Gourmet Life - light bites of Surrey food and drink news

Whether you’re launching a new pub, deli, farm shop or restaurant, or hosting a farmers’ market or foodie event, get in touch with your Surrey food and drink news at matthew.williams@surreylife.co.uk

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Originally published in Surrey Life magazine May 2012

• Pennyhill Park Hotel and Spa in Bagshot has achieved the highest accolade of the tea world by winning The Tea Guild’s prestigious Top City and Country Hotel Tea Award 2012.
• Michelin-starred chef Michael Wignall, who oversees the restaurant at Pennyhill Park (see above), has also been shortlisted for the 2012 Chefs’ Chef of the Year by the AA. The awards take place in September.
• National Vegetarian Week runs from Monday May 21 to Sunday May 27 this year. Celebrating its twentieth anniversary, the event promotes the benefits of a meat-free lifestyle. For information about local events taking place, pay a visit to their website at www.nationalvegetarianweek.org.
• The stylish Boat House Restaurant & Bar, based at The Bridge Hotel in Chertsey, is back open for business with a new chef to go with its recent £375,000 makeover.
• Robin Johnston, the husband of the organiser behind East Horsley’s community allotment, Grace & Flavour, has opened a coffee shop/deli in the village called Quaich.
• Food-lovers heading to Hampton Court Palace for the Foodies Festival, from Saturday May 5 to Monday May 7, are in for a unique culinary experience with a pop-up cinema showing the best food films of all time and serving the meals featured during the screenings.

Originally published in Surrey Life magazine April 2012

• An exciting new annual event, Local Food Fortnight is being launched in Surrey in a bid to captivate our county’s discerning foodies. Running from Saturday April 28 to Sunday May 13, here we bring you just a few of the highlights. Events are constantly being updated at www.localfoodfortnight.com.
• Organised by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), Community Pubs Month in April is a national initiative to champion the importance of local pubs.
• The Michelin-starred Petersham Nurseries Café has confirmed that head chef Skye Gyngell has left after eight years to pursue other interests. Skye had been head chef at the Richmond restaurant and garden centre since it first opened in 2004 and last year gained a Michelin star for her cooking.
• To celebrate the Diamond Jubilee, schoolchildren across the UK are invited to create a special menu featuring recipes that showcase the best of British to be served to The Queen and The Duchess of Cornwall at a reception at Buckingham Palace in June. The competition, called Cook for the Queen, is open to ten to 15-year-olds. Enter at www.lovebritishfood.co.uk by Monday April 30.
• The family-run business Caracoli, which has stores in Guildford, Winchester and Alresford, has won the food category of the prestigious national competition, The Telegraph magazine’s ‘Best Small Shops in Britain 2012’. Beating off hundreds of other national contenders, the company was particularly praised for its artisan breads, charcuterie and range of antipasti.

Originally published in Surrey Life magazine March 2012

• Italian chef-restaurateur Antonio Carluccio has been appointed chef ambassador of The Clink, the commercial restaurant at Her Majesty’s Prison High Down in Sutton. Carluccio joins fellow Italian chef Giorgio Locatelli and catering consultant Vic Laws in taking on the official role at the restaurant, which is run by inmates. The Clink has trained 111 prisoners since opening in 2009, 26 of whom have been released with 22 currently in full-time employment and just two reoffending. For details of how to book at The Clink, visit their website at www.theclinkcharity.com.
• The third Farnham Wine Festival will take place on Saturday March 10, 4pm to 9pm, at the University for the Creative Arts in Farnham. Local wine merchants will include Imbibros of Farnham and Wines @ West End. For more details, see www.farnhamwinefestival.co.uk.
• Haslemere’s Lythe Hill hotel and spa has appointed a new executive chef, the Canadian-born Malcolm Campbell. Having started his training in Vancouver, British Columbia, under French-born Frederic Couton, he later joined Shay Cooper at The Bingham in Richmond, where he helped them gain their second and third Rosettes and in 2010 a Michelin Star.
• For the first time in over 25 years, Woking is welcoming a new allotment site to be situated in the north of the borough at Carthouse Lane. Known as Littlewicks, it will join with the existing and heavily oversubscribed Horsell site.
• Four Gables Fine Dining relocated from Battersea to Ashtead in June 2011 and has just launched a new Food Academy offering a range of different cookery courses under the guidance of expert chefs. More at www.fourgablesfinedining.com.
• The Medicine Garden, an until recently derelict Victorian walled kitchen garden in Cobham, has won the 2011 Countryside Alliance Enterprise Award for the South East of England.
• Two Many Cooks, a family run catering company that has been going strong for 25 years, has opened a café/shop in Dorking filled with home-cooked food and locally roasted coffee.
• McDermott’s Fish & Chips in Croydon has won the title of Independent Fish and Chip Restaurant of the Year at the National Fish & Chip Awards 2012.

Originally published in Surrey Life magazine February 2012

• The former Surrey home of press baron Lord Beaverbrook could be transformed into a prestigious country house hotel if developers win the battle against campaigners. Cherkley Court, near Leatherhead, which was on the market with an asking price of £20m, was bought earlier this year by the property and leisure operator, Longshot. The group is hoping to create a 48-bedroom luxury hotel with two restaurants, a health club, a spa and a cookery school, plus an 18-hole golf course, to rival the exclusive Queenwood Golf Club in nearby Ottershaw.
• The William Bray in Shere has announced the appointment of Brett Gandy, the former number two at Foxhills in Ottershaw, as their new head chef. He’s joined by his brother, sous chef Craig, who recently won the 2011 national high achievers Chef of the Year award for Macdonald Hotels while still working at Frimley Hall Hotel & Spa, near Camberley, which has two AA rosettes.
• A regular at the community allotment Grace & Flavour in West Horsley, Alaster Calder and neighbours in Dorking are hoping to secure access to a small walled garden with glasshouses and polytunnel, with the aim of starting up a similar project called Pixham Pottagers.
• Michelin acclaimed chef Ravi Deulkar has joined the award-winning Massala Restaurant in Cobham. He had previously been head chef at the Zaika in Kensington and the acclaimed Michelin starred restaurant in Chelsea, Rasoi Vineet Bhatia.

Originally published in Surrey Life magazine January 2012

• In recent months, staff at Grayshott Pottery have been working tirelessly into the evenings to complete the first stage of a makeover of their café. Now named Jolleys, after an old Victorian pottery term, areas of the café have been hand-painted by local pottery designer Janna Wareham, while old ware boards, rescued from long closed potteries around the country, have been used as distressed cladding on several of the walls. 
• With Surrey Hills Brewery moving to Denbies Wine Estate in Dorking, their old brewery near Shere has been taken over by the new Tillingbourne Brewery, who were due to open on Saturday December 17 and aim to brew the finest real ales.
• Reigate’s award-winning The Westerly restaurant closed its doors for the last time in November and was replaced by the temporary Pop Up @ Sweet Potato. It remains uncertain as to how long the new establishment will be open.
• If the terms folding, creaming, rubbing in and blind baking have you flummoxed, let Gill Potterton guide you through these baking techniques for beginners at Priory Farm, South Nutfield, on Tuesday January 17 at 7pm. Tickets are £17 and include tea, coffee, cake and tastings. Book on 01737 822603.
• Thames Ditton resident Karen Tanner’s chicken, paprika and chorizo soup was announced as the winner of the GMTV competition for Britain’s Best Soup. It will now be sold in Waitrose.
• From a field 360-strong, The Queen’s Head in Farnham has been named Fuller’s pub of the year by the brewery.
• Surrey County Council has revealed that it has to spend £7.6 million of taxpayers’ money a year disposing of household food waste that didn’t need to be thrown out. For recipe ideas for leftovers and more, visit www.lovefoodsurrey.com.

Originally published in Surrey Life magazine December 2011

• The Abinger Hatch in Abinger Common, Swan Inn at Chiddingfold and Queen’s Head in Weybridge have all been added to the Michelin Eating Out in Pubs Guide 2012. They join the Parrot Inn at Forest Green, Bryce’s in Ockley, the Three Horseshoes in Staines, The Inn @ West End, The Bee in Windlesham, the Brickmakers in Windlesham and the Red Lion in Woking in the guide.
• The Young Restaurateur of the Year award at the Asian Curry Awards, which were held in London, went to Azad Miah of Amani in Epsom Downs. The restaurant opened in April 2010.
• Long known for their innovative ideas, the owners of one Surrey pub have introduced a bartering system to help boost the use of local ingredients and reduce food waste. People who have grown excess produce in the area have been invited to take it to the Jolly Farmers in Buckland where, in exchange for vouchers redeemable at the pub’s bar or deli, it can be used in the kitchens.
• At The Parrot Inn, Forest Green, they are celebrating their Butcher’s Hall’s first Christmas on Thursday December 1 with a Christmas shopping evening from 6pm to 8.30pm. Enjoy a glass of mulled wine while shopping before wandering over to the pub, where a 10 per cent discount on food bills will be on offer for those who place orders over £50 at the Butcher’s Hall.

Originally published in Surrey Life magazine November 2011

• Having opened a year ago in the farm shop at Priory Farm near Redhill, the Chalk Hills Bakery had extra reason to celebrate on its first birthday – with the arrival of a film crew from BBC’s The One Show, accompanied by Observer food critic and presenter Jay Rayner (pictured), who came to taste their wares. Since starting the bakery in November 2010, at Priory Farm in Sandy Lane, South Nutfield, where they are still based, Chalk Hills has grown to supply many outlets across the area, including the Kingfisher Farm Shop in Abinger Hammer; Cullenders Delicatessens in Reigate and Redhill; Flower Farm Shop in Godstone; Butchers Hall in Forest Green; and the Jolly Farmers in Buckland, as well as opening its store in Reigate.
• An independent modern fine-dining French restaurant, Chez Vous has opened in Warlingham and is a collaboration of local chefs Martin Bradley, who has run the Chez Vous Events catering company for over 10 years, and Laurent Pacaud, head chef at La Barbe, Reigate, for 27 years.
• With the release of the Michelin Guide 2012, four Surrey restaurants celebrated maintaining their starred status: Michael Wignall at The Latymer at Pennyhill Park in Bagshot; Drake’s in Ripley; The Glasshouse in Kew; and Petersham Nurseries in Richmond. A newcomer was the Virginia Water/Ascot border-based Coworth Park, which received its first Michelin star. It was not so good for other Surrey entries, however, with The Bee in Windlesham failing to hold onto its Bib Gourmand and The Bingham Hotel in Richmond losing its star after a year.
• Godstone Green Tea Rooms, just off Needles Bank, has opened its doors. Opening hours are Monday to Friday, 7am to 5pm, and Saturday and Sunday, 10am to 4pm.
• When the charming pub The Three Horseshoes in Thursley was to be sold off to a developer, following a five-year period of closure, the villagers clubbed together in 2004 and bought it themselves. A few years later, it is now one of the most popular pubs in the area and has just been named Surrey Dining Pub of the Year by the Good Pub Guide.
• The Botanist Brewery & Kitchen has launched its new microbrewery, serving a range of craft beers and ales produced in-house in Kew. Head brewer Mark Wainwright will be experimenting with original styles and reviving traditional ones to create seasonal and bespoke brews.
• A favourite haunt of Charles Dickens, Jane Austen and Lord Nelson, the independently owned Angel hotel in Guildford has re-launched its restaurant with a Mediterranean/English mix – tapas now complements their traditional English tea and sandwich menu.
• Woking Beer Festival takes place at Woking Leisure Centre on Friday November 11, 6pm to 11pm, and Saturday November 12, 11am to 3.30pm and 6pm to 11pm. Over 70 real ales plus ciders and imported beers will be accompanied by live music and a Wurlitzer organ.

Originally published in Surrey Life magazine October 2011

• Go behind the scenes at England’s largest vineyard, Denbies in Dorking, with their Vine and Dine Grape Picking Experience, which is available throughout October. The cost is £49.50 per person and includes picking grapes, a hearty vineyard ploughman’s lunch with Denbies wine followed by a behind the scenes tour of the winery.
• The seventh Redhill Beer Festival takes place from Thursday October 27 to Saturday October 29 at Merstham Village Hall, Merstham RH1 3ED. Always a popular event, more information is available online at www.camra.org.uk.
• Meet one of the country’s top chefs, Michel Roux Jr, also the man behind one of the UK’s finest restaurants, at Bentalls in Kingston on Thursday October 13. Discover the secrets behind La Gavroche in London, the restaurant started by his father and uncle in 1967, and his continued success with Michelin stars; then watch him in action in the department store’s Living Kitchen.
• Congratulations to Michael Wignall’s the Latymer at Pennyhill Park Hotel in Bagshot, the highest placed Surrey restaurant in the latest Good Food Guide, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year.
• Michael will also be among the top chefs, including Ben Piette from London House in Old Woking and Steve Drake of Drake’s in Ripley, in the live kitchen theatre at The LifeStyle Show at Sandown Park racecourse in Esher on Saturday October 8 and Sunday October 9.
• Two catering companies battled it out at Garsons Farm in Esher to see who could make the biggest and tastiest jam roly-poly. Truffles Catering, based in Byfleet, faced Jonquil, a food company from Whitton, for the television series Monster Munchies, hosted by ex-England rugby star Matt Dawson. Their efforts were judged by 1980s popstar Toyah Wilcox.
• British Sausage Week is back again on Monday October 31 and is set to feature a hunt for the country’s best sausages. Open to butchers, supermarkets, chefs or anyone who produces sausages within their business, to nominate your Surrey faves visit www.lovepork.co.uk.

Originally published in Surrey Life magazine September 2011

• The chief executive of fish merchants John Ross Jr, West Clandon resident Andrew Leigh struck gold at this year’s Guild of Fine Food Great Taste Awards. Headquartered in Surrey with its smokehouse in Aberdeen, John Ross Jr won the gold star for its Balmoral Fillet.
• A new farm shop will open at The Medicine Garden in Cobham this autumn called The Larder. There are also plans to hold regular food and drink masterclasses and tasting sessions.
• Over eight million tonnes of food is thrown away by households in the UK every year. The ‘Love Food Surrey’ campaign aims to encourage our county’s residents to reduce food waste. Their next roadshow takes place at Morrisons, Reigate, on Monday September 19.

Originally published in Surrey Life magazine August 2011

• Michelin-starred Drake’s at the Clock House restaurant and the Talbot Inn, both in Ripley, have joined forces to offer the ultimate gourmet break. Guests booking the two-night Ripley Dining Experience stay at the Talbot can experience the eight-course tasting menu at Drake’s as well as dining at the inn’s own restaurant.
• The French Table in Surbiton is celebrating ten years in the town that have seen it reach The F Word final and be named as London’s best restaurant by the Good Food Guide.  Husband and wife team Eric and Sarah Guignard opened the restaurant’s sister venture The French Tarte, a boulangerie / patisserie next door, at the beginning of the year.
• The refurbished Fox and Hounds, which can be found by the Bishopsgate entrance of Windsor Great Park in Englefield Green, officially reopened with Prince Andrew cutting the ribbon.
• The café adjacent to Nonsuch Mansion in Cheam has been reopened by new tenants Bovingdons. The fully redecorated café has been renamed Nonsuch Pantry and serves up locally made artisan breads alongside a fresh daily-changing menu.
• Kingfisher Farm Shop, which has been selling the best of local and British produce from the village of Abinger Hammer since 1971, is celebrating its 40th anniversary. The main family business has been growing watercress in the area since 1854.

Originally published in Surrey Life magazine July 2011

• Out of 367 different bottles of still rosé submitted from 21 countries, Denbies Wine Estate’s Chalk Ridge Rosé 2010 was the only one awarded gold at this year’s International Wine Challenge. Another well-deserved accolade for the Dorking vineyard.
• The award-winning The Inn @ West End is used to regular accolades for its food output but there’s no resting on their laurels, and with owner Gerry Price being a wine merchant, it was surely only a matter of time before they had their own wine shop. It opens this month.
• Meanwhile, a relaunch taking place this month sees the Home Cottage, found just a stone’s throw from Redhill station, completely renovated. There will be a fresh interior, a transformed garden for alfresco dining and a new chef promising traditional British fare.
• Despite being open for less than two years, The Naked Grocer in Walton-on-Thames was named independent retailer of the year at the 2011 Re:fresh Awards, the fresh produce industry’s annual ceremony.
• And, finally, congratulations also go out to Surrey’s very own Hogs Back Brewery. The popular local brewery won a bronze medal for its TEA in the British-style, pale ale class at the Australian International Beer awards in Melbourne.

Originally published in Surrey Life magazine June 2011

• Mill your own fresh flour in the historic setting of Shalford Mill, near Guildford, with the experts from Imbham Farm Granary on Wednesday June 1. Entry to the event, which takes place from 11am to 4.30pm, is free. Meanwhile, on Thursday June 30, from 7.30pm to 9.30pm, the mill will be hosting a wine tasting with Ben Watkins of the Guildford Wine Company. Tickets cost £10 (booking on 01483 561389).
• A range of top chefs will be hosting  demonstrations at the Tante Marie cookery school in Woking this July, with Peter Sanchez-Iglesias from Casamia in Bristol (winner of Gordon Ramsay’s best restaurant 2010) among the names already signed up. A full day, including two demonstrations and a buffet lunch, costs £75.
• Drake’s at the Clock House in Ripley has appointed Thierry Sauvanot as sommelier. Sauvanot, 37, joins the Michelin-starred restaurant after having worked in London at a number of top establishments, including most recently Bjorn van der Horst’s Eastside Inn. 
• The 17th century coaching inn, the Abinger Hatch near Dorking, has a top new team in place. The front of house is being headed up by Jonathan Tye, formerly of Pont de la Tour and Chop House in London, with the kitchens led by husband and wife team Wessel Van Jaarsveld and Andree Diamond, who joined from The Butchers Arms in Herefordshire, where they worked for Michelin starred proprietor Stephen Bull.
• The Big Lunch attracted more than 160,000 people onto the nation’s streets last year for a host of food-inspired street parties and takes place again on Sunday June 5. In Croydon, it is being championed by Malcolm John – owner of Le Cassoulet and Fish and Grill. 

Originally published in Surrey Life magazine May 2011

• A great family day out for everyone interested in home-grown produce, the Grow Your Own Show takes place at Loseley Park, Guildford, on Sunday May 1 and Monday May 2. Advance ticket offers available on 01483 444789.
• Over in east Surrey, the Oxted Foodie Club has started gathering like-minded local souls for pub-based dinner parties. Does your town or village have a similar gastronomic group?
• Sadly, National Honey Week isn’t running this May, but Painshill Park will be getting in the spirit anyway in Cobham. Their Discover Bees event takes place on Sunday May 1 – their two walled gardens are apparently a mecca for honey bees.
• Pennyhill Park’s head sommelier, Davide Vaccarini, will be hosting a wine and cheese tasting at the Bagshot hotel on Friday May 6 from 6pm to 9.30pm. Tickets cost £10 and are available by calling 01276 486150.

Originally published in Surrey Life magazine April 2011

• Following its recent re-decoration, The Courtyard Restaurant at Polesden Lacey is back up to speed with its team of chefs continuing to work with local suppliers, including the estate’s tenant farmer, Steve Connisbee. 
• Which recipes rumbled a Tudor tummy? Hampton Court Palace’s intrepid team of Tudor cooks experiment with recipes, ingredients and cooking methods to prepare a feast fit for a king on the weekends of April 1-3, April 22-25 and April 29-May 2.
• A new website designed to get everyone growing their own veg has been created by Farnham resident Chris Mole. As well as simple growing guides for each vegetable, the site provides meal ideas and even cost savings versus buying in the supermarket.
• Field to Fork, a British brasserie and bar, recently opened its doors in Epsom, promising to champion local produce. Check out this Reader’s Review.

Originally published in Surrey Life magazine March 2011

• The Fox and Hounds gastropub in Englefield Green is undergoing a refurbishment that should see it reopened under new management by the end of the spring. 
• Broker’s Gin in Shepperton is the toast of Surrey after growing by well over 75 per cent in 2010, boosted by winning one of the industry’s major accolades – the Chairman’s Trophy at the Ultimate Spirits Challenge in New York.
• Glutton & Glee, a new café offering modern British food using locally sourced produce in a retro interior, is set to open at The Mount in Guildford later this month.
• The popular Rowbarge pub in Woking has been gutted by a blaze and will remain closed for several months.

Originally published in Surrey Life magazine January 2011

• Surbiton fine dining favourite The French Table is to launch a new boulangerie next door early this year. Customers will be able to grab a takeaway coffee or relax inside sampling the signature home-baked breads, baguettes, croissants and pastries. Fresh bread is also on the menu at Priory Farm, South Nutfield, where artisan bakers Chalk Hills have moved into a freshly renovated tractor shed.
• Businessman Mike Wagstaff, who made £20m from the sale of North Sea gas group Venture in 2009, has bought the Hog’s Back based Greyfriars Vineyard. With plenty of expansion potential, Greyfriars currently specialises in Chardonnay and Pinot Noir varieties.
• As Surrey wine continues to state its case, Denbies in Dorking is teaming up with the Bingham in Richmond to create a special range of bespoke wines for the hotel and its Michelin starred restaurant.
• The Bingham made further headlines when head chef Shay Cooper picked up hotel chef of the year at the Cateys, one of the leading industry awards.
• They’ve taken to the waves at Betchworth’s The Dolphin with an intensive refurbishment (during which they uncovered an old cobbler’s kiln complete with strips of leather and hobnails) and a new menu set to match the name: fish is to take pride of place.
• Another triumph for Surbiton came at Maya, which was recognised as one of the country’s best new Indian restaurants at the prestigious British Curry Awards – the event itself is organised by Epsom-based restaurateur Enam Ali.
• The Chertsey-based catering giant Compass has reported operating profits of £1billion for the first time. The firm, which provides catering at famous venues including Chelsea Football Club and The Championships, Wimbledon, saw strong growth in the United States.
• Having won Surrey Dining Pub of the Year for the third year in succession you could have forgiven those behind The Inn at West End, near Woking, for resting on their laurels. No such luck for competitors though as head chef Lee Watts has been having coaching from Michelin starred chef, Peter Gorton. Even more reason to watch this space, if you weren’t already…

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