Gastro-Gnome’s Guide
(1 Bear Yard, Cliffe High St) is just a bottle top’s throw from the brewery. In addition to a fine selection of Harveys beers, including seasonal special ales like Bonfire Boy, the friendly staff also serve up a great menu of classic English pub grub including home-made pies, bangers and mash and spotted dick and custard. Lewes Farmers’ Market (Lewes Pedestrian Precinct) takes place every first Saturday of the month between 9am and 1pm. It is one of the oldest farmers’ markets in the country, started in 1998 by Common Cause Cooperative, and as you would expect from such a pedigree, sells a wide range of seasonal fruit and vegetables, meat, cheeses, honey, jams, pickles and even unusual
plants for the garden. Much of the produce for sale is organic and absolutely all of it is local. Another fine Lewes institution is Bill’s Produce Store (56 Cliffe High St), next door to The John Harvey Tavern and opposite The Brewery Shop. Mere words can’t describe the cornucopia of food on offer at this greengrocer cum deli cum café. Bill’s seems so jam-packed full of baskets of fresh produce and tables of delighted diners, it looks like the whole place, unable to contain itself, has split its seams and all that
deliciousness has come spilling out onto the pavement outside. It’s a good job that they’ve recently knocked into next door, allowing them to cram in even more scrummy goodies. Founder, Bill Collison, sources locally as much as he can and it’s great to see the names of the farmers displayed with their produce.The café food is just like the produce on offer: eye-poppingly fresh, stunning to look at and just on the verge of overflowing. On the same side of the Cliffe Bridge is the Real Eating Company (18 Cliffe High St), a restaurant and deli offering a changing seasonal menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Entrepreneur Helen Hudson was certainly brave opening such a venture just across the road from Bill’s, but she honed the formula in Hove and now has three sites across Sussex and the Lewes branch certainly seems to be holding its own. In contrast to the cleverly designed chaos of Bill’s, The Real Eating Company is all cool, clean lines and continental-
style chic. Spanish charcuterie from Brindisa takes centre stage in the deli, surrounded by exquisite British cheeses from Neal’s Yard and local honey, jams, chutneys and chocolates. Over the bridge, The Riverside Centre (Cliffe Bridge) is a regular destination for foodies in Lewes. This former shoe factory is now home to a great range of stores. The Riverside Café Bar has a tasty selection of pastries and freshly made baguettes, smoothies, speciality teas and fairtrade coffee to eat in or take away, while The Riverside Brasserie upstairs serves English breakfast to cream tea and everything in between. Say Cheese of Sussex (Riverside) is a family-run, specialist cheesemonger with a particular passion for cheeses of South East England, although there’s no shortage of wonders from further afield as well. In addition to running the shop, David & Eleanor Robins also run a mail-order service, give tastings and talks and can be seen at many markets and shows
Autumn 2007
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