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

Will Devlin at The Small Holding, Kent

Grow the Seasons

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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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.

Bloom & Burn at Water Lane

Graeme Corbett from Bloom & Burn at Water Lane Walled Garden, Hawkhurst, Kent

Bloom & Burn floral workshops at Water Lane Walled Garden

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

Water Lane Walled Garden in Hawkhurst, Kent has partnered with floral stylist Graeme Corbett from Bloom & Burn to create a series of floral styling workshops.

With dates running from the end of September to December, Gee will teach how to style seasonal British flowers, with flowers freshly cut from Water Lane’s cutting garden to make Hand-Tied Bouquets, Styling Flowers at Home, Dried Flower Centrepieces, Halloween Table Centrepieces and Christmas Wreath Making.

In each workshop you’ll learn a range of floristry top tips and tricks to arrange beautiful flowers at home. Led by Graeme, the workshop will start with a short, guided tour of Water Lane’s cutting garden, currently full of late summer blooms such as dahlias, sunflowers and rudbeckia, and will explain what flowers are in season and how Ian James at Water Lane grows and cuts flowers for floristry.

All stems will be cut and conditioned ready for use in the Carnation House and under Gee’s careful guidance you’ll be shown how to create floral arrangements using pin frogs and chicken wire for naturalistic, wild and beautiful displays, showing off the flower and foliage texture and form. Classes start from £70 including all tools, materials, refreshments and cake. Participants are also invited to book a table for lunch at Water Lane’s restaurant.

About Bloom & Burn
Bloom & Burn was launched by owner Graeme Corbett in January 2016 at the kitchen table of a flat in Archway, North London. After five years of creating floral designs for weddings, events, product launches and music videos in the capital Bloom & Burn has moved to Hawkhurst in the Kent countryside. From the workshop in a 19th century brick forge, Bloom and Burn focuses on floral styling, most recently for Jamie Oliver’s new cookbook ‘Together’ as well as teaching one to one workshops for florists and groups of flower lovers. Plans for a product range and a cutting garden are in the works. Graeme is a huge supporter of local growers sourcing British flowers for as long as the season allows and only using sustainable practices to create his designs. Instagram @bloomandburn

About Water Lane
Water Lane is an idyllic walled garden with a vinery and Victorian glasshouses in Hawkhurst, Kent and opened in July 2021. Previously known as The Walled Nursery, the site’s new custodians, Nick Selby and Ian James have taken on the long-term restoration project to sympathetically transform Water Lane into a working kitchen garden. There are 13 Victorian glasshouses, a peach case and vinery, outside spaces and a pavilion for dining and events plus 650 metres of no-dig beds to grow vegetables, fruit, herbs to provide for the garden restaurant and cut flowers for sale. The restaurant serves a short and ever-changing menu by head chef Jed Wrobel who cooks simple and elegant dishes with a focus on vegetables, either grown on-site or from nearby organic and biodynamic farms. Sample menu highlights include overnight oats, apricots, cherry compote; bacon nap and brown sauce; banana and peanut butter and maple butter on the breakfast menu and for lunch, flat bread with tomato and goats curd; summer beans, hazelnut, ricotta and basil; caponata, romesco and crispy polenta and lamb and oregano meatballs with milk and chard and for pudding, plum and almond tart with crème fraiche. There are also select garden plants for sale and a small shop. www.waterlane.net | @water.lane

Opening Hours: Wednesday - Saturdays 8.30am - 5.30pm | Sunday 9.30am - 4pm | Closed on Mondays and Tuesdays

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Alex Pole Ironwork at The Forge

Alex Pole Ironwork kitchenware

The Forge Kitchenware

Alex Pole is a British blacksmith making traditionally hand-forged kitchenware and cooking utensils, made in the fires of his Somerset workshop. Forging is the ancient art of shaping metal by heating it in a fire and hammering. It is an art that is full of tradition and folklore but with many modern applications.

Alex has been working as a blacksmith for over 25 years and founded The Forge Kitchenware in 2015. He makes pieces for home kitchens, outdoor cooking and bespoke pieces for cooks, chefs and restaurants including Nathan Outlaw, Christian Stevenson aka DJ BBQ, Gill Meller, Mark Hix and Thomasina Miers. Each piece is individually forged, using local materials, wherever possible, by a small team of skilled craftsmen dedicated to producing the highest quality work. One of Alex’s primary aims is to promote blacksmithing, and the makers movement, across the UK and to show its relevance in the 21st century.

Every piece of Forge Kitchenware, be it a skillet, knife, coffee scoop or an axe, starts as a simple bar of steel, which is heated ad repeatedly hit on the anvil until it is the correct size, shape and style. Heat, strike, repeat! The Forge Kitchenware takes the everyday and redefines it to create beautiful and tactical, yet wholly functional, pieces of work. Each piece is designed with simple form, clean lines and functionality and are made to last a lifetime.

Blacksmith courses and Forge and Feast events will resume in 2021.

Alex Pole is founder of The Forge Kitchenware.

Day to day, Alex’s main role is designing new products, often assisted by the whole team and developing the Forge Kitchenware brand.

“I have always had a fascination with metals for as long as I can remember. From sitting with my mum watching her make jewellery as a four-year-old to casting lead soldiers in my pre-teens, it feels like I've always been drawn to this material.

I started back in 1991 with attendance to art college to first study jewellery making, then architectural ironwork. After that came the wandering years - filled with travel, training, exploration, experimentation and a beer or two.

In 2013 I travelled to Sweden to attend a course at Gransfors Bruks, the world renowned axe making centre, and discovered a great love of tool making.  From then on I moved my work in a new direction - this included knife and axe making, as well as developing a wide range of kitchenware. Blacksmithing is not just a craft to me , but a way of life, and one that gives great satisfaction not only to me but, I hope, others as well.”

The Christmas Box

The Christmas Box from The Small Holding and The Pure Meat Company

A collaboration between The Small Holding and The Pure Meat Company

This Christmas order a restaurant quality dinner box from The Small Holding, Kent. Chef Will Devlin from The Small Holding and farmer Tom Cunningham from The Pure Meat Company have created The Christmas Box, filled with everything needed for the main eating event on Christmas Day. This unique partnership sees Kent’s best farm-to-table chef collaborate with a first-generation farmer, who is committed to rearing meat that is ethical and sustainable.

Filled with farm-fresh and restaurant quality ingredients, The Christmas Box centerpiece is a fully free-range bronze turkey, naturally reared on Tom’s farm in Shadoxhurst, Kent, alongside pigs in blankets and stuffing balls from the farm’s free-range Tamworth pigs.

The Christmas Box starts at £130 serving 2-3 people with a boned turkey breast and a boned and stuffed turkey leg, sausage stuffing balls, pigs in blankets, roast potatoes, honey roast parsnips, glazed butter and thyme carrots, braised red cabbage, buttered leeks, redcurrant sauce, bread sauce and roast turkey gravy. All the vegetables are home-grown on the farm at The Small Holding. Diners can choose a larger turkey (up to 8-9 kg) and the option of the bird being whole or having the legs taken off the crown and stuffed and rolled. The medium Christmas Box serves 4-5 people and costs £200 and the large box, serving 6-8 people costs £250.

Each Christmas Box, whether small, medium or large also includes a bottle of award-winning Squerryes Brut 2016 Vintage Reserve, with spiced baked pears on the nose and on the palette an abundance of rich, ripe fruit and a hint of brioche. A perfect bottle of English sparkling wine from Kent to start the Christmas celebrations.

The Christmas Box collaboration between The Small Holding and The Pure Meat Company began in May, when 180 bronze turkey poults were hatched at the farm. From the moment they were born they were nurtured. For the first six weeks of their lives they were nestled up in a warm cosy barn under heaters. Once they have feathered up and can face the weather at around 6 weeks old, they are ready to be properly free-range out in the wildflower meadows. The birds spent their days running, flapping, chasing bugs and pecking grass, slowly growing to full natural maturity at about 7 months. They were fed on a locally milled grain feed with no antibiotics, exactly as nature intended.

The Christmas Box is available to order online from www.exploretock.com/thesmallholding and is to be collected from The Small Holding on Tuesday 22nd or Wednesday 23rd December.

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

About The Small Holding
Will Devlin, 32, 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.

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

 About The Pure Meat Company

The Pure Meat Company is a first-generation family farm run by two brothers, Tom and Sam Cunningham with a clear purpose; to tread a little more lightly upon the planet.

Tom, aged 22, founded the farm in 2017, with a passionate belief that farming could - and should - be done differently. Frustrated by the fast-and-forced farming methods widely employed by the industry, the brothers knew that there is a better way to produce meat.

The Pure Meat Company farms three hundred acres across the Weald of Kent stitched together by dense hedgerows, deep-rooted trees and a network of pure water courses for properly free-range, native breed cows, pigs and sheep to graze, root and forage. The farmland is made up of permanent pasture, 100 acres of wildflower meadows and ancient woodlands, most of which have never been ploughed. Tom and Sam farm ethically and sustainably and the result is slow-raised meat, reared gently and sustainably in the heart of Kent. www.puremeatcompany.co.uk/shop

BBQ boxes, hampers and home-grown vegetable boxes from The Small Holding

BBQ Box at The Small Holding, Kent (credit Key & Quill)

BBQ boxes, hampers and home-grown vegetable boxes from The Small Holding

www.thesmallholding.restaurant/shop/

The Small Holding in Kilndown, Kent has launched a new BBQ box for local delivery, in addition to its home-grown and organic vegetable boxes and stay at home picnic hampers.

Just in time for the May bank holiday, The Small Holding BBQ box is suitable for 2-4 people sharing and includes two of each beef burgers, chicken kebabs, pork sausages and pulled pork plus buns, flat breads and burger garnish. Also included are tubs of coleslaw, BBQ beans, wild garlic pasta salad and pickled red cabbage. This fantastic feast of a box costs £55 while also for sale on the online shop are beers and wines from local Kent and Sussex producers including Squerryes, Greensand Ridge, Chapel Down and Long Man Brewery.

The new BBQ box is the newest offering from The Small Holding team who are also selling weekly vegetable boxes (£35) with produce grown on site at The Small Holding and from local farms. Celebrating the best of the season with local asparagus, strawberries, beetroot, new potatoes, rainbow chard, carrots, herbs, garlic and more.

The BBQ boxes, vegetable boxes and hampers should be ordered by 5pm each Wednesday for delivery on Friday or Saturday depending on delivery postcode.

For more information, images or to speak with chef owner Will Devlin please contact Hannah Blake at The Dining Room on 07730 039361 or hannah@thediningroompr.co.uk

Notes to editors:

- Orders can be made online at www.thesmallholding.restaurant/shop/

- Image credited to Key & Quill

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’s second site, The Curlew, a former 17th century coaching inn in Bodiam, East Sussex opened in February 2020 www.thecurlew.restaurant.

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

November at The Small Holding

Mushroom foraging at The Small Holding (credit Food Story Media)

Oysters, celeriac and preserves

November at The Small Holding

“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

“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

Everything is home-made at The Small Holding, including sourdough bread and butter, yoghurt and ricotta or sourced hyper-locally such as Hinxden Cream which has 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 November Full Acre sample menu, with full vegetarian and vegan menus available, 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
Celeriac, Scallop, Asparagus
Oyster, Kale, Lovage
Beetroot, Cheese, Blueberry
Hake, Bacon, Clams
Hogget, Cabbage, Parsley
Pork, Potato, Egg
Miso, Pear, Pine
Apple, Goat Milk, Brandy

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.

“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

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, interview or to visit The Small Holding, please contact Hannah Blake on hannah@thediningroompr.co.uk or 07730 039361

Kent chef collaboration dinners

On the pass (credit Food Story Media)

Two of Kent’s best chefs are collaborating to cook together on consecutive nights in each other’s restaurant.

On Monday 11th and Tuesday 12th November, Robert Taylor from The Compasses Inn, Crundale and Will Devlin from The Small Holding, Kilndown will cook an 8-course menu together, preparing 4 courses each in their own style.

Both chefs are recognised as being at the top of Kent’s restaurant scene. The Compasses is listed as one of the UK’s Top 50 Gastro Pubs and won Best Food Pub in the Country in the John Smith’s Great British Pub Awards. Will Devlin from The Small Holding has won Kent Chef of the Year and Best Restaurant in the Taste of Kent Awards. The Small Holding and The Compasses are both in the Michelin Guide and in the Good Food Guide 2020.

This unique collaboration is £80 per person with the option of an additional paired wine flight.

Snacks

Cheese and onion bun, venison croquette and damson ketchup

Menu

Celeriac, asparagus, cheddar (Will)

Caramelised cauliflower and crispy Winnie’s Wheel (Rob)

Scallop, lovage, apple (Will)

Soused herring with dill mayonnaise and shallots (Rob)

Pork, cabbage, tomato (Will)

Stout glazed ox with mushroom and English mustard clotted cream (Rob)

Apple, cobnut, pine (Will)

Chocolate and salted caramel macaron (Rob)

Coffee and sweets

Pineapple weed jelly, preserved orange and chocolate fudge

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For more information, interview requests or images please contact Hannah Blake

The Dining Room PR on hannah@thediningroompr.co.uk or 07730 039361 

Notes to editors:

Monday 11th November at The Compasses Inn
Sole Street, Crundale |Canterbury | Kent | CT4 7ES
Reservations to www.thecompassescrundale.co.uk

Tuesday 12th November at The Small Holding
Ranters Lane | Kilndown | Kent | TN17 2SG
Reservations to www.thesmallholding.restaurant

August at The Small Holding

Trout, cucumber and horseradish on the August menu at The Small Holding

The Small Holding​ is​​ 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​ with raised beds, poly tunnels, pigs, ducks and chickens less than 10ft away from the kitchen. The restaurant’s own sheep, for hogget and mutton, graze less than half a mile away. The beds are heaving with lettuces, chard, beans and ​peas​, tomatoes, courgettes, raspberries​ and​ blackcurrants​.

Everything is home-made at The Small Holding​ for the Full Acre and Half Acre tasting menus​, including bread and butter, yoghurt and ricotta or sourced hyper-locally such as Hinxden Cream which has a herd of pedigree Guernsey and Holstein Friesian cows in nearby Benenden. Ingredients are picked fresh before service and when there’s a glut, the kitchen preserves, pickles and jars. 

The August 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.

[Images by Clare Winfield]

Cuttlefish, cauliflower, wild garlic
Courgette, yoghurt, chilli
Liver, onion, bacon
Trout, cucumber, horseradish
Oyster, kale, purslane
Tomato, ricotta, yarrow
Mutton, lettuce, potato
Buttermilk, bay, blackcurrant
Meadowsweet, raspberry, apricot
Cherry, fennel, woodruff

Cherry, fennel and woodruff; Liver, onion and bacon; tomato, ricotta and yarrow on the August menu at The Small Holding

James Whetlor from Cabrito cooks at 1000 Mouths

Nancarrow Farm’s 1000 Mouth returns for 2019 with James Whetlor from Cabrito

Nancarrow Farm Presents 1000 Mouths

The working organic farm near Truro, Cornwall celebrates 20 years of organic farming with a weekend of feasts and festivities this October.

-Taking place on 4-6 October, the event is the follow up to Nancarrow’s first 1000 Mouths event held in 2017
- Guest chefs include Michelin star chef Paul Ainsworth, Tom Griffiths, Ben Tish and James Whetlor
-1,000 visitors will experience a nose-to-tail dining experience, prepared by the Nancarrow team alongside guest chefs
- The event will promote fellow sustainable food producers in Cornwall, and raise money for Cool Earth and Cornwall Wildlife Trust

Nancarrow’s 1000 Mouths event returns for 2019, shining a light on the region’s most progressive farmers and producers – in collaboration with a line-up of celebrated guest chefs. 1000 Mouths will raise money for Cool Earth and Cornwall Wildlife Trust.

Michelin star chef Paul Ainsworth will headline the event, and will be joined over the weekend by Tom Griffiths of Flank, London, Ben Tish – who is returning to the farm after much success with his latest book Moorish – and James Whetlor, founder of Cabrito.

Over the course of the weekend, the Nancarrow team and guest chefs will be feeding 1,000 visitors at a series of evening feasts and dinners held in the farm’s beautiful barns and buildings. The menus will provide a true nose-to-tail dining experience, celebrating the finest produce (and producers) from the South West – including The Cornish Mushroom Company, Padstow Kitchen Garden and Curgurrell Farm, alongside organic beef from one of Nancarrow’s Red Devon bullocks.

“We’re so thrilled to be celebrating 20 years of organic farming this year,” says Steve Chamberlain, partner at Nancarrow. “Farming in harmony with nature has never been more important, and we’re delighted to welcome some incredible producers who share this approach for a weekend of feasting.”

Daytime guests can enjoy a range of activities and traditional crafts, from leather making and wool spinning, to wild walks and apple juicing. Steve Lamb of River Cottage will host a series of talks and demos throughout the day, and there will be the opportunity to not only meet some of Cornwall’s newest and most innovative producers, but sample their food and drink too.

Jack Bristow, Nancarrow’s head chef, says: “Our 1000 Mouths event is an extension of our approach to food and farming, and we’re really excited to be welcoming some incredible like-minded chefs to the farm – it’s going to be an amazing weekend.”

Further details and early bird tickets will be released on 14th June, and will be available on the Nancarrow website: www.nancarrowfarm.co.uk

The Nancarrow family farm has been rearing traditional breed cattle and sheep, and rare breed pork, for nearly 250 years. 20 years ago, in 1999, the farm received organic status from the Soil Association, and today Nancarrow’s organic produce is reared, prepared, cured and consumed entirely on the farm where it is enjoyed by guests throughout the year.

June at The Small Holding

There are six varieties of strawberries being grown at The Small Holding this summer

Asparagus, strawberries and ants at The Small Holding

The Small Holding is a kitchen and farm on a country lane in the village of Kilndown on the Kent and East Sussex borders. The 26-cover restaurant has been named as one of the best restaurants in Kent at the Taste of Kent Awards and is set in one acre of land. The tasting style menus change daily using home-reared and home-grown ingredients from the farm, which is less than 10ft from the kitchen.

The ten-course Full Acre menu is a full experience of the farm and kitchen starting with home-made sourdough and butter, made on site with the rich yellow cream from a local Guernsey herd. This year The Small Holding is growing nearly 200 varieties of vegetables and fruits. During the peak growing months, the raised beds and poly tunnels are full of lettuces, chard, beans, tomatoes, courgettes, raspberries, gooseberries and blackcurrants, plus the foraged bounty from the woods over the lane from the restaurant which offers wood sorrel, blackberries, wild garlic, chestnuts and mushrooms. Rare breed Berkshire pigs, chickens and ducks roam the farm and there is a mushroom farm in one of the upstairs prep rooms. The five-course Half Acre menu offers a sample of the Full Acre menu, plus vegetarian and vegan Half and Full Acre menus with wine and non-alcoholic flight pairings.

‘The ambition and attitude of The Small Holding does genuinely feel like something new, a self-contained virtuous circle of excellent produce turning into top-quality dishes, all organic and self-sustaining, with wild plants and herbs growing alongside cultivated vegetables, with nothing to decide what makes it onto the menu other than what's the absolute best on the day.’ Chris Pople, Cheese and Biscuits

The June Full Acre menu at The Small Holding with full vegetarian and vegan menus available costs £50 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.

Kale, Cod, Egg
Potato, Chive, Mustard
Asparagus, Lovage, Cheese
Hogget, Fennel, Chilli
Beef, Peas, Horseradish
Sea Buckthorn, Ants, Cream
Miso, Pine, Pear
Strawberry, Basil, Elderflower
Today’s Cheese

“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

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.

The bar, run by Will’s older brother Matt, is fully stocked with interesting gins, beers and wines, many locally produced such as Greensand Ridge Gin and top English wine producer Squerryes, whose 2013 Brut won Gold in the 2018 Champagne and Sparkling Wine World Championships.

Will won Kent Chef of the Year 2018, beating other finalists, Dan Smith at Fordwich Arms, Fordwich and Rob Taylor at Compasses Inn, Crundale. The Small Holding is recommended in the Good Food Guide 2018. He lives in nearby Goudhurst with his wife and baby daughter.

For more information, images or for a press review visit please contact Hannah Blake at The Dining Room PR
07730 039361 | hannah@thediningroompr.co.uk

Seven of Kent's best chefs collaborate for charity dinner

The Ultimate Pop Up

The Ultimate Pop Up on 20 June

Seven of the region’s most sought-after chefs join forces for The Ultimate Pop Up at Hush Heath Winery to cook a six-course tasting menu to raise funds for children’s charity, Tree of Hope

Fresh from being crowned Kent Chef of the Year, The Small Holding’s Will Devlin will be cooking alongside star of the Great British Menu and Head Chef at Verdigris, Scott Goss and chef owner at The Compasses Inn, Crundale Robert Taylor. Former Kentish Hare and MasterChef the professional’s personality, Bobby Brown, chef-proprietor of The Michelin listed Wheelwrights Arms in Matfield for 6 years, Rob Marsh and Hush Heath’s Executive Chef, Fabio Vinciguerra will also be cooking while The Bicycle Bakery’s Jamie Tandoh will be making dessert.

Tammy Jackson, the Leigh based mixologist behind For Cocktail Sake, is creating a cocktail for the evening which will be served to guests on arrival along with a selection of canapes.

This one-off special event, sponsored by CCLA, will take place on Thursday 20 June and will raise funds for Tonbridge based charity Tree of Hope, who support families of disabled and seriously ill children across the UK to raise funds for treatment, therapies and equipment recommended by their healthcare teams.

Tree of Hope’s Fundraising Manager Kate Bourne, who is organising the Ultimate Pop Up comments “We are extremely lucky to be based in a region with a thriving food scene but the opportunity to indulge in a meal prepared by some of the area’s very best chefs using the finest local produce, in stunning surroundings is rare and we’re delighted that such a special night will raise funds for Tree of Hope. With over a million children now registered as disabled in the UK, we are so aware that the hundreds of families we currently assist is just a drop in the ocean. The Ultimate Pop Up will enable the charity to reach more families that so desperately need our help.”

The Ultimate Pop Up will take place on Thursday June 20th at Hush Heath Winery. Tickets can be purchased online https://www.treeofhope.org.uk/event/the-ultimate-pop-uk

To find out more about the work of Tree of Hope go to www.treeofhope.org.uk

Farm and Forage at The Small Holding

Will Devlin at The Small Holding, Kilndown, Kent

Farm and Forage at The Small Holding, Kilndown, Kent

Will Devlin, chef owner of The Small Holding, a kitchen and farm on a country lane in the pretty village of Kilndown on the Kent and East Sussex borders, has created a Farm and Forage day for guests to experience a day in the life of the restaurant.

Launching on Wednesday 1 May, the day will start with coffee and homemade pastries before pulling on wellies for a walk around the farm to learn more about the 200 varieties of fruit and vegetables being grown on site for the restaurant. After feeding the pigs and chickens, guests will venture down the lane to the woods and fields to go foraging with Will to find what’s in season including wild garlic, blackberries, elderflower, cobnuts, mushrooms and wild strawberries.  

On returning to The Small Holding, guests will be greeted with a glass of awarding-winning Squerryes’ English sparkling wine before being seated for a 5 course t tasting menu.

Launching on 1 May, the Farm and Forage days are only available on Wednesday and Thursdays throughout the Summer from May until 29 August, priced £145 per person, including a 5-course lunch and arrival drink and a goody bag with seasonal treats to take home.

Bookings can be made direct via www.thesmallholding.restaurant or by calling the restaurant on 01892 890 105.

About The Small Holding

“Homely village restaurant secreted away in glorious Kent countryside… simple, ingredient-led dishes are fiercely seasonal… triumphant standouts are the village reared pork – served as a cube of beautifully fatty pork belly, a tiny, offaly faggot, homemade blood pudding and a lovely, sticky gravy – and a dish of sweet strawberries with an intense basil ice cream and shortbread.” The Good Food Guide 2018

“A thoughtful, original and completely delicious meal. I loved the foraging walk with all the culinary tips and sage gardening advice. I will definitely be back for more. The L’Enclume of the South in the making in a beautiful Kentish setting.” Sudi Pigott, national food and restaurant writer

The Small Holding wins Best Restaurant at Taste of Kent awards

Will and Matt Devlin with Alisa Sweeny from Thomson, Snell and Passmore

The Small Holding, a 28-cover kitchen with one acre of working land, has won Best Restaurant in Kent at the Taste of Kent Awards. The judges commented that The Small Holding was a “unique experience, strong on its local sourcing with a good story and scored highly on its customer service”.

Organised by Produced in Kent since 2004, the Taste of Kent Awards showcase the best of Kent’s food and drink products. It is the county’s longest running and most prestigious annual awards, voted for by the public. The range of categories has grown year on year and now incorporates every product that Kent, the Garden of England, is renowned for including beer, wine, cider, apples and cherries.

Thackeray’s in Tunbridge Wells and Corner House, Canterbury were runners up in the Best Restaurant category.

Will Devlin, chef owner of The Small Holding, comments, “We’re thrilled to have won this award from Produced in Kent. Being voted best restaurant by the general public is a massive boost for the kitchen and garden teams. Everything we do at The Small Holding is about sustainability, traceability, growing and rearing our own produce and working with genuinely local suppliers and farmers. For a restaurant that’s not been operating a full year we’re really thrilled our hard work has been recognised.”

Farm, Food, Flavour at The Small Holding

Kent Chef of the Year is a new client at The Dining Room

I’m delighted that Will Devlin, chef owner of The Small Holding, Kilndown is a new client at The Dining Room.

“Homely village restaurant secreted away in glorious Kent countryside… simple, ingredient-led dishes are fiercely seasonal… triumphant standouts are the village reared pork – served as a cube of beautifully fatty pork belly, a tiny, offaly faggot, homemade blood pudding and a lovely, sticky gravy – and a dish of sweet strawberries with an intense basil ice cream and shortbread.” The Good Food Guide

Will Devlin, 30, 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 has been named as one of the best restaurants 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.

The ten-course Full Acre menu offers the diner a full experience of the farm and kitchen starting with home-made sourdough and butter, made on site with the rich yellow cream from a local Guernsey here. This year The Small Holding is growing nearly 200 varieties of vegetables and fruits. During the peak growing months, the raised beds and poly tunnels are full of lettuces, chard, beans and legumes, tomatoes, courgettes, raspberries, gooseberries and blackcurrants, plus the foraged bounty from the woods over the lane from the restaurant which offers wood sorrel, blackberries, wild garlic, chestnuts and mushrooms. Rare breed Berkshire pigs, chickens and ducks roam the farm and there are plans this year for cows and goats. The five-course Half Acre menu offers a sample of the Full Acre menu, plus vegetarian and vegan Half and Full Acre menus with wine and non-alcoholic flight pairings.

Sample dishes from the March 2019 menu includes Nettle, Garlic, Black pudding; Skate, Dandelion, Sorrel and for pudding Gypsy Tart, Rhubarb, Cream.

“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 please contact Hannah Blake at The Dining Room PR on 07730 039361 or hannah@thediningroompr.co.uk