Over the River...

It was BETTER than going to Grandma's house. This was easily the best meal I've ever had in England. The food? Organic, local, seasonal, sustainable, ethical AND tasty. The place? Riverford Farm's Kitchen near Totnes in Devon, England. The meal? The Sunday single seating luncheon.

The sun was smiling and the day was unseasonably warm enough to eat at shared picnic tables inside with all of the doors flung open wide. (Thank you Lesley for the choice of dining. It was so much more than I expected or imagined.) I've known about Riverford Farms since Lesley Childs, my sister-in-law, moved to Denbury village many years ago. What started as a local farm shop has blossomed into a thoughtful business that now runs four local farm shops, delivers door-to-door meat and veg boxes, provides local dairy and eggs, meats, bakery breads, produce and a whole range of food products on a local, organic, sustainable scale radiating from 5 sister farms throughout England.

It all began with our wander from the car park past the trellised plum trees and vegetable plots to the Kitchen. We found a buzz of industry in the courtyard with a local cider pressing in full swing lead by the infamous John Watson, patriarch and founder of Riverford Farms (far left).

We chatted and observed the cider pressing over a glass of Borsao before meandering in to meet our dining companions to be. We passed the above menu board announcing all of the asterisked items as being Riverford Farm grown. There were already rumblings of the famed dessert buffet at the end of the meal.

The lamb was local, succulent, perfectly cooked, and happily made up about 15% of the meal. The rest of it was comprised of a wildly varied and interesting preparation of extremely tasty vegetables. I'm LOVING that menu ratio. Strangers as well as family members all succumbed to the heady goodness of the meal and emerged as friends. It was truly a convivial bonding experience that's as close to having an intimate meal at home with friends as you can get eating out. My only critique is that I would have liked more of a raw or fermented element in the mix. That aside, all the flavors danced and melded together like orchestral music.

What heartens me most is to see that even after such an expansive growth of business, Riverford Farms still maintains that small farm integrity. Quality and service do not have to suffer from success and growth. It can be done.