Updown, near Deal in Kent, is feasibly that scene you have in your mind’s eye whenever you imagine escaping to the country, taking on a rambling, 17th-century farmhouse in need of lots of TLC and living the dream. A dream being as far as such things go for most sane people, after weighing up the costs, the sacrifices and the ever-present danger of a visit from a fractious Kevin “McLoud”.
Occasionally, however, people do make that leap, and something magical happens. Updown, by Ruth Leigh and Oli Brown, is set in seven-and-a-half acres, with well-tended walled gardens and, now, a restaurant with seven rooms for overnight stays. Presently, there’s only an outdoor dining area with a pergola, meaning you can eat john dory with samphire or pork chop with fennel gratin among the butterflies. Next year, however, an indoor space will open in the barn. Updown, which was bought and renovated over lockdown, is deeply antagonistic to those of us who can barely change a lightbulb, because somehow Leigh and Brown have taken this Grade II-listed building and created one of those quintessentially British, rural settings that matches how American screenwriters believe we all live: endless days perusing dusty, arty tomes in our boldly painted libraries, padding about in our bohemian country piles, wellies at the back door, before lunching on a plate of local radishes with sea salt and butter and a glass of cloudy, homemade lemonade.
I didn’t drink that, by the way – I chose a Crodino, which is possibly the most elegant, delicious, non-alcoholic aperitif in existence: it’s a vivid orange, sweet, herbal, Italian drink that comes in a classy little bottle. It’s rarely available in the UK, so of course they have it at Updown, just casually sitting there on the menu, alongside the chilled eau de vie de poire and vodka martinis that they serve with a smoked eel gilda; they also do Whitstable Bay Blonde lager and chilled organic Clos Des Trois Sources rosé at £9 a glass.
Chef Oli previously founded Duck Duck Goose in Brixton after working with the great Rowley Leigh at Le Café Anglais, while front-of-house Ruth (who just happens to be Leigh’s daughter) has worked with highly respected restaurateurs Stevie Parle and Henry Harris. Updown, regardless of how casually off-the-cuff it seems, is no flimsy operation. The vibe is intensely relaxed, but service is well drilled and attentive, staffed by local young people who restore faith in the whole notion of British hospitality. Lord knows where Brown and Leigh found these chipper, clever, non-obtrusive but ever-present types in freshly pressed shirts, but they’ve hit gold.
Of course, all this would be worth nothing if the food was lacklustre, but it’s good. Extremely good. The menu is brief and ever-changing, cooking whatever is local, fresh and seasonal over an outdoor wood fire. On the Sunday we visited, there was a plate of excellent ripe tomatoes served with equally juicy peaches and basil, which, when written down like that, sounds both perilously simple and possibly unpleasant, but that is the alchemy of using the best ingredients. Suddenly, it all makes sense. The same goes for a bowl of courgettes, sauteed until almost collapsing, with a soft, pale ball of fine mozzarella. Main courses included a Sunday roast of lamb with just-podded broad beans and tempura courgette and a side of baby potatoes with grilled endive. For vegetarians, there was a ferociously portioned plate of roast celeriac, girolles and tomatoes with thick, green, luscious pesto and excellent olive oil, though the star of that particular show was an abundance of large, soft chickpeas prepared with love and care. Presentation is unfussy, and at times even delightfully clumsy, because it is all about the flavours.
Pudding was a choice between an indecently boozy baba with crimson cherries backstroking for their lives in a sea of rum and flanked by chantilly cream, and truffled Baron Bigod cheese with walnuts and honey.
Updown hasn’t really got going yet, so I’m possibly jumping the gun by even discussing it now, but I have a hunch that diners will quickly warm to it, and that bookings to sit in the barn, once it’s up and running, will be buoyant. This is one of those places that shows how life could be lived – so long as you’re someone who has their act together. You’d be classy but understated, living a rustic existence in seven or so acres with its own wildflower garden, and existing on good, simple produce.
That’s the brilliant thing about the very best restaurants: they make you lunch and sell you a fantasy. At Updown, while you personally may not be to the manor born, from noon until late afternoon, you can sit back, drink gingerella and eat octopus salad in the sunshine, and, for a few short hours at least, it feels very much as if you are.
Updown, Updown Road, Betteshanger, near Deal, Kent, 01304 784410. Currently open only Fri 5-11pm and Sun noon-6pm (as well as Thurs-Sun dinner for hotel guests); opening fully in early 2023. From about £40 a head à la carte, plus drinks and service.
