Updown, near Deal, Kent: 'They cook you a lunch and sell you a fantasy' - restaurant review | Grace Dent on restaurants
Updown, near Deal in Kent, is probably the scene you have in mind whenever you imagine escaping to the countryside, taking on a 17th century farmhouse in need of a lot of attention. and live the dream. A dream of such things for most sane people, after weighing the cost, sacrifice and ever-present danger of a visit from a surly Kevin "McLoud".
< p class="dcr- 3jlghf">Once in a while, though, people take that leap, and something magical happens. Updown, by Ruth Leigh and Oli Brown, is set in seven and a half acres, with manicured walled gardens and, now, a restaurant with seven overnight rooms. Currently, there is only an outdoor dining area with a pergola, which means you can eat a John Dory with samphire or a pork chop with fennel gratin among the butterflies. Next year, however, an indoor space will open in the barn. Updown, which was bought and refurbished during lockdown, is deeply antagonistic to those of us who can barely change a light bulb, because somehow Leigh and Brown have taken this Grade II listed building and created one of those quintessentially British rural environments that matches the way American screenwriters believe we all live: endless days browsing through dusty, arty tomes in our boldly painted libraries, wading through our piles of bohemian country , rubber boots at the back door, before having lunch on a plate of local radishes with sea salt and butter and a glass of cloudy homemade lemonade.I didn't drink that, by the way – I chose a Crodino, which is perhaps the most elegant, delicious appetizer without liquor that exists: It's a bright orange, sweet, plant-based Italian drink that comes in a small, sleek bottle. It's rarely available in the UK, so of course they have it at Updown, just sitting there on the menu, alongside the fresh pear brandy and vodka martinis they serve with a smoked eel gilda; they also do Whitstable Bay lager and Clos Des Trois Sources fresh organic rosé at £9 a glass.
Chef Oli previously founded Duck Duck Goose in Brixton after having worked with the great Rowley Leigh at
Updown, near Deal in Kent, is probably the scene you have in mind whenever you imagine escaping to the countryside, taking on a 17th century farmhouse in need of a lot of attention. and live the dream. A dream of such things for most sane people, after weighing the cost, sacrifice and ever-present danger of a visit from a surly Kevin "McLoud".
< p class="dcr- 3jlghf">Once in a while, though, people take that leap, and something magical happens. Updown, by Ruth Leigh and Oli Brown, is set in seven and a half acres, with manicured walled gardens and, now, a restaurant with seven overnight rooms. Currently, there is only an outdoor dining area with a pergola, which means you can eat a John Dory with samphire or a pork chop with fennel gratin among the butterflies. Next year, however, an indoor space will open in the barn. Updown, which was bought and refurbished during lockdown, is deeply antagonistic to those of us who can barely change a light bulb, because somehow Leigh and Brown have taken this Grade II listed building and created one of those quintessentially British rural environments that matches the way American screenwriters believe we all live: endless days browsing through dusty, arty tomes in our boldly painted libraries, wading through our piles of bohemian country , rubber boots at the back door, before having lunch on a plate of local radishes with sea salt and butter and a glass of cloudy homemade lemonade.I didn't drink that, by the way – I chose a Crodino, which is perhaps the most elegant, delicious appetizer without liquor that exists: It's a bright orange, sweet, plant-based Italian drink that comes in a small, sleek bottle. It's rarely available in the UK, so of course they have it at Updown, just sitting there on the menu, alongside the fresh pear brandy and vodka martinis they serve with a smoked eel gilda; they also do Whitstable Bay lager and Clos Des Trois Sources fresh organic rosé at £9 a glass.
Chef Oli previously founded Duck Duck Goose in Brixton after having worked with the great Rowley Leigh at
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