Clavelshay Barn has joined the Exmoor Food Fest

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Clavelshay Barn is an award winning sustainable restaurant located in a traditional stone barn on a family run dairy farm on the edge of the Quantock Hills. Although in a beautiful rural setting, the restaurant is within easy reach of Taunton, Bridgwater and the M5 motorway.

The traditional stone barn, built around 1700, has been simply and sympathetically converted using natural materials, keeping a country feel to the restaurant. The oak flooring in the restaurant, cedar staircase and window sills are made from wood from the farm. The spectacular elm roof beams are original and still have wooden pegs in the joints.

Farmers William & Sue Milverton are tenants of the Crown Estate – William and sons James & Rob run the farm, Sue runs the restaurant with Head Chef Olivier Certain and a team of smiling students.

We are delighted to announce we are now a member of The Sustainable Restaurant Association and have been awarded the highest rating of 3 Stars. You can view our profile here. We feel particularly honoured to win this award as we were one of only restaurant within the whole of Somerset to be awarded!

We are also delighted to have received TripAdvisor’s Certificate of Excellence two years in a row, a Gold Taste of the West Award this year and five Silver Taste of the West Awards in the previous years. We are proud to be recognised for our commitment to using the best local produce.

Exmoor Food Fest Deal of 2 courses for £10.00/ 3 courses for £15.00:
Wednesdays:  Dinner
Thursdays:       Dinner

Please mention the Exmoor Food Fest when booking.

Lower Clavelshay Farm
North Petherton
Clavelshay
Somset TA6 6PJ
Website:  www.clavelshaybarn.co.uk
Email:     query@clavelshaybarn.co.uk
Phone:  01278 662629

24 Feb ’16: West Country Farm & Food Tour

West Country F and F toursEnjoy a scenic tour from Dunster up onto the moors to visit a farm full of agricultural and crafting interest.

During the afternoon meet alpacas, goats and pigs, and find out what can be made from alpaca fibre.

There will be the opportunity to buy direct from the producer, so bring some spending money!

 Meet at 1.15pm at the Yarn Market in Dunster.

Book now:
Adults          £30.00
Children      £25.00

– includes tea/coffee, return transport, and tour guide.

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You can enjoy an Exmoor Food Fest lunch deal (2 courses for £10/ 3 courses for £15) at the Luttrell Arms or the Yarn Market Hotel in Dunster. Please book your lunch at least 24 hours in advance directly via the hotels.

Exmoor Food Fest to launch at The Castle in Taunton

Award winning chefs from the region are joining The Castle’s head chef on 28 January in Taunton to prepare a mouthwatering Taste of Exmoor menu.  Tickets are limited, so early booking is very advisable:

Canapés & Fizz
Hospitality Students
(The Combe, West Somerset College, Minehead)

Starter
Olivier Certain (Clavelshay Barn, North Petherton)

Slow Roasted Belly of Little Oak Farm Pork, Black Pudding & Quail Scotch Egg, Apple and Cider

Fish Course
Mark Dodson (Mason Arms, Knowstone)

Pan Fried Scallop with a Thai Style Salad, Rice Wine Dressing

Main Course
The Castle Hotel, Taunton

Roast Exmoor Venison Loin, Faggot, Red Cabbage,
Jerusalem Artichoke and Wild Mushrooms

 Dessert
Paul & Donna Berry (The Swan, Bampton)

Lemon Cheesecake with Exmoor Wolf Gin, Tonic and Thyme Sorbet

Petit Fours and Breads
The Castle Hotel

Four course dinner:  £75.00 per person
(including a glass of fizz & 2 glasses of wine)

BOOK NOW

Award winning Exmoor-based chefs are joining The Castle’s head chef Liam Finnegan to cook up a Taste of Exmoor menu as the launch of the 2016 Exmoor Food Fest which takes place all over Exmoor in February.

The menu showcases the best the region has to offer. It is a celebration of local produce and local talent.

Elke Winzer, who is organising the Exmoor Food Fest as part of Exmoor4all, is delighted that so many outstanding chefs are bringing the best of Exmoor to Taunton.

“The launch at the renown Castle in Taunton brings some of the amazing Exmoor chefs together who all take part in the Exmoor Food Fest which takes place all over Exmoor in February.  It is a great opportunity for us to raise awareness of the high standard of Exmoor restaurants some of which are hidden gems,” explained Elke.

Liam Finnegan commented: “We are excited to host the launch of the Exmoor Food Fest. It is a great opportunity for us chefs to work together and create a stunning menu.”

Award winning chefs Mark Dodson, Paul and Donna Berry and Olivier Certain  are joined by the hospitality students of the West Somerset College training restaurant The Combe in Minehead. The students will prepare the selection of canapés which will open then night’s food celebration with a glass of fizz.

The Chefs:

Mark Dodson

Mark and his wife Sarah took over the The Mason Arms in Knowstone in June 2005. In July 2006, the restaurant was awarded a Michelin star which they still hold. Since then, Mark and his team have gone from strength to strength, receiving many awards and accolades, including Michelin Pub of the Year 2010.

Prior to moving to Exmoor, Mark spent twelve years as Head Chef of Michel Roux’s Waterside Inn in Bray.

Paul and Donna Berry

There aren’t many awards Paul and Donna haven’t won for their historic pub “The Swan” in Bampton.  Best Trencherman’s Pub of the Year 2016, Visit Devon Pub of the Year Gold Award, and AA Gold Star Award are amongst the most recent accolades, recognising Paul’s and Donna’s passion for food and the use of local, seasonal produce.

Liam Finnegan

Liam Finnegan, who has been head chef at The Castle Hotel in Taunton for three years, grew up in Carlingford, Co Louth in Ireland from where he still sources their famous oysters. However, whenever possible, he uses local suppliers.

Liam’s career path took him through some fantastic restaurants such as The George Hotel on the Isle of White, The Bath Priory and Gidleigh Park where he worked for Micheal Cains, and The Nuremore Hotel (Ray McArdle). When asked about awards Liam counters that a full restaurant and happy customers are more important. “Of course accolades are brilliant, but anything we get, we receive and share as a team.”

Olivier Certain

Marseille-born Olivier moved to Somerset in 1998 following his Michelin star training in La Bonne Etape Chateau Arnoux and Les Roches in Le Lavandou.  In 2006 he joined Woods in Dulverton as head chef where he achieved 2 rosettes and the accolade of Somerset Dining Pub of the Year 2008, 2010 and 2011. In 2009 in reached the finals of the South West Chef of the Year competition.

Olivier now heads the kitchen at Clavelshay Barn in North Petherton.

The Students

The Year 13 hospitality students from train at West Somerset College, Minehead under Chef Lecturers Paul Ruttledge (a former British Master Chef) and Werner Hartholt.

We’ve been busy….

The Exmoor Food Fest preparations are gathering pace.  We have just signed off a campaign on The Breeze starting on 4 January 2016 to shout out about a month long celebration of the best our region has to offer.

Participating restaurants will be offering two courses for £10.00/ three courses for £15.00, and we are finalising exciting events which include gin tasting, oyster and champagne feasts, evenings with local authors, dining experiences in unusual locations and so much more.

The Dunster Food Festival, which is taking over the whole of Dunster at the end of February, is going to be foodie heaven.

Fingers crossed we will be able to give you all the details about the Gourmet Trains which will be run by West Somerset Railway in February – all we can say at the moment is that award winning chefs will be cooking on these trains.

Our website  will be updated regularly – please keep checking it out for the latest information.

The Exmoor Food Fest (or Exmoor4all for that matter) does not receive any official funding. Without the generous help from Arthur David –  Food with Service we would  not be able to run this food festival. 

Thank you all for your ongoing support!

PS You can subscribe to our newsletter here – that way you will not miss out on any updates.

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Here are some of our upcoming events:

1£30.00 per person (incl. two course dinner)

The Beatles and The Stones – The two bands that have defined popular music were often pitted against one another during the Sixties.
Richard Havers, who has written extensively about both bands and worked for them on various projects, delves into their enduring appeal and unravels some of the mystery as to what makes them so timeless. With music and photographs.

Tickets are available from The Culbone: Call 01643 862259

Exmoor on a Plate: Oysters & Champage

3More details coming soon…. It will be a great opportunity to taste Porlock Oysters. Make sure you don’t miss out and book your place now.

Call 01643 862259 (The Culbone)

“Barn Food” with Claire’s Kitchen

2An amazing meal in very unusual surroundings, that’s Claire’s Kitchen’s pop-up restaurant in one of the medieval barns at the Exmoor Owl & Hawk Centre in Allerford on 10 February. Tickets are selling fast – don’t leave it too late.  Click here to book your place.

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Quite a few restaurants have joined us already for the Exmoor Food Fest – we will start posting tantalising images of their amazing food soon!

Date for the Diary: Dunster Food Festival 27&28 Feb 2016

This is the grand final of the Exmoor Food Fest 2016:

We will be taking over the whole of Dunster, with local producers, street food traders, crafters and artists in various locations such as the Tithe Barn, the Yarn Market, Memorial Hall and Dunster Castle.

There will also be cooking demonstrations and much, much more…

Are you a producer or an artist? Do own a local business? Would you like to take part? Then get in touch:

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The Exmoor Food Fest is sponsored by
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Tales by the Fire: An Evening with Richard Havers

Tales by the Fire:  An Evening with Richard Havers

21 January 2016,  7pm at The Culbone

“It’s all Rock’n Roll: The Beatles and The Stones”

£30.00 per person
(incl. two-course menu and canapés on arrival)

The Beatles and The Stones – The two bands that have defined popular music were often pitted against one another during the Sixties.
Richard Havers, who has written extensively about both bands and worked for them on various projects, delves into their enduring appeal and unravels some of the mystery as to what makes them so timeless. With music and photographs.

Canapés

Butternut squash and baby spinach fritters
with cucumber and turmeric yoghurt 

Home cured salmon gravadlax bilinis with lemon jelly and dill

Smoked venison loin crostini with fresh horseradish and cress

Mains

Devon red beef shin stew with smoked bacon, kale colcannon and truffle oil

Pan fried sea trout fillet with purple sprouting, brown shrimps, crushed new potatoes and lemon dill butter

Stuffed butternut squash with wild mushroom, Devon blue, hazelnut and   baby leafs and parsnip crisps

Desserts

Somerset apple and ginger crumble with stem ginger ice cream

Sticky toffee pudding with Devon clotted cream and toffee sauce 

Styles ice cream selection

Richard Havers

Writer and jazz producer Richard Havers
Writer and jazz producer Richard Havers

Richard spent twenty years working in the airline industry before deciding to pursue his passion for music. He worked advertising, writing and producing over 2,000 ads and jingles. He has written and produced in-flight radio shows, launched Turkey’s first commercial radio station, and produced concerts for artists that includes, Paul McCartney, The Beach Boys, Chicago and America. 

His books about music include, Bill Wyman’s Blues Odyssey, which won the Blues Foundation’s Award For Literature in 2002. Richard wrote, co-directed and produced the Peabody Award nominated TV series based upon the book. He has co-authored Rolling with the Stones (2003), and The Stones – A History in Cartoons (2006) with Bill Wyman and written The Stones in the Park (2009) about the band’s pivotal 1969 concert, as well as The Rolling Stones – In The Beginning (2006) a book by Danish photographer, Bent Rej. He compiled and edited Rolling Stones 50, the band’s official anniversary book in 2012. His other music related titles include, My Take (2006), Gary Barlow’s autobiography, Bowie, Bolan & The Brooklyn Boy (2007), legendary record producer Tony Visconti’s autobiography, Woodstock – 3 days of peace and music (2009), Jazz – The Golden Era (2008), Blues  – The Golden Era, (2008) Rock ‘n’ Roll – The Golden Era (2008), The Beatles – The Days of Their Lives (2010), and Read’s Musical Recitor (2004). His biography, Sinatra (2004), according to Marella Fostrup on BBC Radio 4, “Stands out as one of the best books ever written about Frank Sinatra.

His most recent books are Verve – The Sound of America, the 2013 book on the American record label. Uncompromising Expression, that tells the story of 75 years of Blue Note Records was published in November 2014.

His other books include Here Is The News, about the BBC in World War II, Treasure Island, Airline Confidential, Pop!, When Football was Football (nominated for illustrated Sports Book of the Year 2008), Dreamboats & Petticoats – Music & Life in Pre Beatles Britain, Titanic – History As It Happened, When Britain Went To War, Better Late Than Never, Len Goodman’s autobiography, Len Goodman’s Lost London (2013) and Len Goodman’s Dancing Round Britain (2014). He has also co-written As Much As I Can (2010) – The life of film and stage director, Peter Glenville.

His articles have appeared in The Daily Telegraph, The Times, Goldmine and Record Collector; he also appears regularly on radio and occasionally on TV, usually talking about music. He has produced box sets Universal Music, including, 100 Years of the Blues, as well as Satchmo: Louis Armstrong – Ambassador of Jazz (10 CD box set and 200 page illustrated biography), Ella – The Voice of Jazz, Verve – The Sound of America, Blue Note’s Uncompromising Expression and a 10 CD career retrospective of Nat King Cole in 2015. He has written numerous sleeve notes and books to accompany album and DVD releases, including many for The Rolling Stones and in 2015 wrote the historical notes for The Beatles 1+ DVD rand CD reissue. He is Universal Music’s jazz consultant and Editor-in-Chief of Universal Music’s online music marketing site – udiscovermusic.com 

BOOKING ESSENTIAL

Tickets are available from The Culbone – Please call 01643 862259

 

Book now: “Barn Food” with Claire’s Kitchen at the Exmoor Owl & Hawk Centre

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Join us for an evening with a difference, a one-off experience, which involves a stunning, albeit unusual location, an owl display and, of course, fabulous Mediterranean food prepared by Claire’s Kitchen.  It will be a night to remember!
Booking is absolutely essential.

Date:                                  Wednesday, 10 February 2016
Time:                                 19:00
Venue:                              A barn at the Exmoor Owl and Hawk Centre, Allerford  TA24 8HJ
Dress Code:                    Please wear sturdy shoes and warm clothes (layers are a good idea!)

The barn will be heated, but we strongly recommend that you bring a blanket, just in case. It is winter, after all!        

Ticket*:                             £ 32.00 plus P&P  

Book now

Menu:

Canapés

Roasted red peppers and anchovy salad on roasted garlic toasts
Chorizo tortilla with allioli

Sharing Starters

Pea soup with a crispy serrano ham crouton and basil oil
Gambas pil pil (sizzling gambas prawns)
Piquillo rellenos de queso de cabra (goats cheese stuffed piquillo peppers)

Sharing Mains

Suckling pig cooked whole on a spit with a mediterranean herb and garlic marinate
Red pepper and halloni paella on a rich Sofrito base
Chorizo with tomato butter beans, parsley and Claire’s Kitchen Lynch cider
Poor man’s potatoes cooked with the suckling pig with onions, rosemary and garlic

Dessert

Almond cake with Crema Catalina ice cream, custard caramel and a cherry compote

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Claire Lynch of Claire’s Kitchen will be assisted by hospitality students from West Somerset College’s hospitality department.

All dietary requirements can be catered for if advised prior to the event.
Please contact us if you need any advise about allergens.
Vegetarians catered for.

Cash bar.

* Tickets will be posted at the beginning of December 2015 in time for Christmas

From Field to Fork….  The Minehead Farmers’ Market

Photo by James A. Fenwick

Every Friday, from 8.30am till 2pm, the busy Parade in Minehead is transformed: Purple and yellow tents take over the top part of the town, and shoppers with baskets filled to the brim with fresh bread, eggs, cake and vegetables walk where cars usually speed along.

The Minehead Farmers Market moved into the Avenue nearly 10 years ago.  Between 16 and 19 traders bring their fares to Minehead for 50 weeks a year. Whether it is gluten free cakes, sourdough products, chocolates, fish, cheese, preserves, beef, pork, venison or even plants, visitors will find a plethora of homemade or homegrown products to fill their larder. 

Shelley Kift, who has been attending Minehead Farmers Market since 2006 with her business “Out Over Catering”, took over as market chairman in 2011.

“We run our own farm at Blackmore Gate on Exmoor and only use home bred pork and beef from neighbouring local farms,” explains Shelley who now coordinates all the market traders. The trained chef sources all ingredients as locally as possible, and all products are made from scratch, including the pastry. 

“The Minehead Farmers Market has been going from strength to strength,” said Shelley while serving another customer with cheese scones and chocolate cake. “In 2014 we won the Taste of the West Silver Award. We are still waiting for the 2015 results…”

Cheryl Arvidson from Greenmeadow Poultry in the Quantocks regularly brings free-range hen, duck and quail eggs to the market in Minehead.  Those interested in having their own chicken, can book courses in poultry keeping for all levels with the Cheryl who has a further education teaching certificate.

Another stall to look out for is Plowright Organic and their home grown, organic vegetables, freshly hewn each week from the sandy Somerset soils at the foothills of the Quantocks.  “It isn’t a big money maker for us,” says Richard Plowright who runs the farm, “the customers are the reason we go there as they’re so appreciative of our produce.”

Carrots and Milya potatoes are the biggest sellers which keep the customers coming back for more. Customers also enjoy the experience of looking through the vegetables, connecting with the growing seasons and sharing recipe ideas, as well as having a chat with Joel who runs the stall.

On 20 September 2015, many of the regular Minehead Farmers Market traders will take part in the Minehead Food and Families Day around The Beach Hotel, which launches a range of “Taste of Exmoor” events leading up to the 2016 Exmoor Food Fest.  Participating restaurants across Exmoor will again be offering 2 courses for £10.00 during February.  For more information, please go to www.tasteofexmoor.com .

Credit:  All photos by James A Fenwick

(Note: This text was first published in the September issue of Somerset Life)

Ellises Farm Field Kitchen has joined the Street Food Traders at Minehead

Ellises Farm Pulled PorkWe have just had confirmation that Ellises Farm Field Kitchen will be at Minehead Harbour on Saturday, 28 February 2015, to help us celebrate the end of the very successful first Exmoor Food Fest.

Ellises Farm Field Kitchen have 12 hour smoked pulled, homemade frankfurter hotdogs, traditional breed beef ribs and slow roast harrissa lamb on their menu.

We produce mouth watering Gloucester old spot pork, sausages, dry cured bacon and gammon, artisan salamis, chorizo and air dried hams and cured meats from our Gloucester old spot pigs on the Blackdown hills area of outstanding natural beauty here in Devon. Produced and cured in a original old fashioned method.

What makes our pork taste so good is that our traditional rare breed Gloucester old spot pigs spend all of thier lives outdoors rooting around under the oak trees developing a truly unforgetable flavour and delicous crackling. All our pigs are fed G.M. free feeds, which do not contain growth promoters or unnatural additives and are raised to the highest welfare standards.

The meat is hung for a week to ensure the best flavour and then is  butchered here on the farm. Our Gloucester old spot sausages and cured meats are produced without preservatives, nitrates or additives.

To find out more about Ellises Farm, go to www.ellisesfarm.co.uk

Ellises Farm Field Kitchen