6 of the best May.qxp_Layout 1 19/04/2016 18:07 Page 1
The Diner’s Digest SIX OF THE BEST
Farm shops and cafés
Melissa Blease talks to the people who run farm shops and cafés selling the best of locally grown and reared produce
SHARPHAM PARK SHOP, KILVER COURT
Dedicated to growing one of Europe's most ancient grains in a sustainable environment on a 300-acre organic estate on the Somerset Levels, Sharpham Park is the champion of British spelt. The shop – in the Kilver Court discount designer outlet – is the place to find everything spelt-related, from cereals including muesli, bran flakes and porridge to traditionally-milled spelt flours by way of multigrain rice flakes, pearled spelt (a tasty alternative to rice) and ready-made spelt risotto mixes, alongside farm shop produce from over 30 local suppliers and producers. The Harlequin Cafe is a gorgeous afternoon tea spot, while the Pantry Restaurant features spelt-based dishes from celebrity chefs including Hugh F-W, Heston Blumenthal and Yotam Ottolenghi on a diverse menu. If you fancy a shopping therapy experience in pretty surroundings, you've come to the right place. Sharpham Kilver Court, Kilver Street, Shepton Mallet, Somerset BA4 5NF Web: sharphampark.com / kilvercourt.com
PRIOR PARK FARM SHOP
If you’re going to do lunch at Prior Park Garden Centre’s Secret Cafe (best enjoyed in summer on the foliage-lined patio suntrap), then allow yourself plenty of time, not because service is slow (it isn’t), but because there’s simply so much to distract you on the journey to and from your bountiful half-time repast. The massive garden centre is an inviting, sensual haven of green paraphernalia, while a voyage around the pet department is like stepping into a miniature world of Dr Doolittle. The impressively stocked Farm Shop deserves spotlight status all of its own: fresh bread (including Hobbs House and Levito), larder essentials, choice cheeses, foodie gift inspirations and a selection of freshly prepared ready meals courtesy of local kitchen entrepreneurs turn your kitchen nightmares into dinner party dreams-come-true . . . and voids the need of a trip to the supermarket altogether. Prior Park Farm Shop, Prior Park Garden Centre, Prior Park Road, Bath BA2 4NF Tel: 01225 480576; web: priorparkfarmshop.co.uk
FARLEIGH ROAD FARM SHOP AND CAFÉ
Many of the best recommendations start with a confession, so here’s mine: I once catered a dinner party for eight guests made entirely from homemade ready meals from the Farleigh Road Farm Shop. From soup to pudding via main course, salads and sides, all I had to do was reheat and/or serve. I can honestly say that it was one of the most successful, memorable suppers I’ve ever hosted. But – and I’m not trying to over-justify my cheating ways – what we ate that evening wasn’t too far removed from the kind of thing we’d all love to cook at home (although it has to be said that neither my pea and watercress soup, my pasties nor my lime and coconut cake have been awarded gold Taste of the West/Champion in Class awards). Pretty much everything on the Farleigh Road menu, whether to eat in or take away, is made
from scratch in its kitchen, using ingredients from the shop and the onsite butcher. To supplement the array there’s bread from Bath Bakery, Midway Dairy milk, locally grown vegetables and fruit, Tracklements preserves and chutneys, Marshfield Farm ice cream, an olive bar and all manner of tasty stuff keep attention levels up – and your day-to-day shopping list up-to-date. The fully licenced cafe – also a proud recipient of a gold Taste of the West gong – features a large suntrap alfresco dining and children’s play area and opens for breakfast, lunch and spectacular vintage afternoon teas daily, and a roast every Sunday. Farleigh Road Farm Shop and Cafe, Norton St Philip, BA2 7NG Tel: 01225 720006; web: farleighroadfarmshop.co.uk
GLOUCESTER SERVICES
If you're not already in the know about the goings-on at Gloucester Services, then this may well be one of the most unlikely foodie hotspot recommendations you'd ever read. This family-owned motorway pitstop has turned what's usually a bland refreshment break necessity into a destination gourmet food hall experience: a farm shop and kitchen bringing everything from larder essentials to luscious luxuries together under one roof. Everything in the kitchen is freshly made using locally sourced, seasonal ingredients, and the shop stocks produce from around 200 suppliers, none of whom are based more than 50 miles away. There's artisan bread, handmade pies and speciality cheeses, while the butcher's counter offers well-hung, traditional cuts of meat. Picnic on the motorway? Heck, if Gloucester Services offered camping facilities, I'd holiday here. Find Gloucester Services on both sides of the M5 between junctions 12 and 11a.
NEWTON FARM
Set in pastoral surroundings just off the A4 heading towards Bristol (just off the Globe Pub roundabout), this family-run butchery and farm shop specialises in home/locally produced free range meats. But you’ll find far more to entice you when you visit to purchase your Sunday lunch centrepiece: think, organic Jersey milk, farmhouse butter and Beckington cream; coldpressed rapeseed oil made just up t’road; vegetables from Batheaston; Lovett Pies (using Newton Farm meats); Bertinet bread; ready meals courtesy of Cavendish Cooks . . . it’s a
one-stop stocking-up shop! Meanwhile, the fully licensed Parlour Cafe (formerly the farm’s dairy) offers courtyard seating and fabulous views across acres of greenery – the perfect place to tuck in to an ever-changing menu of fresh, seasonal delights wrought from the fabulous produce reared/grown/produced in the nearby vicinity. Top tip: gluten-free options abound here, as do bountiful breakfasts – and as one might expect, Sunday roasts are fab. Newton Farm, Newton St Loe, Bath BA2 9BT Web: newtonfarmfoods.co.uk
WHITE ROW FARM SHOP
Fresh fish, real meat, proper bread, a super-smart deli, loads of seasonal green stuff plus an onsite chippie, a casual cafe and an upmarket restaurant and grill: if you fancy a mini-vacation in foodie heaven, the multi-award winning White Row Farm (a 20-minute drive south of Bath) is a dream destination. Owners Steve and Heather Tucker maintain a strong ethos to either produce the scrumptiousness they rear/grow/make themselves or support the myriad local producers in the area. All the pork sold here, whether in Jon Thorner's butchers or the deli, restaurant or cafe, is reared on site; everything in the deli apart from the cheese is cooked and prepared by the White Row team. The vegetables are beautifully displayed. The fish and chip shop also operates a fresh fish counter with homemade fishcakes, terrines, seafood salads, fish pies and more, and the cafe and the restaurant put all that gorgeous local produce in the spotlight on menus that offer broad appeal. White Row Farm Shop, Beckington, Nr Frome, Somerset BA11 6TN. Web: whiterowfarm.co.uk
46 TheBATHMagazine
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MaY 2016