insideKENT Magazine Issue 112 - August 2021 | Page 90

MACKNADE ASHFORD
ADVERTORIAL
MEET THE ELWICK PLACE BUSINESS :

MACKNADE ASHFORD

What is your brand story ?
Ciao ! I ’ m Mara and I ’ m the general manager at Macknade Ashford . I was born in Italy and have grown up with a passion for food and wine ; in fact , I ’ ve worked in the hospitality industry since I was 17 years old . I came over to London for a weekend , about 16 years ago and loved it – so much so , that I never left and had several roles in bars and restaurants , including an operations manager support for one of the biggest corporates in casual and fine dining . When I moved to Kent , I fell in love again . I enjoyed the local , community feel across the county . It reminded me of the village where I grew up in Northern Italy . That ’ s when I realised , I wanted to leave the corporate world behind and as luck would have it , that ’ s when I discovered Macknade . Now , here I am , in my dream job ! It ’ s an awesome building in a wonderful location and I am getting to know an entirely new community of people .
At Macknade we create spaces and experiences for communities to come together over a shared love of food and drink and our Ashford store follows this ethos . It ’ s been a tough time for everyone recently , but I ’ m super proud of how our team pulled together to keep offering our Ashford community a place where they can feel safe to pick up their Macknade goodies , enjoy takeaways and finally be able to join us for all day dining both inside and out . We ’ ve even managed to expand our store during the last year too !
Where did your inspiration come from ?
Macknade is , and always has been , a family run business . Originally a farm in Faversham , we have diversified over the years , but our brand has been synonymous with quality and community since 1847 . We ’ ve always been passionate about sustainability and seasonality and we love to bring producers and suppliers closer with our customers . There ’ s so many wonderful local producers in Kent , and to stay true to our Italian roots too , we also work with suppliers and growers in Europe and further afield .
Tell us about your new menu
I may be biased but I think our Ashford menu is fantastic ! It features all the classic Macknade brunch dishes , highlighting the quality and freshness of the produce we use . Crispy serrano and scrambled eggs is a perfect example of this , using fresh free range eggs from Woodland Farm in Chartham Hatch . We also have our plancha dishes that change daily and showcase the fine quality of our butchery selection .
What is your favourite dish and why ?
I have a savoury tooth and I love a little spice too , so for me , it ’ s got to be our ‘ Choripan ’ – the chorizo sausage is to die for , served in an original Italian Panuozzo ( pizza dough bun ) with a generous dollop of chimichurri . Buonissimo !
Do you have anything exciting coming up ?
We ’ re just putting the final details together for our evening service here , which will feature free corkage offers on a variety of our wines and we ’ ve also teamed up with Revelation arts & music venue on pre-show menus coming soon .
Tell us more about your cheese subscription !
So , every month , we ’ ll deliver the very best cheeses , handpicked by our talented cheesemongers , directly to your door ! There ’ s a different theme every month and you ’ ll get a minimum of four cheeses featuring a selection of hard , soft and blue varieties , made from cow , goat , sheep and / or buffalo milk . There ’ s also perfectly paired crackers and chutneys plus tasting notes too . It ’ s not just cheese we ’ re delivering monthly . We ’ ve also just launched our Kentish Beer Subscription and we ’ re looking at introducing wines and flowers to the scheme later on this year . Find out more at macknade . com .
Please visit the Elwick Place website for more information : www . elwickplace . com
90