STORY- FOOD & DRINK NEWS
FOOD + DRINK
VIBRANT NEW FOODHALLS UNVEILED AT DOBBIES’ STORES
Dobbies has unveiled a vibrant new cottage kitchen garden style foodhall at its Ashford and Gillingham stores with a further 47 stores planning to transform their food halls in the coming weeks, offering customers the opportunity to discover and celebrate great food. insideKENT JOINS JUDGING PANEL FOR FUDGE KITCHEN’ S ANNUAL COMPETITION
Fudge Kitchen have unveiled a brand-new fudge flavour for 2026, following their highly anticipated New Year, New Flavour competition, for which insideKENT’ s very own features writer, Mia Chapman, joined fellow guest experts to crown the winner.
Now an annual highlight in the Fudge Kitchen calendar, the competition gives six of the brand’ s high-street shops the chance to create flavour-led, seasonal, limitededition fudges that could be released throughout the year. In total, 12 flavours were entered including Mulled Cider, Candy Cane, Strawberry Rose, Pistachio Cream, Tiramisu, Cherry Lemonade and Peaches & Cream.
An esteemed judging panel was made up of Fudge Kitchen staff, experienced fudge makers and four guest experts which, alongside insideKENT’ s Mia, included Annabelle Cox, owner and creator of Dunk Cookies, Robin Newall, head of sales at Simply Ice Cream, and Bethan Grylls, editor at Food Manufacture.
After a full morning of tasting and debating, Strawberry Rose, created by the team at Fudge Kitchen Windsor, was crowned the overall winner of the competition.“ We’ re so excited to have won,” shared the Windsor team.“ Strawberry Rose was all about balance- something elegant, seasonal and celebratory- and to see it tick so many boxes for the judges is exactly what we were hoping for!”
York’ s Pistachio Cream and Windsor’ s Candy Cane flavours ranked joint second place, with Bath’ s Mulled Cider taking a close third place spot.
NUMBER EIGHT, SEVENOAKS, HOSTS SPRING GUEST CHEF DINNER
By listening to feedback from the local community, new ways were identified to improve both the food range and the overall shopping experience, aligning with Dobbies’ commitment to investing in their stores and responding to the needs of their customers.
“ We’ ve been working hard on the new format that’ s inspired by a cottage kitchen garden and brings together essentials, treats and seasonal variety through a range of both popular and new brands,” said general manager, Mark Becker.“ We’ re excited to welcome customers in to see the new ranges and try them for themselves.”
The new food halls will have their own butcher’ s counter, in-house bakery and more than 2,000 products on offer including sweet treats, frozen food, a selection of cheeses, deli meats and an expanded gift range.
To celebrate the new openings, a host of introductory offers including 30 % off Farmhouse biscuits and Belgid’ Or chocolates, and 20 % off Coolmore cakes, as well as favourite brands like Fever Tree and Savoursmiths, available until 31 March 2026.
Number Eight, Sevenoaks, will host a spring guest chef dinner with owner-chef Stuart Gillies, cooking alongside Erion Karaj, executive chef of The Groucho Club, London. The menu takes inspiration from Karaj’ s Italian and Albanian roots, alongside Gilles’ s early years in Rome, where he cooked at the Lord Byron Hotel in the two Michelin star restaurant, Relais Le Jardin.
The one-night-only dinner on Wednesday 4 March will celebrate responsibility sourced local and artisan produce, cooked with precision and respect for provenance. The specially curated menu will showcase the bounty of Kent alongside traditional Italian flavours.
The dinner marks a reunion between Gillies and Karaj, whose professional relationship began in 2005 at Gordon Ramsay’ s Boxwood Café, where Karaj joined the kitchen as chef de partie under Gilles’ s leadership as chef patron.
Originally from Albania, Karaj’ s cooking is grounded in classic Italian artisan traditions, a foundation that continues to shape his approach in the kitchen, while Gilles, owner of Number Eight, brings over 30 years of experience from some of the world’ s most respected restaurants into his own kitchen to champion local sourcing, seasonality and ingredients-led cooking.
This spring guest chef dinner promises a thoughtful, memorable evening, celebrating the shared history of two esteemed chefs, kitchen stories, seasonal cooking and the very best of Kent produce. www. insidekent. co. uk • 97