Former SILO chef will use the progressive farm and biodynamic vineyard to create a new offering

On the borderlands of Kent and East Sussex, Tillingham estate, with its progressive farm and biodynamic vineyard has hired new head chef Brendan Eades to take over its award-winning restaurant.

Founded in 2017, Tillingham scooped a Michelin Green Star in January 2022 for their gastronomy and sustainability, and the appointment of Brendan Eades, formerly of Silo, Aquavit and The Conduit, marks an exciting new chapter in this farm's story.

The move to Tillingham marks something of a home-coming for the chef having grown up just down the road in Peasmarsh. Brendan’s farm-to-plate philosophy has seen the chef working on a menu centred exclusively around the meat reared on Tillingham pastures, fish caught daily on Rye Harbour and from the new, and recently expanded, kitchen garden on the edge of the estate.

The creation of this new kitchen garden is under the expert guardianship of gardener, Becca Davidson, who has a multitude of experience working on mixed farms and market gardens.

Born and raised locally, Brendan is working closely with a fantastic array of local suppliers including Shrub, Morebred Farm and Northiam Dairy to ensure his menus include fresh daily catches and nose to tail butchery. Each morning Brendan calls John Botterell, the local fishmonger, to see what's come in on the dayboat and it's picked up that same day for service.

A former merchant navy man, John started Botterells in 1976 and now runs the company with his son, Jasper, who's taken over the fishing. The new Garden Menu is built around this ethos, championing small local suppliers and beautiful produce sourced from the farm itself or as locally to it as possible.

The new Garden Menu is priced at £45 and will change regularly, depending on the daily catch and seasonal produce available.

November’s sample menu includes:

Focaccia, baby pickled beetroot & labneh

Celeriac, apple & long pepper

Dungeness crab, nasturtium & black radish

Seabass, verjus & caviar

Custard tart & white chocolate

(Accompanying wine flight available £40)

This year, which is Tillingham’s third harvest, sees 20 tonnes harvested with plenty of volume of their major varieties such as Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier. For the first time they have seen meaningful amounts of more experimental grapes such as Gamay and Pineau d’Aunis.

New drops include: Flor NV (flor aged chardonnay), Pinot Blanc NV, Field Blend One 2021, End Grain 2021, Pinot Noir 2021 and of course, the ever popular Col 21. The long hot summer this year led to smaller bunches with great concentration and balance and, having completed their 3rd harvest, Tillingham have produced more red wine than ever before.

All the new wines will be available to buy online from December 1st.

ELSEWHERE ON THE FARM

A collaborative project between Ben Walgate and Lord Devonport, Tillingham began as a low-intervention winery, built out of a desire to push the boundaries of modern British winemaking and to explore the possibilities of the English climate and terroir.

Of the overall 70-acre site, 25 acres are home to 40,000 vines. In an average year, Tillingham process around 40 tonnes of grapes which produces roughly 35,000 bottles of wine. Living amid the 25 acres of vines, the estate is home to a growing collection of livestock including 8 Mangalitsa pigs, 52 chickens, 4 goats, many sheep and a farm cat called Bertie. Over the past year, co-owner Ben has bought the livestock closer to the farmstead to help educate guests and bring the experience to life.

Retaining the feel of a working farm, the centre of the estate is a cluster of restored farm buildings, surrounded by naturalistic landscaping by local garden designer Marian Boswall; the main barn is home to a welcoming bar, restaurant and private dining room with a south-facing terrace offering sweeping views over vine-covered slopes towards Rye, with a glimpse of the sea in the distance.

Across the courtyard is a large open-sided Dutch Barn (renovated in the summer of 2022) and home to the much-loved pizza oven which is fired up every Friday, Saturday & Sunday for those after a more informal bite to eat.

A former hop barn has been converted into eleven beautifully furnished bedrooms, decorated with scandi-vibes, mid-century furniture and sheepskin throws alongside sweeping views across the vines. Some of the bedrooms have outside decking with firepits over-looking the fields. The bathrooms are modern with 100% natural toiletries from Haekels. Room 11 boasts a freestanding bathtub, 1 is dog friendly and for those wanting to step a little closer to farm life, there are two high-spec bell tents tucked behind the Oust House, available to rent with double beds, fire pits and private terraces.