Our Local Expert - Walking in a Devon Local Food Wonderland

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Walking in a Devon Local Food Wonderland

Posted by: nick on Nov 21, 2011

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Recommendations for Dining out around Christmas
Supplies for Dining In around Christmas, Christmas Presents for foodies
Award Winning Local food and Restaurants
Why is the menu in the Railway, Honiton so original?
Highlights of the new menu at Oliva Mediterranean Restaurant, Topsham
Where to buy Sustainable, LOCAL Christmas Trees
Other Local Food News, recommended blogs

Recommendations for Dining out around Christmas

Without meaning to patronise, here’s a request and a bit of advice from someone who once managed a restaurant, and has waited on countless Christmas parties. PLEASE ENSURE THAT EACH MEMBER OF YOUR PARTY REMEMBERS WHAT FOOD THEY ORDERED! It will make the evening so much more enjoyable for your party, not to mention for relations between the waiting and kitchen staff.

Now, let’s get down to business. You can expect more than Turkey, stuffing and Cranberry Sauce around the quality independent restaurants featured in Our Local Expert. We’ve chosen to highlight the three below, but I’d be confident of a wonderful meal at any of the restaurants we feature.

First up, the Christmas menu at ‘Exeter’s Best Kept Secret’ – the Rodean Restaurant in Kenton - looks both original and pure quality throughout:
The Rodean’s Christmas Menu is £21, available Tues – Fri Dinners, (or Lunches For Parties Over 12).

If you’ve never been, Nautilus in Teignmouth is a relaxing and friendly restaurant serving tapas during the week with a strong fish influence. They specialise in seafood, but also offer some cracking vegetarian and meat options – generally with a Mediterranean twist.

We think you’ll like the Nautilus take on a Traditional Christmas Menu. A generous number of courses, with a wide range of choices for each course.
£21 per head including coffee. Note parties min size 10.

Highly respected, award-winning, guidebook-endorsed and much loved intimate Exeter restaurant @Angelas have published their Christmas Menu. As you’d expect, mouth-watering locally sourced food, served in the most agreeable environment!

£32.95 per head includes coffee. ....and as a word of warning, remember that @Angelas is a small restaurant - which is part of it's charm. i.e. BOOK EARLY!
Congratulations to @Angelas, who have now been included in the Lonely Planet guide. 2011-2012, and the Michelin Guide for 2012 - above the Abode in their preference.
@Angela’s will be open every day throughout December from Thursday 1st December up to and including New Year’s Eve (when they will be serving their usual A La Carte menu). The only day they will be closing is Boxing day.

Besides the suggestions above, we obviously recommend that you consider all the quality, local independent restaurants we champion in Our Local Expert – after all – they’ve been recommended by people like you!
Quality Independent Restaurants in East Devon
Quality Independent Restaurants in Exeter
Quality Independent Restaurants in Teignbridge and Torbay

Supplies for Dining In around Christmas, Christmas Presents for foodies

Don’t forget that many of the shops below might prefer notice to plan around large orders, so to make sure you’re getting the best food this Christmas, try to plan what you need in advance.

Devon food also makes a great gift at Christmas - particularly if you're travelling to stay with friends or family from other parts of the country.

Click on these links for:
Local independent food and farm shops in East Devon.
Local indepedent food and farm shops in Exeter
Local independent food and farm shops in Teignbridge/Torbay
[...and if your favourites aren’t mentioned here – please get in touch and tell us why we should feature them!]

Making as much effort as anyone to get local people buying local produce, the excellent Real Food Store will be open for late night shopping in Exeter, from 6-8pm starting Thursday 24th November.
The Real Food Store can really do no wrong in my eyes! They encourage you to ‘Make it a local Christmas’, with Devon turkey, meats, vegetables, bread, cakes, fancy baked goods, chocolates, wines, beers and sparkling cider. Also other drinks, gifts and themed hampers. A pre-order service is available.

As you can imagine, the fantastic butchers at East Hill Pride (between Newton Poppleford and Sidmouth) is stocking the usual Christmas Special meat – phone 07969 024749 or visit the shop to pre-order: Turkeys, home-reared geese, sausage meat for stuffing, cured tongue and more.

Much loved intimate Exeter restaurant @Angelas have vouchers for Christmas gifts – order them by calling 01392 499038.

Award Winners:

In case you somehow didn't realise, Rockbeare near Exeter Airport is home to the Jack in the Green – one of the most celebrated local restaurants. The restaurant is within a country pub which has retained all its cosy welcoming charm, and this November they are celebrating 20 years in business.

...and what a way to celebrate! 'The Jack' are delighted at having been voted 60th in the UK's Top 100 Restaurants (The National Restaurant Awards, October 2011) as well as being announced as the winners of The Western Morning News Reader's Award (at the Taste of the West Food & Drink Awards, November 2011). Further, Michelin have announced that the Jack in the Green has retained ‘Bib Gourmand’ for the fifth consecutive year. Bib Gourmand is an award given to establishments which Michelin believe offer exceptional value for money. The Jack in the Green are the only restaurant to be named in Devon this year.

Recently Taste of the West announced their pick of local restaurants and cafes. We particularly endorse the choice of Toast Café & Patisserie in Honiton, Gold Award winner for Café/Tea Room in Devon. Toast is owned and operated by Otter Brewery who also run the excellent Honiton gastropub the Holt, just across the road.

Photo: Emma Parkin & Anne Parris of Emma's Bread

We can’t help but love Emma’s bread, born and raised (geddit? ‘raised’?) in the Real Food Store, Exeter. Emma's Bread has been awarded winner of the Best Baker / Confectioner of the Year at the Devon Life Food & Drink Awards 2011.

If you haven’t yet tried Emmas bread, call into the shop and buy some, or stop at the Real Food Cafe and enjoy one of their excellent seasonal sandwiches or cakes available.

The Real Food Store was also finalist for Devon Life’s Best New Enterprise / Innovation of the Year as well as Best Independent Food Shop of the Year. They have been shortlisted for the Devon Environmental Business Initiative Awards (DEBI) in the Food, Farming & Leisure category.

View the full list of Taste of the West Product Awards here (mmmm, there’s quite a few of these).
From this list – I’d particularly recommend WARM (yes warm) pork pies by Chunk of Devon. We had these at a wedding in the summer, and they’ve made me re-evaluate what I thought a pork pie was (i.e. not a small, processed thing served at children’s parties containing a lump of ‘meat’).

Why is the menu in the Railway, Honiton so original?

Photo: The great(?) minds behind the menu at The Railway

If you’ve ever wondered why the menu at Honiton Gastropub The Railway is so refreshingly original, maybe you need to look to the chefs. Head Chef Jean is Italian (raised in France), and when he needs inspiration he turns to his Greek and Iranian chefs as ‘muse for food’.
The Railway organise artisan bread making classes on Mondays, and will soon be running bread classes for disabled children. Most of the children are blind with another pathology, and apparently it is therapeutic to feel and make the bread, cooking with the smell only.

New menu at Oliva Mediterranean Restaurant, Topsham

Oliva Head Chef, Tim Golder has created a whole new menu. With more homemade treats than ever before including seasonal ice creams, daily freshly baked breads and home cured salt cod. Tim has also been out and about searching for even more local produce, such as Black Label beef (Aberdeen Angus beef reared in the Westcountry with full tractability) form Turtons Butchers, Greendale Farm Shop; Shipton Mill organic flour and Bigbury Bay oysters have joined the ever-growing list of local suppliers. There are also new and exciting products from Spain, including Ibores goats cheese from Extremadura and a new range of cured meats from Leon.

Where to buy Sustainable, LOCAL Christmas Trees

Okay, so Christmas trees aren’t exactly local food, but there’s no reason why you shouldn’t source them locally – to minimise transport costs and encourage local enterprise.

Most Christmas trees available (particularly those who promise not to drop their needles) are imported from Scandinavia. Imported from Scandinavia? Have you never noticed that there are a few pine trees growing right here in Devon?
East Hill Pride (at the top of Four Elms Hill, between Newton Poppleford and Sidmouth) will be selling Christmas trees all the way from Stockland – where the big TV mast is - near Honiton. Choose from Christmas trees with roots, or freshly cut. Stands will also be available.
As already mentioned, the fantastic butchers at East Hill Pride will be stocking the usual Christmas Special meat – phone or visit the shop to pre-order: Turkeys, home-reared geese, sausage meat for stuffing, cured tongue and more. Why not also buy a few of their home made pasties while you’re there, or stop for a cream tea and enjoy the incredible views to Dartmoor (East Devon low-grey-cloud-permitting). Why not leave this amazing scene with a tree strapped to the top of your car, and a boot-full of locally reared, hung and butchered meat?