highest quality ingredients, while timing, seasoning and the judgment of flavour combinations is consistently excellent. The award is also supported by intuitive service and a well-chosen wine list.

The Small Holding was one of the first restaurants in the country to receive a Michelin Green star in 2021. Now with only 35 restaurants in the country who have achieved the award, the star recognises restaurants with a focus on environmental practices and is only awarded to those which hold a Plate, Bib or Star distinction. Many, like Will and Matt Devlin at The Small Holding work directly with growers, farmers and fishermen, forage in hedgerows and woodlands and grow their vegetables and rear animals. Other recipients of the Green Star include Black Swan, York; Coombeshead Farm, Launceston; L’Enclume, Cumbria; Restaurant Sat Bains, Nottingham and Silo, London.

Will Devlin, chef owner of The Small Holding, commented, “What an incredible feeling! Achieving three Rosettes and retaining our Green Star in the same week is a huge boost for our team and a recognition of everything we strive for daily at The Small Holding in our never-ending quest and drive for sustainability. These awards are for everyone on our team, in the kitchen, on the floor and on the farm who all work so hard and really deserve this, I’m so proud.”

www.smallholdingrestaurant.com
@the_small_holding_

Ranters Lane | Kilndown | Kent | TN17 2SG

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 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 Garden Menu is available on Thursday, Friday and Sunday lunch time, priced £55 per person.

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

Grow the Seasons at The Small Holding

Grow the Seasons at The Small Holding, Kilndown, Kent

Grow the Seasons

Learn to ‘Grow the Seasons’ in 2025 with new dates announced for chef and farmer Will Devlin’s horticultural courses at his Michelin green-starred restaurant and farm in Kilndown, Kent, The Small Holding.

Led by 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.

Each 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’ on 12th and 26th February looking at no-dig beds and planning for the growing year ahead; ‘Planting Out’ on 14th and 28th May looking at sowing, planting, support structures, companion and succession planting; ‘Summer Abundance’ on 9th and 23rd July is about to successionally sow and plant to ensure continual harvest and also how best to manage pest control, while ‘Harvest Time’ on 10th and 24th September is about reaping the rewards of a successful growing season and looking at the best and easiest ways to harvest crops and what to sow in the Autumn for for Winter and Spring harvests. 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.

Shorter courses include ‘Farm Mornings’ which are a focussed two-hour deep dive into a specific seasonal aspect of gardening, such as ‘no dig’ or ‘orchard pruning’.

Find out more and book for February, May, August and November 2025

www.growtheseasons.com

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

November at The Small Holding

Brasscias coming in from the farm at The Small Holding, Kentthe

November at The Small Holding

In some ways November offers a little respite before the busy festive season at The Small Holding, Kent begins in earnest. The wet, warm weather with bursts of sunlight filtering down through the woodland canopy, is a winning combination for the winter chanterelles and trompette wild mushrooms the kitchen team forages for the new month’s menus. While on the one-acre kitchen garden, where the days grow shorter and the air chills, the farm’s team thoughts turn to repair and restore, adding layers of nutrient rich mulch and organic matter all over the farm’s no dig beds. This black gold will feed the soil and rebuild its health and biodiversity after the impact of a full-on growing season. The farm team will be covering all this and more in the ‘Winter Planning’ Grow the Seasons course on 13th November, led by Head Gardener Alex with a few spaces left available. Soil health is crucial to a successful growing year, so this hands-on course is essential to understanding more about biodiversity and the microorganisms which feed the ground.

In the fields and woods, game season is in full swing with local shoots every weekend, keeping the restaurant larder stocked with wild duck, pheasant, and partridge. Wild game birds are one of the only truly sustainable meats and having had only a wild and natural diet, it’s a true taste of the season and the land. On the November Full Acre menu there are two game dishes starting with a Game Faggot glazed with preserved berries and served with a game broth finished with fermented elderberry balsamic, madeira and herb infused rapeseed oil, before a larger plate of Partridge, Parsnip and Mushroom, an earthy and deeply satisfying taste of Autumn.

Book a Table at The Small Holding

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

September at The Small Holding

Alex, senior gardener at The Small Holding on the farm

September at The Small Holding, Kent

Green Michelin Star 2021/22/23
360 Guide Three Green Circles 2024

September is one of our favourite months at acre and it’s all about the harvest. At The Small Holding, it’s a whole-team effort preserving the summer gluts, and preparing both the farm, and the larder, for the leaner months ahead and creating new layers of flavour for winter. The last of the late summer tomatoes, sweetcorn and sweet red peppers are enjoying the sunshine and the Uchiki Kuri squash are pushing on to full ripeness and flavour for this month’s menu. It is also the start of the autumnal plums, apples and mushrooms.

The Small Holding

The September menus bridge this golden hour in the season; dishes become richer and more deeply flavoured as the season starts to turn. The first squashes from the farm are ready and see their way to chef James Chatfield’s menu paired with smoked sheep’s cheese, pumpkin seed, charred kale and herb pesto, while everybody’s favourite sweetcorn is cooked down into a smooth cream and served with meltingly soft braised pork cheek and barbecued chicken of the woods mushroom. For one of the two desserts on the September menu, there is a woodruff baba cake soaked in plum brandy with plum sorbet, woodruff ice cream and smoked pumpkin seed praline. 

Book a Table at The Small Holding

The September Full Acre menu at The Small Holding

Snacks, Sourdough and Hinxden Butter

Tomato and chilli
Squash, sheep's cheese, kale

Trout, cucumber, radish
Cod, crab, agretti

Pork, sweetcorn, mushroom
Hogget, aubergine, pepper

Apple, lemon verbena, yoghurt
Plum and woodruff

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 

August at The Counter by Robin Read

August at The Counter by Robin Read, Tunbridge Wells

“The Counter is delicious and charming… treating the inner Veruca Salt in all of us with pure imagination.” Grace Dent reviewing The Counter for The Guardian

“This new venture… is the best news for Tunbridge Wells. It has the e

Three months after opening his debut restaurant, The Counter in Tunbridge Wells, Kent and already receiving critical acclaim, chef patron Robin Read isn’t sitting still. The new monthly menu in August sees the ten-course counter experience elevated further with extra snacks, extended wine pairings, makings of a destination – a relaxing neighbourhood restaurant with a big-city attitude” Good Food Guidwith the addition of a premium wine pairing and a three-part beef dish using the exceptional Sussex aged beef from Fullers in Eridge, using the prime cuts as well as trim for a rich ragu.

Guests dining in August will enjoy dishes such as Dorset crab tart, trout roe, kohlrabi and watercress; roast sweetcorn and Beal’s nduja, spring onions, chives and parsley; poached Sussex fillet with beetroot & beef tea, beef fat and Wiltshire truffles and Fig Leaf Parfait, Myatt’s White Peach, Gingerbread crumb and fig leaf oil.

The new August menu offers a choice of three-, five-, eight- and ten-course tasting menus, costing £40, £60, £95, and £125 respectively. Three or six-glass wine pairing is £36 or £70, while the eight-glass pairing is £96 per guest; 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.

August’s ten-course menu at The Counter

Ricotta Rosti
tare, herb salad 

Dorset Crab Tart
trout roe, kohlrabi and watercress 

Malted Sourdough served with vegetable broth
Chiddingstone Dairy butter

 Sherry Roast Aubergine
slow roast tomatoes, chilled tomato & pepper dressing, basil 

Roast Sweetcorn & Beal’s Nduja
spring onions, chives and parsley 

Isle of Orkney Scallop
herb puree, confit potato and brown butter 

Baked North Sea Cod
seaweed butter sauce, beans & lovage 

Chefs Treat 

Poached Sussex Fillet
beetroot & beef tea, beef fat, Wiltshire truffles

Aged Sussex Sirloin
beetroot rosette, creamed greens, red wine sauce

The Idle Hour
pastry cracker, pickled plums, bronze fennel
Optional £12 supplement

Strawberry Sorbet
strawberry & lemon verbena

Fig Leaf Parfait
Myatt’s white peach, gingerbread crumb, fig leaf oil

The Sweet Treat Tower

£125 per person

3, 6 or 8-glass wine pairing £36, £72 or £96

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 for 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: Dinner 18:00 – 23:00
Thursday & Friday: Lunch 12:00 – 14:30, Dinner 18:00 – 23:00
Saturday: 12:00 - 23:00

New dinner service at Water Lane

Dinner is served at Water Lane on Friday and Saturday evenings (credit Becca Fawn)

Dinner is served at Water Lane

Water Lane, the walled garden, restaurant and events space near Hawkhurst in Kent will be serving dinner on Friday and Saturday evenings, starting from 2nd August. Come for a dusk walk and see Water Lane in the golden hour before supper in the Carnation House. Reservations are open now. Dishes from the a la carte menu include flatbread and sorrel gremolata, beetroot borani and paprika crisps, gazpacho, courgette straws and aioli while you wait, before starters of crab, chilli and cucumber salad, sardines in saor, or crispy polenta, burrata, confit garlic and tapenade before main courses of grilled aubergine, houmous and crispy carrots, lamb cutlets, tabbouleh and chermoula or butterflied mackerel, courgettes and broad beans. Puddings are summer in full swing with gooseberry fool, cherry and almond galette and Water Lane soft serve.

Tables can be reserved between 5.30pm to 8.30pm.

-ends-

About Water Lane

Water Lane is an idyllic walled garden with a restaurant, vinery and Victorian glasshouses on the Kent and Sussex borders. A long-term project over many years to come, the site is being sympathetically transformed into a productive walled garden, by custodians Nick Selby and Ian James, with the help of Garden and Landscape designer, Jo Thompson, with vegetable beds, cut flowers, restored vinery, outside spaces and a pavilion for dining and events. The Grade II Victorian glasshouses date back to the 1800s, including a Melon House, Cucumber House, Pelargonium House and Peach Case and a Vinery, on what was once the Tongswood Estate. There is a monthly food market on Saturdays, workshops and events and seasonal fairs in Spring, Autumn, and at Christmas.

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

www.waterlane.net
Water Lane
Walled Garden, Water Lane
Hawkhurst 
Kent, TN18 5DH

June at The Small Holding

Nasturiums on the farm at The Small Holding (credit Claire Winfield)

June at The Small Holding

Green Michelin Star 2021/22/23
60 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

June is a busy and exciting month at acre. Just like the poly tunnel at The Small Holding, which is fit to bursting with seedlings ready to be planted out now or still putting on growth to sow later in the season for a steady succession of produce to harvest, there are exciting new menus to share, the launch of a new three-course lunch menu at The Small Holding on Thursday and Friday lunch (£55pp), events to book including the June supper club at Birchwood, Father’s Day and wellness and holistic therapies from Birchwood Studio, and the launch of acre’s beer collaboration with Lakedown Brewing Co. 

The Small Holding

June is such a glorious month. Every shade of green is available in the fields, forests, and hedgerows and on the farm as the teams harvest new season broad beans, peas, gooseberries, lettuces, herbs and edible flowers, and forage for creamy-white umbels of elderflower. Guests arriving for lunch, or the early dinner sitting, are enjoying a drink on the terrace when the sun is low and golden. There is a stunning new tasting menu this month starting with snacks including a crab tart with herbs and allium flowers and a smoked venison heart croustade; Jersey Royals with elderflower, dill and lardo; barbecued scallop with peas and gooseberries; duck with beetroot, fig leaf and parsley velouté and cherry blossom vinegar, and a beautiful blackcurrant leaf and chocolate dessert where ice cream, sponge, honey, mousse and tuille are infused with the floral herbaceous flavour of the blackcurrant leaves. An unusual and stunning dessert to finish a meal at The Small Holding this June.

The June Full Acre menu at The Small Holding

Snacks, Sourdough and Hinxden Butter

Tomato, radish, broad bean
Jersey Royal, elderflower, lardo

Scallop, peas, gooseberry
John Dory, lettuce, nasturtium

Chicken, onion, Lord of the Hundreds
Duck, beetroot, fig leaf

Strawberry, garden herbs meringue
Blackcurrant leaf, dark chocolate, honey

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.

Book a table at The Small Holding

Full Loop with Lakedown Brewing Co
For Matt & Will Devlin, brewing their own beer had always been on the agenda so the opportunity was welcome to work with Jamie Daltrey and his team at Lakedown Brewing Co, who share the same holistic and sustainable approach to food and drink production. The result is Full Loop,a full-flavoured and approachable pale ale that is a perfect partner for food, without overwhelming or fighting with the food. Available by the can, Full Loop is perfect to enjoy on the terraces at Birchwood and The Small Holding.

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 on 07730 039361 | hannah@thediningroompr.co.uk

The terrace at Water Lane opens for the summer on 5th June

The summer restaurant terrace at Water Lane

The terrace at Water Lane opens for the summer on 5th June

The summer restaurant on the terrace at Water Lane will open for the season on 5th June.  The covered terrace, under a huge stretch awning looks out on to the walled garden in front of the vegetable and cut flower beds. The idyllic setting is the perfect spot for a long lunch and ice-cold aperitifs, taking in the sensory pleasure of the garden in full bloom with the scent of sweet peas and roses in the air, mingled with woodsmoke from the Portuguese wood oven. On Head Chef Jed Wrobel’s sample menu are fresh peas in their pods and aioli; flatbreads lightly charred in the wood oven and topped with crushed peas, mint and goats’ curd; cucumber, brown shrimp and chervil; wood-fired mackerel and gooseberries; slow roast salt marsh lamb in ras el hanout. While there is another month or so for the soft berries and stone fruit to arrive, Jed is filling the seasonal gap with epic Knickerbocker Glories.

Visitors coming for lunch from further afield will also find Water Lane’s shop with a curated collection of practical and beautiful things for the home and garden, plus chutneys, jams and pickles from the Water Lane Pantry. There is also a small collection of potted herbs and garden plants, freshly cut flowers from the cutting garden and a collection of antique and vintage garden pieces, including time-worn French iron tables and chairs, hand-woven basketry, galvanised planters, and a collection of eastern mediterranean pots and urns, which have been sourced exclusively for Water Lane by Rye-based collectors Soap & Salvation.

“A contender for one of the most charming eateries in Kent, it’s impossible to resist the lure of this restaurant tucked away in a delightful walled garden.” The Good Food Guide

-ends-

About Water Lane

Water Lane is a walled garden on what was once the Tongswood Estate in Hawkhurst, in the High Weald of Kent. A long-term restoration project, led by custodians Nick Selby and Ian James, there is a restaurant, a large and productive garden growing vegetables, fruits, herbs and cut flowers, a small shop of useful and beautiful pieces for the home and garden, select garden plants for sale and event spaces for workshops and private celebrations.

Water Lane Walled Garden | Hawkhurst | Kent | TN18 5DH
www.waterlane.net | @water.lane

April at The Small Holding

Seedlings in the poly tunnel at The Small Holding, Kent (credit Key & Quill)

April at The Small Holding

The Small Holding’s farm is a hive of activity in April. Alex and Nick in the Farm Team will usually be found in the potting shed, planting seeds in earnest and playing a never-ending game of Tetrus to find space for more trays of seedlings, giving them warmth and light, ready to plant out into the ground in May. Gardening is only for the patient. The Farm and Kitchen teams planned the whole of the 2024 growing season in October last year, and only now are we starting to see green growth and germination. Favourites for the menu include Broccoli ‘Red Blaze’, Cucumber ‘Passandra’, Radish ‘Viola’, Runner Beans ‘Scarlet Emperor’ and Courgette ‘Midnight’. The team grows harder to come by herbs such as flowering cumin, hyssop, purslane and Summer and Winter Savory, while the double-width polytunnel will house tomatoes, strawberries, fennel, peppers, and aubergines. With the very real chance of a late frost only the hardiest mustards and mizuna have been planted out so far in the beds, but it won’t be long until the whole farm is abundant with new vegetables, fruits and herbs.

April menu at The Small Holding

April can be an even crueller month than March for farm-fresh ingredients. The forced rhubarb is over, but there are larder stores of ‘rhuboshi’, salted and pickled rhubarb, to be served with an oyster cracker on this month’s snack plate, and a croustade of hogget tartare from Bluebell Farm and smoked goats’ curd. A beautiful dish of cuttlefish agnolotti is served with a brown crab bisque, made with the farm’s lemongrass and fermented chilli and finished with pickled fennel and tarragon oil. On the meat courses there is a dish of Wagyu x Sussex Angus beef from Trenchmore Farm in Sussex. The underrated and extremely delicious Denver cut has been chosen, which is a well-marbled and tender cut from the shoulder. To serve, head chef Will Devlin brines the beef in shio koji, before barbecuing and basting with beef garum and beef fat and served with potato terrine, roast and pickled onions and a beef sauce finished with smoked bone marrow, wagyu bresoala and fermented wild garlic.

The April Full Acre menu at The Small Holding

Snacks, Sourdough and Hinxden Butter

Tomato, Wild Garlic, Yoghurt
Asparagus, Preserved Citrus, Coppa

Cuttlefish, Crab, Fennel
Cod, Yoghurt Whey, Douglas Fir

Pork Cheek, Turnip, Apple
Sussex Wagyu, Potato, Alliums

Rhubarb, Buttermilk, Fennel
Chocolate, Chicory Root, Pumpkin

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. The drinks list also includes housemade soft drinks, kombucha and non-alcoholic wine, beer and spirits.

February at The Small Holding

Rhubarb at The Small Holding

February at The Small Holding

The green shoots around The Small Holding’s farm and along the hedgerows are starting to emerge. While still in the dead of winter, the start of the growing season is already underway, the farm and kitchen teams have confirmed the growing plans for 2024, and seed sowing has started in the polytunnel. There is much excitement when the seed packets arrive. With relatively limited space, the team maximise every inch of soil with succession, underplanting and companion planting, and grow vertically to extend the season and produce the greatest yield. Flavour is always king, but it’s a balance of so many factors with constant learning, questioning, and tweaking; there are as many mistakes as successes.

On the February Full and Half Acre tasting menus there are some incredible new dishes from Chef Owner Will Devlin and Head Chef James Chatfield. From the plate of snacks to settle guests in for their dining experience, including braised Trenchmore beef croquettes and wild garlic mayonnaise; Chalk Stream trout tartare croustade with spruce brined ikura fish roe, buckthorn kosho and smoked crème fraiche; and pumpkin and sage gougere through to the desserts of Douglas fir sorbet, preserved plums and yoghurt when caramel; and finishing with a woodruff custard tart with rhubarb sorbet, poached sorbet and toast hay anglaise, the February menu is a stunning taste exploration of the season.

The Full Acre menu at The Small Holding:

Snacks, Bread & Butter

Brassicas, Cheese, Onion
Potato, Mushroom, Wild Garlic

Scallop, Beef, Kohlrabi
Cod, Mussels, Leek

Chicken, Chilli, Seaweed
Venison, Squash, Spruce

Douglas Fir, Plum, Yoghurt Whey
Rhubarb, Custard, Woodruff

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 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.

Garden Photography masterclasss with Jason Ingram at Water Lane

Water Lane, the Victorian walled garden in Kent, is hosting a garden photography masterclass with the internationally acclaimed photographer Jason Ingram. Taking place on 20th September, this is a chance to learn from one of the best in the business with the gardens, glasshouses, vegetable, and flower beds of Water Lane as the participants’ studio. Jason has photographed gardens all over the world and his work is regularly published in books and national magazines. This exclusive workshop is full of practical advice and will dramatically improve your garden and plant photography skills.

The day starts with an inspirational illustrated talk by Jason who will demonstrate the many techniques he uses, show you how to select good subjects, frame effectively and make the most of the light conditions. Using your own SLR camera and equipment, Jason will offer advice and guidance and will give informal feedback on your work. This full day workshop includes refreshments and a light lunch.

Jason works with international garden designers and travels widely photographing gardens. His work features regularly in top garden publications. Over the past year, Jason has got to know the garden at Water Lane as he undertook a project with garden designer, Jo Thompson for Garden's Illustrated. He has been awarded Garden Photographer of the Year by The Garden Media Guild six times and Features Photographer of the Year three times.

About Water Lane

Water Lane is a walled garden on what was once the Tongswood Estate in Hawkhurst, in the High Weald of Kent. A long-term restoration project, led by custodians Nick Selby and Ian James, there is a restaurant, a large and productive garden growing vegetables, fruits, herbs and cut flowers, a small shop of useful and beautiful pieces for the home and garden, select garden plants for sale and event spaces, a weekly produce market and quarterly fairs.

For more information about Water Lane, interview with Nick Selby and Ian James, high resolution images or to visit the walled garden, please contact Hannah Blake at The Dining Room on hannah@thediningroompr.co.uk | 07730 039361

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.”

-ends-

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

Water Lane Harvest Festival Autumn Fair

​​Water Lane Harvest Festival

Celebrate the harvest at Water Lane over the weekend of 16th and 17th September with market stalls selling crafts, vintage, ceramics, candles, and jewellery from independent lifestyle stores for homes and gardens.

Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th September
10am - 4pm
Free entry on foot or bike
£5 per car to park

Water Lane Walled Garden | Hawkhurst | Kent | TN18 5DH

The Water Lane Harvest Festival Autumn Fair will be held over the weekend of Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th September. The fair will bring together independent shops, producers and craftspeople, to sell their wares and will be set out across the site including the Carnation House and under the stretch awning on the terrace. Attending the fair will be The Natural Dyeworks, Raffman & Huckster, Flavell Trading, Norse Vintage, Bloom & Burn and many more. There will be hot food from the Water Lane kitchen team, and food to buy and take home from Water Lane Food Market regulars including Halstead Bakery, LAM and Zak's Kombucha. Bunches and buckets of cut flowers will be for sale, including dahlias and chrysanthemums, in the deep marmalade, russet and raspberry tones of early autumn.

-ends-

About Water Lane

Water Lane is a walled garden with a vinery and Victorian glasshouses on the Kent/Sussex borders, on what was once the Tongswood Estate. A long-term project over many years to come, led by custodians Ian James and Nick Selby, the site is being sympathetically transformed into a productive kitchen garden with vegetable beds, cut flowers, restored vinery, outside spaces and a pavilion for dining and events. The restaurant at Water Lane opened in early July 2021, alongside select garden plants for sale and a small shop. There is a weekly food market on Saturdays, workshops and events and seasonal fairs in Spring, Autumn and Christmas.

July at The Small Holding, Kent

Will Devlin ont the farm at The Small Holding (credit, Key & Quill)

JULY AT 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

July is upon us, and with the new month comes a new menu at the Michelin green starred The Small Holding, in Kilndown, Kent. Right now, the farm is at its most productive and the menu celebrates the farm in full bloom. The four parts of the menu covers vegetables, fish, meat and dessert, as the kitchen and gardening teams harvest, forage and preserve through the height of summer. 

The restaurant 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 and non-alcoholic pairings. 

July menu at The Small Holding

Snacks, Bread & Butter
-
Courgette, Yogurt, Herbs
Pea, Girolle, Elderflower
-
Red Mullet, Tomato, Coriander
Hake, Artichoke, Garlic
-
Goat Kebab, Sumac, Chilli
Goat Saddle, Lettuce, Turnip
-
Blackberry, Buttermilk, Marigold
Cherry, Chocolate, Sweet Cicely

“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.” The Good Food Guide

June at Water Lane

Elderflower custard, strawberries and madeleines at Water Lane

June in the garden of England at Water Lane, Kent

Sit under the tented awning on the Water Lane terrace overlooking the walled garden with rows and rows of vegetables, roses, delphiniums, cosmos, orchard fruit trees grown espalier against the walls, and scented sweet pea tunnel. Head chef Jed Wrobel’s new June menu captures the beauty of the season with fennel, strawberries, elderflower, tomatoes, hogget, and mackerel.

12.00 pm - 3.00 pm (weekdays)
12.30 - 3.00 (weekends)

Reservations via www.waterlane.net

June menu

Whilst you’re waiting

Water Lane garden pickles
Marcona Almonds
Gordal olives
Ricotta, chilli, almond and shaved asparagus flatbread
A glass of gazpacho

To start

Padron peppers, mangetout, rocket and romesco
Seabass ceviche, fennel, green strawberry, nasturtium 
A little chicken Caesar

Followed by

Asparagus, crushed butter beans and dukkah
Butterflied mackerel, tomatoes, lovage and spring garlic aioli
Spiced hogget skewer, coleslaw, broad bean tapenade  

With

Punched pink fir with hard herbs
Garden leaves with soft herbs  

To finish

Chocolate soft serve with hazelnut crumb
Elderflower custard with madeleines and strawberries
Ragstone, beetroot chutney and polenta crackers

-ends-

About Water Lane

Water Lane is a walled garden on what was once the Tongswood Estate in Hawkhurst, in the High Weald of Kent. A long-term restoration project, led by custodians Nick Selby and Ian James, there is a restaurant, a small shop of useful and beautiful pieces for the home and garden, select garden plants for sale, a calendar of workshops, talks and events, bi-monthly food markets, seasonal fairs in the Spring, Summer and at Christmas, and a large and productive garden growing vegetables, fruits, herbs and cut flowers.

For more news of Water Lane’s calendar of workshops, talks, and events this season, visit www.waterlane.net or sign up to the newsletter to be kept up to date.

Water Lane Walled Garden | Water Lane | Hawkhurst | Kent | TN18 5DH
@water.lane

Gourmet getaway to Whitstable

Oysters at Samphire, Whitstable

Gourmet Getaway to Whitstable

Whitstable, known for its incredible seafood, expansive sea views and colourful beach huts, is one of the prettiest towns on the North Kent coastline. Full of independent shops and some of the best restaurants in the county, it’s a one-stop destination for a summer gourmet getaway.

George Begg, owner of Samphire on the High Street, just metres from the sea, shares some of his favourite restaurants, suppliers and producers that make Whitstable so special.

David Brown’s Deli, The Old Coal Yard   
This deli has a bit of a cult following with great, simple food. Dave is a local legend and catered The Sportsman's 20th birthday bash. www.davidbrowndeli.com

Blueprint coffee, Oxford Street
Independent espresso, coffee roaster, bookseller and stationers who import and roast their own beans on site, they always have a great selection of interesting books for adults and children.  www.blueprintcoffee.co.uk

Grain and Hearth, Oxford Street
Amazing bakery and courtyard café making artisan sourdough and viennoiserie. It’s east London busy and you’ll need to love queuing, but it’s worth it. www.grainandhearth.co.uk

The Cheese box, Harbour Street
A truly great English cheese emporium, that can also be hired for parties. www.thecheesebox.co.uk

Wheelers Oyster Bar, High Street
A Whitstable institution since 1856 and run by the Doyen of Whitstable herself, Delia Fitt, and head chef Mark Stubbs. Go for local lobster, crab, sea bass, cockles, whelks and native oysters. www.wheelersoysterbar.com

Porto Wine Bar, Harbour Street
A cosy-chic wine bar with courtyard garden, Porto has over 60 wines available, heavy on the Portuguese, plus 40 ports, offered by the glass. Helio, the owner, has come from 5-star London hotels, but owning his own wine bar was always the dream. www.portowinebar.com

Harbour St Tapas, Harbour Street
A Whitstable favourite, this busy restaurant, sat on a scenic corner of Harbour Street, is perfect for a plate of jamon and a glass of sherry to watch the world go by or stay for a full meal; make sure you save room for their brilliant Basque cheesecake. www.harbourstreettapas.com

Amedea, Oxford Street
A wonderfully kitsch bar and cafe, again with a bit of a cult following, serving half Croatian and half Mediterranean food and drinks. On the Croatian side there’s cheese, meat, wine, beer, olive oil and Ajvar, a red pepper and aubergine dip, from all regions in Croatia, including Paski Sir (sheep’s cheese), Kulen (cured meat) and Burek (hot and savoury Balkan pastries). www.amedea.co.uk

The Twelve Taps
Excellent bar serving twelve lines of keg craft beers, all the gins (and they make their own Whitstable Gin, which is exclusive to The Twelve Taps) , great cocktails and a dedicated Negroni menu. www.thetwelvetaps.co.uk

About Samphire
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.

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 LAM on the North Kent Downs; fish from PH in Hastings, British cold-water farmed prawns from Valhalla, Stour Valley game, lamb, pork and goat meat from Oink and Udder and vegetables from Mallards Farm.

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.