Kent: the garden of England. With the bright lights of London’s internationally acclaimed dining a mere hour’s ride away on the high-speed train that serves most of the county, a Kent-based restaurant needs to be a cut above – not only so it doesn’t lose business to the big city, but to also attract those ‘down from London’ (colloquially known as ‘DFLs’). At least, so it seems on the surface.
If you know who to talk to, you’ll discover a surprisingly high concentration of chefs, restaurateurs and food writers have made Kent their home. While much of the produce from our farms and orchards, fish from our coastline and spankingly fresh Whitstable oysters disappear up to the capital for wholesale distribution, there is still an abundance available at local farm shops and specialist food markets such as The Goods Shed and Macknade Fine Foods. For the chefs who have put down roots here, local produce is the overarching theme. After all, why would you use something that has travelled when the very best British ingredients – including some of the very best English wines for the wine list – are right on the doorstep?
If you’re planning a visit to Kent or just want to know where to eat in the area, read on for some of my top picks.