Review: Gravetye Manor is the gold standard in Sussex hospitality
- 8 hours ago
- 4 min read
Last month Gravetye Manor in West Hoathly retained a coveted Michelin star at the annual awards ceremony, writes Nick Mosley.
Its been a while – in fact too long – since my last visit to Gravetye Manor. Its a spectacular country house hotel in the heart of bucolic Sussex surrounded by flower gardens, woods, meadows and – most interestingly for me at least – amazing horticultural spaces that feed their restaurant, The Dining Room.
Chefs working at Gravetye must feel that all their Christmases have come at once the first time they see the Kitchen Garden. Over one and a half acres of seasonal fruit, vegetables and herbs surrounded by a protective sandstone wall, that even in very early spring it was feast for all the senses. Overseen by head gardener Tom Coward, assisted by his full-time team of eight, many of the methods used are the same as a century ago including rotating the crops to ensure soil health and working with nature for minimal intervention.
Not only that, to ensure less hardy produce can be grown there’s a number of glasshouses, cold frames, polytunnel and Peach House. Add to that orchards with heritage varieties of apples and the ability to forage in the fields and woods surrounding the estate and it really is a dream come true, allowing produce to be picked and on the plate in minutes not hours or days.
On my visit spring flowers – daffodils, snowdrops and the first buds of magnolia – were just coming to life but I’ve previously visited Gravetye in the summer and I can attest to the blaze of floral colour and structure.
Naturally it was the restaurant that I was there to experience. The Dining Room – an elegant contemporary glass-walled structure overlooking the gardens – was added to the rear of the manor house in mid 2018. The space is next-level, not only allowing light to flood in but also connecting guests with the narrative of hyperlocal field-to-fork dining.
Executive chef Martin Carabott's menu is a revelation – primarily as its not a tasting menu per se but rather a la carte with a choice of three starters, mains and desserts. Smaller seasonal intermediate courses are added by the kitchen including canapés, bread, garden salad and pre-dessert. Its really refreshing to see this format being championed rather than a strictly dictated tasting menu that has become the ubiquitous format for many fine dining restaurants and – I find at least – can be overwhelming.
Following the bread course – a trio of cheddar and jalapeño brioche, malted wheat sourdough and rye and caraway cracker accompanied by a deeply rich and satisfying cup of mushroom consommé – my starter of line caught mullet with radish and shiso leaf with a sauce of herbaceous trout roe. One of the most beautifully plated dishes that has ever passed before me – and subsequently into me – the light, finely sliced fish offset with gently peppery pickled radish and minty-lemony shiso leaf was elevated by a gently verdant relish of orange caviar spheres adding mouth-feel to an already highly accomplished dish.
Perhaps the most iconic dish on the menu is the Gravetye garden salad. An intermediate course that is on every menu, its a true showcase of the bounty of the kitchen garden and wider estate. With the vast majority of the 26 ingredients in the day’s salad being either picked fresh that morning or preserved earlier in the season, its a rainbow of flavour, texture and colour. Pickled fennel, radish and swede; mint, oregano, chives, daikon leaf; Jerusalem artichoke, honey roasted parsnips, sunflower seeds; I could go on but you get the gist. The word ‘salad’ doesn’t do it justice – its culinary artistry.
For my main, fallow deer cooked over juniper with tangy quince. Venison is one of my favourite meats and I’ll take it any day over beef. Leaner with a richer flavour than beef, in the right chef’s hands its hard to beat. The cut of loin was pink and tender with a pleasingly seared outer; winter notes of juniper and tart-sweet golden quince being perfect accompaniments with an earthy smooth velouté of celeriac and toasted almonds adding further textural layering.
And so to dessert, beginning with a palate cleanser of refreshing apple sorbet and a very impressive forced rhubarb – grown on in the kitchen garden – soufflé accompanied by rose and ginger stem ice cream. Light as a cloud, the soufflé was consistently cooked through and held its structure to the bitter end. Delicious.
There is an option for cheese, and obviously petit fours, but following dessert my guest and I were pleasantly sated – and not uncomfortably stuffed to the gills – so we retired to the lounge and enjoyed an espresso martini alongside the log fire before jumping in a taxi back to the local station.
Lunch is priced at £110 and dinner £125. The set lunch menu is £78 but with reduced options. As you can imagine from a restaurant that grows pretty much everything on the plate, there are also vegetarian and vegan menus available. Major allergies can be accommodated for but ensure they are flagged at the time of booking.
I genuinely can’t think of a restaurant with a better synergy of produce and cooking; its a very unique offering. Gravetye Manor is undoubtably the gold standard in Sussex hospitality.
Gravetye Manor, Vowels Lane, West Hoathly, West Sussex RH19 4LJ
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