This table could be yours…
Join us in celebrating the 2026 Exmoor Food Fest with our Grand Final Gala Dinner:
6 outstanding local chefs.
5 courses (vegetarian options available).
Welcome Drink (Wicked Wolf Gin)
Digestif (Scape Goat Rum).
17 March 2025
Croydon Hall, Felons Oak, Rodhuish, Minehead TA24 6QT
£89.00 per person regular price.
£71.20 per person for MIBs (20% discount)
We’re delighted to confirm that Werner Hartholt will be the sixth chef involved in the Gala Dinner which is the Grand Final of the 2026 Exmoor Food Fest. Werner hosted the very Exmoor Food Fest launch when we started in 2015, and is now working as a Freelance Chef and Culinary Consultant.
Fancy joining us on 17 March as a group? We have a couple of tables available at a special discount. If you book a table of 8, tickets per head are only £72.00.
And for those who want to treat the woman in their lives with an evening out: Use code MOTHERSDAY in the checkout!
Join us for an Exmoor Indulgence – 5 courses, prepared by six Exmoor chefs, complete with welcome drink, digestif and entertainment.
17 March 2026 | 7 for 7.30pm | Croydon Hall |
5 courses | Welcome drink | £89.00 per person
(10% discount if you book with coupon MOTHERSDAY)
🔥Special offer: Book a whole table of 8 for £576.00 – that’s £72.00 per person) 🔥
Welcome Drink
Sponsored by Wicked Wolf
Amuse-Bouche (Werner Hartholt)
Starter (Olivier Certain)
Exmoor venison carpaccio, plum, celeriac
Fish (Carla Jones & Aidan Forward, Farmers Arms)
Appledore cod.
Cod caramel – hazelnut fricassee – Castlefranco sauce
Main (Luke Nunn)
Creedy Carver duck breast, rhubarb ketchup and orange buttered fresh chicory leaves, finished with a rich chicken jus
Vegetarian option
Broham cauliflower risotto, walnuts
Dessert (Jade Shorney)
Orchard Amble & Cyder_
Somerset apple, west country Cyder, hedgerow berries, honey and oat.
Digestif
Sponsored by Scape Goat Rum
Join us for an Exmoor Indulgence – 5 courses, prepared by Exmoor chefs, complete with welcome drink, digestif and entertainment.
17 March 2026 | 7 for 7.30pm | Croydon Hall |
5 courses | Welcome drink | £89.00 per person
(10% discount if you book before the end of 28 February with coupon EARLYBIRD)
Welcome Drink
Sponsored by Wicked Wolf
Amuse Bouche
Starter (Olivier Certain)
Exmoor venison carpaccio, plum, celeriac
Fish (Carla Jones & Aidan Forward, Farmers Arms)
Appledor cod.
Cod caramel – hazelnut fricassee – Castlefranco sauce
Main (Luke Nunn)
Creedy carver duck breast, rhubarb ketchup and orange buttered fresh chicory leaves, finished with a rich chicken jus
Vegetarian option
Broham cauliflour risotto, walnuts
Dessert (Jade Shorney)
Orchard Amble & Cyder_
Somerset apple, west country Cyder, hedgerow berries, honey and oat.
Digestif
Sponsored by Scape Goat Rum
The Exmoor Food Fest turns 10 in February 2025, and we’ll be marking the start of the 100-day-countdown with an exclusive dinner at the beautiful and recently refurbished Croydon Hall near Minehead.
There are only a limited number of tickets left, so better be quick to avoid missing out on what’s going to be a truly unique event.
Tuesday, 15 October 2024
7pm for 7.30pm
10 outstanding local chefs are going to vow our guests with 10 amazing courses throughout a very special evening.
Chefs confirmed so far:
We are excited to also showcase one of the students from West Somerset College, Lucy Bowden, who took part in the launch of the very first Exmoor Food Fest in 2014 and now runs her own in kitchen at a venue in Cornwall.
It has just been confirmed that students from Foxes Hotel will be joining us as well – they are in charge of the pre-dessert and they will also assist with Front of House!
There are only a couple of tables left. Get your tickets here:
Our guests at the Media Launch on 12 October at Knowle Manor are in for a special treat: Exmoor Young Chef Perran Clarke – with the support of his mentor Carla Jones – will be preparing a pre-dessert!
Perran won the Exmoor Young Chef competition earlier this year, and this is what judge Miguel Tenreiro, head chef at the Porlock Weir Hotel, had to say:
“Perran’s dish of chicken supreme, fondant potato and tarragon sauce showcasing Beech Ridge chicken particularly impressed me.”
Perran is now an apprentice at Seacliff Restaurant (Sandy Cove Hotel) where he works with head chef Carla Jones. By the way, we are delighted that the Seacliff Restaurant have signed up for the 2023 Exmoor Food Fest for the first time!
Carla Jones has been a chef for many years. She started in kitchens at the age of 14 working her way from potwash, moving to London at the age of 20 to complete a scholarship under Piere Koffman.
Carla loves a challenge and competed in Masterchef in 2018.
After settling in Devon 2 years ago and taking over Seacliff, Carla and her team have achieved 3 Rosettes and have gotten into the Michelin guide.
Perran Clarke is 16 years old and has been passionate about food for a long time.
He has competed in future chef competition and came second. And he won Exmoor Young Chef of the year. This September Perran competed in the Young Chef of the South West: “I enjoy working under Carla in Seacliff and have just started my apprenticeship with Petroc collage. I have a huge passion for food and am very lucky as a chef to work with amazing produce surrounding us.”
PS We have a handful of tickets left!
Our guests at next week’s Media Launch of the 2023 Exmoor Food Fest at Knowle Manor will be welcomed by a glass of gin or rum by
Exmoor Distillery :
Founded in 2017 Exmoor Distillery is a lifelong ambition of the founders John & Nicola. Sharing a taste for high-end spirits and with combined expertise in engineering and business. John and Nicola have established a distillery that has won some of the highest accolades in the industry.
John say’s “After sampling many of the world’s gins and rums on our travels, there was nothing that quite hit the spot, so we decided to produce our own. Our clients love our sprits and never fail to be impressed with the bursting natural flavour and unexpectedly smooth textures”.
The historic location of Dulverton, mentioned in the doomsday book, is the perfect setting to distil some of the world’s finest spirits. Due in part to the unique water source drawn by bore hole from the Exmoor Aquifer which is used in the fermentation, distillation and proofing of our spirits thus making our spirits truly unique.
The dinner on 12 October at Knowle Manor starts at 7 for 7.30pm. Here is the line-up of the award-winning chefs who will look after our guests:
Welcome Drinks
Exmoor Distillery
Amuse Bouche
Butlins Academy (Werner Hartholt with two of his students)
Starter
Anita-Clare Field (La Petite Bouchée, Witheridge)
supported by Nathan, Exmoor Young Chef runner-up
Fish
Miguel Tenreiro (Porlock Weir Hotel)
Meat
Martin Bayliss (New Coast Kitchen)
Pre-Dessert
Exmoor Young Chef competition winner Perran Clark with his mentor Carla Jones (Sandy Cove Hotel)
Dessert
Jade Shorney (Rising Sun, West Bagborough)
Tickets are £70.00 per person.
7 for 7.30 pm.
There are only a limited number of tickets available.
Wednesday night, the 2022 Exmoor Food Fest was officially launched at the Pyne Arms in East Down. Chef Ellis Pannell was joined in the kitchen by Olivier Certain (Masons Arms Knowstone), Paul Berry (The Swan, Bampton) and Donna Berry (Spelt, Bampton). Liam and Matt from the Old Bank in Lynton contributed the canapés.
Only two nights earlier, the three Exmoor pubs had made it into the Top25 Gastropubs of the UK – so there was even more reason to celebrate. The Swan had moved to up to Rank 25, the Michelin-starred Masons Arms came in at Rank 22, and the host of the launch, the Pyne Arms, had made it to Rank 17.
The launch night was an all-round success. People loved the food and the wine paring, the atmosphere was great, and the chefs’ efforts were applauded and appreciated.
Here are some examples of the feedback left by happy guests on social media:
Posted @withregram • @clare.anne.co
Contagious, beautiful passion.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Last night I attended an event locally to me. It was the launch of the @exmoorfoodfest hosted by @pynearms – the food, wine, atmosphere and company were all absolutely amazing, but there was one thing that stood out to me above all those things…⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
That thing was the passion! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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The passion of the chefs that took part in the event, and the way everybody in the room celebrated their passion. It was just amazing. 🥰⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Each chef came out and explained their dish with the diners, what they were making, why, and a little backstory about them, and everyone in the room paid complete attention as they spoke, then clapped with genuine admiration and appreciation at the end of each one. ⠀
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When someone is talking about their thing, their passion, their love, there is something so captivating and inspiring about it, and I couldn’t help but notice the link between that experience and the way we connect so much more with businesses whose passion and enthusiasm pours just like this. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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We can spend ages overthinking and trying to cleverly craft our message and marketing, but there is no more effective way to connect with your audience than to just speak with a genuine, raw passion for what you do. It doesn’t need to be glamourous or polished, it just needs to be real. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Thank you to all the chefs last night that made the evening so memorable, and for sharing your passion with us! 🤍⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Thank you to hosts Ellis and Amie Pannell, the chefs, the front of house staff, the suppliers and sponsors (shout-out to Wicked Wolf Gin!), and all the lovely people who came and enjoyed the night.
Here are some photos James Archibald took on the night:
We are delighted that the Exmoor Food Fest will be back in February 2022 – once again, visitors and locals will be able to eat their way across Exmoor!
Are you a restaurant on or around Exmoor? Then join us for a celebration of the best hospitality and outstanding chefs.
The Exmoor Food Fest starts on 1 February and runs throughout the month.
Are you looking forward to eating out on Exmoor? If you want to be kept up to date, then please sign up to our newsletter.
We hope you have all enjoyed eating your way across Exmoor in the past three weeks. But it’s not over yet!
You have one more week to try out new venues or revisit old favourites for their Exmoor Food Fest menus.
Next week there are also a number of special events which are worth checking out. And don’t forget the Taste Exmoor Food & Drink Fair at Porlock Village Hall on 29 February and 1 March where you can take locally produced goodies home.
27 February 2020
Best of Game
At the Anchor Inn, Hillfarrance
Somerset and Exmoor in particular is renowned for its Game produce. You will be welcomed with a complimentary drink, followed by a stunning three-course menu, featuring some fabulous dishes using local game produce.
£30.00 per person
Continue reading….
27 February 2020
An Evening of Wine & Tapas
At La Petite Bouchée, WitheridgeTake a tour of La Petite Bouchée’s wine list. Tracy Brock from Moorwine will be talking grapes, regions and terroir and we’ll be serving up a delicious smorgesboard of French Tapas. Start the evening with a glass of fizz, learn about wine, and win a
Dinner for Two at La Petite Bouchée.
£20.00 per person Continue reading….
28 February 2020
Exmoor Steak and Wine
At The Carlton, Ilfracombe
Exmoor Farmer Chris Lerwill will talk about his family’s traditional ways of farming while you tuck into some amazing beef, accompanied by a good glass of wine.
£17.50 per person Continue reading….
It’s that time of year again! If you are planning to go on a diet in February – forget it. The Exmoor Food Fest kicks off with a launch dinner at Kentisbury Grange on 28 January, and then it’s all go from 1 February for a whole month across Exmoor.
For the sixth year, restaurants across the region are celebrating the best our hospitality industry has to offer. Special deals for two and three courses invite people to try out new restaurants and new dishes. Many venues also have a special accommodation offer to allow customers to turn the evening out into a short holiday.
As a first in 2020, the learners from Foxes Hotel in Minehead will be joining in the fun of taking part in the Exmoor Food Fest.
Foxes Hotel is a very special hotel indeed. From the kitchen to the serving of the delicious food and the cleaning of the rooms, all jobs are being done by young people aged between 16 and 24 under the guidance of their teachers. Foxes is the UK’s only fully operating training hotel for young people with learning difficulties.
Foodie fans should also look out for special events. One event that is going to be quite different is the Winter Feast at Horner Farm on the Holnicote Estate on Exmoor. It will be rustic dinner in one of the barns, with a chance to try meat from Dexter cattle and sheep raised on the farm. This will be a unique experience where amazing food will be served at a very unusual location.
On the final weekend in February (29 Feb/1 March) a Taste Exmoor Food & Drink Festival beckons: Traders and local producers will be putting up their stalls at the Porlock Village hall. The Harbour Cafe & Gallery – who will also be offering special deals throughout February at their premises at Porlock Weir – will be running a cafe over this weekend, and there will be ample opportunity to try (and take home) lots of delicious food and drink from our region.
All participating restaurants will be revealed on the website www.exmoorfoodfest.com by the end of January 2020. Anyone wishing to plan their gourmet trip across Exmoor will be able to look up restaurants on a map and see what will be offered when and where.
(PS There is still time for restaurants and producers to sign up! Just drop us a line at info@exmoorevents.com and we’ll see what we can do for you)
