“We’ll never be rich doing it this way, but we’ll sleep well”

Johnny Stanford of Tern restaurant in Worthing

With Sussex’s award-winning Tern restaurant imminently relocating from Worthing Pier to the town centre, Nick Mosley catches up with chef-patron Johnny Stanford to discuss why British is best.

The British food system certainly has its challenges. As a country we have a trade imbalance, importing more from overseas – particularly fresh vegetables and fruits – than we export, a broken subsidy system that is driving small farms and smallholdings out of business and the relentless squeeze that the big retailers put on suppliers to keep supermarket margins up and – perhaps in cases – consumer prices artificially down.

One independent restaurant on the couth coast is bucking the trend, making a quiet revolution with plates full of purpose. Tern sources 100% of its ingredients, wines and spirits exclusively from within the British Isles. There is nothing on the food menu or drinks list that isn’t grown, reared, fished, fermented, brewed or distilled outside of the UK and Ireland.

Any avid TV viewer – or tabloid reader – will likely have followed with bemusement Jeremy Clarkson’s escapades with The Farmers Dog and his admirable – if chaotic – aims of using 100% British produce. But what makes Tern stand out is that Johnny’s ethos shines without the benefit of a TV film crew and all the razz-ma-tazz PR that accompanies it. He’s a chef with true grit.

Since opening in 2023, Tern by Johnny Stanford has won two AA Rosettes, landed a place in the Michelin Guide and earned acclaim for its inventive, refined menus. But its real innovation runs deeper; a radical, no-import ethos built around regenerative British farming. 

“Anyone who’s watched Clarkson’s Farm knows just how hard it is to farm well in this country,” said Johnny. “But if restaurants don’t support our farmers now, there may not be any left to support. This is our way of investing in Britain’s land, its people and its future.” 

Tern doesn’t just ‘buy local’, it selects from the UK’s most committed low-intervention producers – those healing over-worked soil, restoring biodiversity and pushing back against the damage of industrial agriculture.

With rare breed meats from the rewilded Knepp Estate through to seasonal vegetables and heritage grains, every ingredient comes with provenance and purpose, including an English wine list that includes Sussex-based Titch Hill, Kinsbrook and Artelium vineyards.

“We know our farmers. We know what they’re planting next, and why,” said Johnny. “It’s a relationship, not a transaction. That’s how you build something lasting.” 

“You can taste the difference – vegetables with depth, meat with integrity, grain that actually has flavour,” continued Johnny. “This isn’t supermarket filler. It’s produce with purpose.” 

In the post-Brexit scramble – as UK food security becomes more precarious and public interest in home-grown, sustainable agriculture grows – Tern offers a rare, working model: a restaurant that isn’t just cooking seasonally, but contributing to food system repair. 

“This isn’t a fad. If we want an ecological future that actually works, it starts with soil. That’s – literally – the root of everything. We’re not chasing scale. We’re chasing substance. Small farms, short distances, full-flavoured food. That’s the model. It’s simple, but not easy. And that’s the point”.   

“We’ll never be rich doing it this way, but we’ll sleep well,” said Stanford.

“We cook with care. We pay people properly. And we stick to what we believe in. That’s the deal.” 

Tern’s new crowdfunding campaign – launched this week – has already raised half of the target £65,000 in just two days. The investment will create a new, permanent home in the heart of Worthing town centre. The larger space will include a fully open kitchen and a dedicated British cocktail bar, built on the same values of traceability, regeneration and hospitality with conscience. Find out more at www.ternrestaurant.co.uk