Our team of wonderful chefs are passionate about creating dishes that use local and seasonal ingredients wherever possible. Our chefs carefully co-ordinate menus to coincide with the seasons so that only the best tasting ingredients go into our meals. With the summer coming to and end, we can start looking forward to autumnal food. Warming dishes and stews come to mind, with apple crumble with English grown apples a family favourite.

Many people are often surprised by the variety of foods that can be grown locally in the UK, the southwest in particular, with our relatively warm and wet climate. Eating seasonal produce has a wealth of benefits and we explore why below.

We are looking forward to our menus being tweaked with more autumnal foods shortly, you can find the latest menus here.

Autumn Seasonal Produce

• Meat: Chicken – Grouse – Ham – Heather-fed Lamb – Pies Pork – Sausages – Venison
• Vegetables: Field Mushrooms – Lettuce – Marrow – Potatoes – Pumpkin – Rocket – Squashes – Sweetcorn – Watercress
• Fruit: Apples – Blackberries – Damsons – Elderberries – Pears – Plums – Sloes
• Fish: Brill – Dabs – Dover Sole – Flounders – Oysters – Skate

Summer Seasonal Produce

• Meat: Beef Steaks – Chicken – Ham – Lamb – Pork Spare Ribs – Sausages – Venison – It is BBQ season after all!
• Vegetables: Beetroot – Broad Beans – Carrots – Cauliflowers – Courgettes – Cucumber – Fennel – Fresh Peas – Garlic – Green Beans – Lettuce & Salad Leaves – New potatoes – Radishes – Runner Beans- Sage – Salad Onions – Squash – Tomatoes – Watercress
• Fruit: Blueberries – Currants (black, white and red) – Elderflower berries – Greengages – Loganberries – Plums – Raspberries – Strawberries – Tayberries
• Fish: Crab – Pilchards – Wild Salmon – Mackerel – Cod

Benefits of Eating Seasonal Produce

It Tastes Better

In-season produce is fresher and tastes better. Fact. When fruits and vegetables are picked for consumption that have been naturally ripened at the right time, will have much more flavor and nutrition than those done artificially. When transporting crops or produce, the product is often harvested early and refrigerated so they don’t spoil during transportation; The process of refrigeration reduces flavour. Then when they get to their destination they then may need to be heated to artificially ripen the produce, this greatly reduces the flavor further, as well as changing the texture and the taste. The same is true with meat, in particular seafood. Fish, crab, lobster and shellfish all begin the process of decay once caught despite being chilled/frozen and the quicker and closer they are to your plate the better!

It’s Cheaper

When farmers are harvesting a large abundance of produce due to the crop being in season, the cost of the produce will go down. This is due to the supply better matching the demand for the goods. When the produce is locally sourced because it’s in season in your area, travelling expenses and storage are not required therefore reducing the costs that are then passed onto the consumer.When we buy produce that is out of season, it can be stored for long periods of time which also push the price up. Again with meat the more readily available the supply is the cheaper it will become.

Fresher and Higher in Nutritional Value

Produce that is purchased in season is more likely to be fresher, consumed closer to harvesting and higher in nutritional value. Many anti-oxidants such as Vitamin C, folate and carotenes will rapidly decline when stored for periods of time due to the natural breakdown process that begins after picking. Locally in-season sourced fruits and vegetables will also appear brighter and more vibrant.

Avoid Contamination

When fruit and vegetables are sourced overseas you cannot be sure about the regulations for pesticides, herbicides and fungicides. Many countries, even in Europe, have very relaxed laws about chemicals being sprayed on fruits and vegetables. Some agricultural areas have been shown to have very high heavy metal and other toxic contaminates due to industrial sites inhabiting the same area. When produce is in season, cheaper and often on sale it’s a great time to buy in bulk for yourself and preserve, pickle, ferment, freeze and store your own food at home.

More Environmentally Friendly

Eating seasonally reduces the demand for out of season produce which further supports more local produce and supports local farming in your area which means less transportation, less refrigeration, less hot houses and less irradiation of produce. These are all contributors to unnecessary emissions and food packaging that would not be required of food eaten seasonally.

For our latest  Restaurant menus please use see Summer Menus

To book a table in the Restaurant please get in touch with our team either online or by phone – 01208 864602