23 OCT 2017: Kent, the oldest county in the country, is known as the Garden of England for its abundance of farms, wineries, beer making from the locally grown hops and fresh from the sea Dover sole and Whitstable oysters. Convenient to London, after an hour or so drive food lovers will find themselves in a bucolic countryside where they are spoilt for choice on dining and drinking options.
With this in mind, my friend Anita and I decided to check out the bounty of Kent while working off the calories by golfing some of the 100 plus courses this county offers. Famous links courses such as Royal St. George’s in Sandwich kept us huffing and puffing as we walked the undulating grass covered dunes. In the evening we felt free to indulge our appetites.
Rather than brave the London traffic, we took the fast train to Gatwick and rented a car from there. Our first stop, Hever Castle, was just half an hour away. Kent is also known for its historic homes and castles and this one has the distinction of being the childhood home of Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII’s second wife. Lodging is in historic buildings close to the castle. www.hevercastle.co.uk
After a round of golf at the adjacent Hever Castle Golf Club, a visit to the romantic double-moated 13th century castle and a stroll around the property’s spectacular gardens, we were ready to dine. The Henry’s Country Kitchen, just a short walk down the road, was a charming pub with a wood fireplace and cosy atmosphere.
Kent is famous for its hops, a key ingredient in beer. Oast Houses – purpose built stores to dry freshly picked hops – dot the district. Micro-breweries and traditional British pubs serving ale can be found everywhere. (England’s oldest brewer Shepherd Neame is in Kent.) The Henry’s was quite traditional serving up the likes of bangers (made with Lincolnshire pork) and mash, Kentish beer-battered fish ‘n chips, pastry pie of the day and with a nod to something more exotic Moroccan spiced chicken burger.
The next day we went to Hush Heath Winery to learn about the county’s other famous beverage. England has just over 130 wineries with about 50 of them in Kent. The majority of the production (about 66 percent) is sparkling wine, about a quarter is still white and the rest is red or rosé. Staplehurst’s Hush Heath Winery is renowned for its award-winning Balfour Brut Rosé, a bubbly made in the champagne method using the same grape varieties as in Champagne, namely chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot meunier.
The family owned 400 acre estate has vineyards, apple orchards and ancient oak woodlands which visitors may tour followed by a tutored tasting of their wines and ciders. I found the Balfour Brut Rosé elegantly worthy of its awards but also enjoyed trying the winery’s still wines from chardonnay and pinot noir varietals and sparkling ciders made from Cox, Russet and Bramley apples. www.hushheath.com
We continued on from there to do a tour of Sissinghurst Castle Garden. Need I say, Kent has world renowned flower gardens, and this one is among the most famous. Sissinghurst’s garden was created by poet and gardening writer Vita Sackville-West and her husband author and diplomat Harold Nicolson. Sissinghurst is still a working farm with livestock and vegetable gardens. At the on premises casual café/restaurant, Anita and I sampled their home-grown chicken pot pie and tomato soup.
We ended our day at Frasers, a private guest house and restaurant deep in the countryside nestled at the end of a long private drive. As I drove here on the narrow two directions but single lane road overhung with hedge and tree branches, I truly wondered if we’d find the place. But then as we neared the guest houses the countryside opened up to reveal green pastoral vistas. Their luxurious accommodation was offered in three period buildings- a Kentish Ragstone Oast house, a converted former stable block and a former cart-barn.
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The rooms were lovely, but the best part was dining in the 2 AA Rosette winning restaurant in a traditionally constructed oak-framed Kentish Barn. We both went for the tasting menu which started with truffled artichoke soup, followed by pigeon with wild mushroom, sole with sweetcorn and cauliflower and roast partridge with juniper reduction, bacon and parsnips. The meal ended with a pressed apple with cobnut crumb and cider sorbet and then Kentish cheese. www.frasers-events.co.uk
Back to the links the next day – this time hitting the undulating fairways of Littlestone, located between the Romney Marsh and the English Channel in the south-east corner of Kent. Then we drove past the white cliffs of Dover to the medieval town of Sandwich where Pieter Van Zyl of Chequers Cooking School had invited us to dinner.
The mission of Chequers, which Pieter runs with social entrepreneur, Stephanie Hayman, is teach people to cook and to eat well. Pieter converted a pub that he owned and ran on Golf Road in Deal (near Sandwich) into the school but kept a small bar area so customers can still pop in for a drink. The school area is impressive, and his Demo & Dine events fill up with eager students. Pieter treated Anita and me to an amazing seafood paella cooked at the historic home he shares with his spouse Gary Rose in Sandwich. www.chequersdeal.co.uk
Time to work off the eating again. We spent the next two nights surrounded by golf courses at The Lodge at Prince’s in Sandwich Bay playing Royal St. George’s followed by The Shore and The Dunes at Prince’s the next day. At night the town of Sandwich, the most medieval town in the UK lured us in with its charm and its fine dining.
Sandwich means “market-town-on-the-sand” and the village next door, Ham, was named for the old English word for village. The road sign Ham-Sandwich has been stolen so many times that the council stopped replacing it. Sandwich is where the Romans launched their first successful invasion of England, where in 1192 Richard the Lionhearted landed on his return from the Crusades and where the curfew bell still rings every night at 8pm, just as it always has. And yes, it gave its name to the sandwich, named after the 4th Earl of Sandwich who invented the convenient meal.
It was here at Salutations Restaurant that we enjoyed a truly awesome tasting menu prepared by Chef Shane Hughes, who has cooked at Michelin starred restaurants including Whatley Manor, Ynyshir Hall and Thackeray’s. Chef’s recent arrival is part of a major renovation program aimed at making the hotel and restaurant a key destination for dining. Every dish we bit into was memorable: salted cod cheeks, smoked langoustine with celeriac, pigeon breast with chestnut gnocchi, diver scallops with smoked haddock sauce, quail and bacon sausage with black truffle, seabass with chanterelles, loin of venison, pork cheek in cider, and sweet ravioli with ricotta, lemon jelly, hazelnut parfait and puffed rice. Wow. www.the-salutation.com
One more great golf course to keep us in shape, The London Golf Club, after an overnight at Bridgewood Manor and we were flying home to weigh in.
So, if you’re heading for Kent and packing your clubs – www.golfinkent.co.uk