The arrival of September can be bittersweet. The pang of longing as we bid farewell to the booze-addled days and balmy nights of summer, mixed with joy as we look forward to cosy nights in, Sunday roasts down the pub and the chance to dig our favourite layers back out of the wardrobe.
For me, the onset of autumn is always made easier by the arrival of amazing seasonal food - this time of year is hands down my favourite season for cooking and eating, a time for tucking in to soul-soothing stews, pies and hotpots and sweet and sticky fruit crumbles, happily washed down with full-bodied red wines.
And if you’re mourning the end of summer holidays, autumn brings the perfect excuse for a cosy weekend getaway in the English countryside. Here’s my list of the best weekend breaks for foodies in the UK, whether you want to brush up on your cooking skills, forage for your own ingredients, or simply kick back and be wined and dined in luxurious comfort, you’ll find the most lip-smacking options here.
For culinary comfort
Bel & Dragon Country Inn, South Downs
If your summer has meant racing from festival to hen-do and dancing 'til dawn, chances are you’re gasping for some R&R. And if so, this is the getaway for you.
Tucked away in the rolling Surrey Hills, The Bel & Dragon dates back to 1862 and is a cocoon of comfort, from always-available tea & coffee served in vintage china, to the many lounging areas dotted around the Inn, the plush beds, crisp white linen and fluffy white towels, right down to the whiskey nightcaps - everything about this place says, “and relaaaaax”.
The award-winning restaurant serves mouth-watering seasonal food using ingredients from local, small-scale producers and nearby farms, as well as vegetables and herbs grown on-site and there’s a huge pizza oven in the garden for glorious stone-baked goodness. The wine list is a treasure trove of amazing bottles - and so it should be, created in partnership with Oliver Leflaive - one of the world’s most renowned winemakers. Here you can drink Leflaive's finest Burgundy by the bottle-full and they even have a nifty gadget, the ‘Coravin’, that allows servings to be poured from a sealed bottle without risking air damage, meaning you can taste drops of older vintages and top-end wines that you would never normally get to try without splurging on a bottle.
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Of course, all of this is depends on you actually dragging yourself away from your room - with all the world’s most comfy beds, luxurious toiletries and complimentary gin, you might find it hard to leave.
01428 605799, belandthedragon-churt.co.uk. Dinner from £30, rooms from £120pp per night.
For amazing local produce
Roth Bar & Grill at Durslade Farm, Somerset
Roth Bar & Grill is truly one of a kind. Situated in a breathtakingly beautiful restored cowshed at Durslade Farm, Somerset, the characterful restaurant is chock-full of impressive artwork from Hauser & Wirth art gallery nearby, and serves up insanely delicious food from its very own working farm. Championing a new level of ‘field-to-fork’ and focusing on sustainable produce, all ingredients are sourced from within a 10-mile radius. The meat is reared on Durslade Farm itself, and chefs house-cure and dry-age cuts in the iconic salt room. Add to that using herbs grown in the kitchen garden to cooking over the outdoor fire pit and there’s some serious self-sufficiency. Sustainability is sexy in 2017 and its big news in the food industry, try the in-house cured meats with foraged wild garlic and see just how much of a difference you taste.
Sleep over the at the gorgeous Grade II listed Farmhouse - you’ll need some mates as the 6 bedroom manor is available for exclusive hire only. With farm and restaurant all on-site you can indulge in the most personal food experience as the chefs create anything you like from seasonal suppers to lunch picnic baskets. And if the food doesn’t already have you longing to visit, the ‘grammable interiors will.
01749 814 700, rothbarandgrill.co.uk. Dinner from £35pp. Farmhouse prices on request.
For the wine lovers
Hush Heath Winery and The Goudhurst Inn, Kent
Did you know that the UK is not only home to amazing ingredients, but we also make top quality wines? The climate and soil types in the south of England are perfect conditions for making elegant sparklings on a par with Champagne, and we regularly scoop awards!
Sample some of England’s finest bubbles with a winery tour at Hush Heath Estate, followed by a stay at the quaint Goudhurst boutique inn. Early autumn is a great time to visit English vineyards as it's close to harvest and picking season, meaning the berries are ripe on the vines, and you also get the gorgeous glow of the autumn dusk.
Guided tours will take you around the 400-acre estate and winery where you can see all the juicy behind-the-scenes action on how grapes become your favourite tipple. Taste through Hush Heath Estate wines and ciders – perfect after strolling through the vineyards, apple orchards and ancient oak woodlands. And once you’ve worked up an appetite you can pile into The Goudhurst Inn for delish quality pub grub and charming boutique rooms. Stay for the epic Sunday roast and blast away any hangover you might have picked from enjoying the wines a little too much.
01622 832 794, hushheath.com. The Hush Heath Experience £50pp including Estate, Winery and Tasting Tour, lunch or dinner. Rooms from £80pp per night
For brushing up on your cooking skills
Eckington Manor Cookery School, Cotswolds
Nestled in the heart of the Avon Valleys is Eckington Manor, a uniquely traditional country manor, complete with its very own Masterchef-led cookery school. Headed up by chef Mark Stinchcombe (winner of Masterchef: The Professionals 2015, no less) and his wife Sue, the cookery school offers a range of classes from bread making and cooking with an AGA, to learning how to create restaurant quality dishes at home. Classes take place in the converted Victorian barn, and whether you’re a novice or a pro you’re sure to pick up tips, from simple one-pot tricks to some serious culinary flair.
Stay in one of the manor’s three buildings a short stroll across the courtyard and wrap up in Mulberry throws, soft fluffy towels and The White Company toiletries. The atmosphere is luxurious, tranquil and homely, and the service is personal. This is your culinary home from home.
01386 751600, eckingtonmanorcookeryschool.co.uk. 2 hour demonstrations start from £40, Rooms £129pp per night.
For foraging
The Fat Hen, Cornwall
There's something so liberating about wild food and getting back to basics, and at The Fat Hen you can learn to forage, cook and then feast on your findings all in one weekend. Set up by ecologist and botanist Caroline Davey to provide a deeper relationship with the natural world, its seasons and rhythms, this is a refuge that’s guaranteed to leave you both satisfyingly full and energised.
Foraging courses will take you out into the beautiful Cornish countryside where you can scurry for mushrooms, herbs, berries and other wild foods under the gentle guidance of a professional ecologist. Learn how to get the best out of your ingredients with a course in The Fat Hen’s bespoke cookery school and then feast by fire and candlelight at the long farmhouse tables.
Grab a group and rent an entire cottage on the grounds - the Old Wash House can accommodate up to 12 people and includes use of the cookery school and home cinema, or camp in style in a bell tent like the 21st century hunter-gatherer that you are.
07767 792417, fathen.org. Courses start from £45, Rooms from £70pp per night.
For getting back to nature
Wild Camping at Dernwood Farm
Camping can be so nostalgic - before the days of festivals with our pals, there were family camping holidays - the whole clan and the dog packed together in one canvas den, drinking tea from a thermos and attempting a futile sing-along, before inevitably descending into more realistic family chaos. At Derwood you can relive the best parts of those memories with wild camping in the woodland meadow, or choose to go not-so-wild and camp on site in a cosy yurt or log cabin (they even have a woodland hot tub!).
Take a stroll through the woods to pick autumnal blackberries and chestnuts and then cosy up by the fire to cook your own farm-bought burgers, sausages and steak. All beef comes from the farm’s own Sussex cattle, and pork is bred from traditional breeds like Saddleback. You can order deliveries from the farm shop straight to your tent (or gypsy wagon!), and can even start your day with a delivery of organic eggs from the farm chickens. Ah, the good life.
01435 812726, dernwoodfarm.co.uk. Farm shop produce from £5.50, camping from £10pp per night.
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