Called Fowlescombe Farm, it is being run by Caitlin Owens, whose family owns both Fowlescombe Farm and The Millbrook Inn in South Pool, near Kingsbridge, and Paul Glade, an independent creative director with a background in architecture and design.
The farm, which was established in 1537, will be home to restaurant, the Refectory, an all-day resident-only dining space, offering a communal kitchen and dining area where guests can watch chefs at work, explore the gardens with them, and even select their own ingredients.
The kitchen will be led by Thomas Westerland, who is also head chef at South Pool’s The Millbrook Inn and who will create daily-changing menus that focus on local, organic, and fresh produce and meat from the farm.
The breakfast menu will include a ‘Pick Your Own’ table featuring freshly baked pastries, homemade bread, butter and preserves, and British fruit, which will change throughout the seasons to make use of cultivated and foraged produce from the farm. Other highlights will include the full Fowlescombe, the farm’s answer to a fry-up, using home-cured bacon and sausages from the farm’s pedigree Tamworth pigs, and eggs from the site’s chickens.
With sustainability a core part in his cooking, Westerland has created a low-waste, daily menu that will be available throughout the day and which will feature small and larger plates, such as garden vegetable soup with yesterday’s bread croutons; charcuterie, made at the farm’s production site just five minutes up the road; farm pickles; and no-waste croquettes with smoked garlic mayo.
A four-course daily changing dinner menu will use locally-sourced produce and ingredients from the farm, including snacks and starters of Sharpham Cremet gougères; and garden radish with smoked cod’s roe and main courses of Salcombe crab linguine; and Manx Loaghtan hogget.
The drinks offer will have soft drinks, local and craft beers such as Fowlescombe’s own cider from its onsite orchard and an extensive wine list with particular strength in the Alto-Adige region of Northern Italy and the Douro Valley, with many options available by the glass.
From 1pm, the signature house cocktail hour will feature produce from the gardens and hedgerows in homemade syrups, as well as a well-chosen craft spirits selection.
Additional space The Greenhouse will provide an area in which to dine throughout the spring, summer, and autumn, and will also be used for events, such as supper clubs and long table lunches and dinners, and guests will also have the option of ordering dinner in one of the farm’s 10 suites.
Fowlescombe Farm will open on 3 May