As part of our delicious Grow Your Own season, we recommend five restaurants which grow their own ingredients in the back garden.
The Grove, Narbeth
The kitchen garden produces over 70 varieties of vegetables, summer fruits, and herbs, which are picked seconds before adding to the pan. Plus the garden team manage the soil at The Grove in Narbeth organically, using composting during the winter months when the vegetable garden is allowed to rest. Over the coming years, The Grove is looking to gain full organic status with the Soil Association.
And apparently, the Grove kitchen garden is a ‘lost’ garden that pre-dates the existing Georgian walled garden; so really, they’re just keeping a 17th century tradition alive. All cottage guests are welcome to pick their own seasonal veg from the garden.
Open for lunch 12-2:30pm, and for dinner 6-9:30pm all week.
The RIBA at 66 Portland Place, London
Leon, who previously worked alongside Adam Robinson and Dan Evans, both of who were sous chefs for Alistair Little, exclusively uses herbs grown from his own herb garden. Fresh mint goes into his pureed mushy peas, and basil for a basil sorbet and pistachio praline for dessert.
Open Monday to Friday, 12-3pm; and Tuesday 6-9pm.
The Wellington Arms, Hampshire
Plus there are Wellington Arms bees for honey, and they grow their own salad leaves in polytunnels all year round. The herbs used for garnish and cooking are grown in the herb garden next to the kitchen door, and they grow courgettes, pumpkins, and root vegetables in three raised beds in the garden. And to top it all off, they even recycle table waste including meat, fish, bones, and dairy products in special green cones dotted around the garden.
Open for lunch from midday all week, and dinner Monday-Saturday from 6:30pm.
The Eastbury, Dorset
As Brett himself told us, “many chefs recognise the value of local sourcing which is great, but I am determined to source absolutely as much as possible close to home and local honey - our own Eastbury honey - seemed to me to be a fantastic option. Loads of our produce now comes from Sherborne or within just a few miles, but wherever possible I like to actually grow and produce our own food." Open for lunch Monday to Friday from 12-2pm, and dinner all week from 7-9:30pm.
The Herb Garden Café, Jersey
It’s one of the most comprehensive herb gardens in Europe and boasts a collection of culinary herbs so large, that not even the most knowledgeable of cooks could possibly recognise them all. The Herb Garden Café, run by Ian Florence, makes the most of its ample resources, tossing fresh herbs from the garden together to create a range of wonderful garden salads. He specialises in the use of local Jersey produce, and his dishes are always flavoured and garnished with freshly cut herbs from the garden.
Open every day 9:30am-5pm.
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