Devon restaurant celebrates its first anniversary with legendary chefs

Darts Farm celebrated the first anniversary of its new restaurant, The Farm Table, in July by welcoming two iconic chefs to take over the kitchen for the evening. Great British Menu winner, Mark Hix and local seafood hero, Mitch Tonks, created a unique 5-course seasonal menu, combining their celebrated styles with produce from the fields at Darts Farm and incredible artisan ingredients from the food hall; whilst sharing their stories about a lifetime of friendship through food.

Hosting two such culinary giants represents a huge accolade for the new Devon restaurant which opened its doors last summer and has gone from strength to strength in spite of a period of unprecedented challenges for the industry.

Michael Dart, who runs Darts Farm alongside his two brothers, James and Paul, comments: “It has been a very tough couple of years for hospitality businesses and not the ideal climate for launching a new restaurant, but as we mark the first anniversary of The Farm Table, we are so proud of what we have achieved in the last 12 months. Following hot on the heels of winning Food Magazine’s Reader Awards as ‘The Best Newcomer’, The Farm Table has just hosted two world-renowned chefs who share our passion for championing local and sustainable food. Our team, led by my son George and our Head Chef Tom, has worked incredibly hard to achieve so much in such a short time and having the seal of approval from two of the country’s most eminent chefs is a fantastic reward for all their efforts.”

Michael’s son, George, has been instrumental in bringing the original concept of The Farm Table to life and creating the new flagship restaurant. He explains: “Our aim with the launch of The Farm Table was to create a restaurant that would celebrate the simplicity of beautiful ingredients grown, reared, caught and crafted on our doorstep. Produce that cannot be sourced from the farm is provided by our vibrant community of like-minded artisan producers, farmers and fisherman who share our passion for flavour. A year ago I could not have imagined hosting two such prestigious chefs in our kitchen but this event marks the culmination of all our efforts to deliver a world class dining experience that showcases the very best of Devon’s produce.”

For further information on The Farm Table and Darts Farm please visit www.dartsfarm.co.uk