This article was produced by National Geographic Traveller (UK).
From regenerative farming and organic kitchen gardens to foraged, fermented and plant-based foods, fine-dining menus are increasingly inspired by nature. Eschewing additives and processing, chefs are paying homage to wholefood ingredients, showcasing the likes of heritage grains, heirloom veggies and rare-breed organic meats in creative dishes that are both indulgent and nourishing.
British chef Simon Rogan, whose restaurant L’Enclume has three Michelin stars, has been quietly taking the kitchen garden to a whole new level for some years, developing ever-smarter preservation and fermentation techniques to make the most of nature’s larder. But the movement isn’t just confined to high-end establishments — it’s now filtering through to all manner of UK hotels and restaurants, with food-led pubs routinely offering homemade pickles alongside their carefully sourced dishes, and plant-based options commonplace on menus across the country.
We select eight of the best places to enjoy wholesome food grown or produced on site or sourced from the surrounding countryside.
Crunch up the long gravel drive to this meticulously renovated former stately home and you’ll find visionary chef and Yorkshire native Shaun Rankin, whose menu is inspired by estate-foraged herbs and plants and seasonal produce from his kitchen garden. To keep the excitement going year-round, Rankin is busy fermenting and pickling for the less abundant months — in fact, he’s rather partial to using gut-friendly koji (a rice or soya bean-based mould commonly used in Asian cuisine) to preserve ingredients, which can be sampled on his Taste of Home menu (£145).
2. Ox, Belfast, Northern Ireland
With menus written according to what’s available that day, Ox’s chef and co-owner Stephen Toman has accrued many fans since opening the restaurant in 2013. Relationships forged with local growers and producers are the team’s raison d’être — the brigade even help with some of the sowing and harvesting so they can get ingredients onto the plate a few hours after picking, ensuring maximum flavour and mineral-packed produce, and the menu is replete with Irish superfood like oats, beets, seaweeds and mushrooms. Toman uses leaves from fig trees in the walled garden of Ballywalter Park, which is just 20 miles from Belfast, in a dish of caramelised apples, oats and treacle on his eight-course tasting menu (£90).
3. The Dining Room, Whatley Manor, Malmesbury, Wiltshire
Whatley Manor is a Grade II-listed,18th-century manor house home to 12 acres of gardens that encompass important pollinator-loving wildflower meadows and kitchen gardens where composting is key, specifically honed to produce nutrient-rich soil that encourages heathier, tastier produce. It’s a leader in the industry for sustainability practices, with an award for best eco-conscious spa (where facials happen in an oxygen tent). And it’s also home to The Dining Room, which holds both a Michelin star and a coveted Green Michelin Star. Here, executive chef Ricki Weston makes the most of the bounty from the no-dig kitchen garden, while organic beef comes from cattle grazing alongside the driveway, served up as ‘aged beef tartare, lettuce relish’ on the exquisite tasting menu (£175).
4. Grace & Savour, Hampton Manor, Solihull, West Midlands
Jars of carrot nectar and stomach-soothing camomile and apple kombucha line the pantry at Michelin-starred Grace & Savour, a country house hotel restaurant celebrated for its nutritious-yet-indulgent dishes. Led by chef-director David Taylor, this destination dining spot built into the walls of the Victorian kitchen garden, offers seasonal menus that follow a hyper-local ethos, with many ingredients sourced from garden plots where regenerative farming and soil health has become something of an obsession, with the aim to grow nutrient rich produce that yields more flavour on the plate. The estate is owned by former GP, Dr Sally Bell and family, who’s made it her life’s work to explore how food can build up the body’s defences for a healthier lifestyle. Look out for three-day Health Rewilded Retreats which marry cookery courses with nutrition, yoga and fine-dining. Tasting menus from £135.
5. Crocadon, Saltash, Cornwall
In the rolling hills of the Tamar Valley, you’ll find Crocadon, a 120-acre organic farm that’s home to rare breed sheep and cattle, a bakery and a Green Michelin-starred, 25-seat restaurant. It’s the creation of visionary chef Dan Cox, who helped L’Enclume’s Simon Rogan establish his biodynamic Our Farm and later took his expertise to Cornwall, where he serves up what he’s harvested that week. Fermentation and smoking techniques, as well as open-fire cooking, rule — expect dishes such as sheep leg, golden beetroot, Basque chilli and nasturtium on the £95 Dinner on the Farm menu.
Sitting pretty at the foot of the Pentland Hills near Edinburgh, The Free Company is a farm, seasonal restaurant and place of learning. Run by brothers Angus and Charlie Buchanan-Smith, it’s all about regenerative farming, reviving forgotten rural knowledge and getting the most nutritious produce on your plate. The restaurant, which opens again in March, showcases the farm’s organic produce, which includes meat from a herd of Berkshire and Mangalitsa pigs and Shetland sheep. The six-course menu (it operates a ‘pay what you think it’s worth’ system, but typically £50-£60, excluding drinks) is enjoyed in the old milking shed, with plates such as hay-baked celeriac, kohlrabi, preserved blackcurrant, beetroot molasses, lamb’s heart.
7. Osip, Bruton, Somerset
This once sleepy Somerset town is now a hotbed of creativity and culture, thanks to an outpost of London’s contemporary art gallery Hauser & Wirth, artisanal boutiques and some stellar places to eat. Leading the pack is Osip from forward-thinking founder and chef Merlin Labron-Johnson, which scooped a Michelin star in 2021, just over a year after opening. Forget standard menus here, and instead put your faith in a kitchen that will deliver a line-up of exquisite and daily changing dishes made using ingredients cultivated by the team on two plots of land nearby to maximise nutrition, freshness and flavour. Recurring favourites include tempura of blue potato, salted egg yolk and chives, and a round of refreshingly healthy starters that include raw and preserved veggies, broths and the likes of ‘bouquets’ of garden flowers in fennel vinegar as. Tasting menus for £125.
8. Chapters, Hay-on-Wye, Wales
Surrounded by pasture on the edge of Bannau Brycheiniog (the Brecon Beacons), Hay-on-Wye is a haven of chain-free book browsing, and now clean eating focused on wholefoods in Chapters. A recent recipient of Michelin Green star, Chapters makes much of its off-site kitchen garden, overseen by the restaurant’s owner, Charmaine Blatchford, who works closely with fellow owner and head chef Mark Mchugo to come up with dishes that work with the seasons. Vegetables, whether foraged or farmed, are often the star of the show. Expect bread made with fibre-boosting dock seeds and a gut-friendly ancient grain flour provided by a local miller. Starters on the £45 set menu include Hodmedods Carlin pea falafels with courgette pickle.
