insideKENT Magazine Issue 39 - June 2015 | Page 103

DAYSOUT

Golden Ticket for Father’s Day
Sunday 21st June

It is said 'the way to a man's heart is through his stomach', so with that
in mind, we set Vikki Rimmer the challenge of producing a golden
ticket for a foodie Father’s Day treat.
If the saying is true, the first stop on our foodie Father’s Day trip has to be
Biddenden Vineyard in the Weald. Visitors to Kent’s oldest commercial
vineyard can sample award-winning ciders, wines and apple juice for free
in the morning on Father’s Day. Tours of the 23-acre vineyard begin at
10.30am and 11.30am on Sunday 21st June, and pre-booking is essential.

After tickling dad’s chocolate fancy at Temper Temper, a trip to see Charlie
and the Chocolate Factory in the West End really is the golden ticket this
Father’s Day. Roald Dahl's dark tale of Charlie Bucket and the mysterious
confectioner, Willy Wonka, is vividly brought to life at The Theatre Royal,
Drury Lane, in a musical directed by Academy Award-winner, Sam Mendes.
The moral fable, set to a score by Marc Shaiman, is stunningly delivered
in technicolour thanks to Mark Thompson’s sets, which are enough to make
dad choke on his everlasting gobstopper.
The first half of the musical is set within Charlie Bucket’s home and centres
around his search for the golden ticket. The audience is introduced to the
larger-than-life Augustus Gloop, Veruca Salt, Violet Beauregarde and Mike
Teevee via a series of exuberant set pieces, encapsulated in a giant television
set suspended above the Bucket’s family home.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
© Johan Persson

Biddenden Vineyards

Coolings Green and Pleasant

Following a free wine and cider
tasting, a quick hop across the
Weald to Coolings Green and
Pleasant in Knockholt provides
a wonderfully child-friendly
setting in which to enjoy a meal
designed with dads in mind.
Coolings Green and Pleasant,
close to Sevenoaks, is home to
a nature trail featuring the largest
colony of wallabies in Kent. The
Father’s Day menu (served on
Sunday 21st June) offers blokey
beef, beer-battered cod or lamb
kofta burgers, and apple pie for
dessert.

A carnival of music delights the senses as the second half delivers the moral
of the story fr om Willy Wonka’s scrumptious factory. The Oomph Loompas
drive the big musical numbers and provide the standout moment for many
dads who can still remember the 90s, as they ‘rave’ across the stage while
Mike Teevee shrinks to miniature.

Traditionally, Father's Day is for all the male members of the family, and in
honour of the greatest confectioner in literature – Willy Wonka – our next
stop on the foodie Father’s Day calendar is a real-life chocolate factory in
Kent. Temper Temper, as seen on BBC One's The Apprentice, hosts
chocolate-making parties and workshops at its delicious factory in
Southborough, close to Tunbridge Wells. Chocoholics can enjoy a special
Father’s Day workshop costing £15 per person. Grandpas are made to feel
welcome and encouraged to make chocolate lollipops, florentines and even
a chocolate basket to carry the goodies home, or take on the train to a funfilled food theatre experience.

We are lucky in the Garden of England to have so many fine foodie venues,
including vineyards on our doorstep at which to spoil dad, yet we're equally
lucky to be within an hour of the West End where we can sample some of
the world’s best theatre shows. But be warned this Father’s Day, and
remember the wise words of Mr Willy Wonka himself:
"Don’t forget what happened to the man who suddenly got everything
he wanted."
Charlie Bucket: "What happened?"
Mr Wonka: "He lived happily ever after.”
Biddenden Vineyard – www.biddendenvineyards.com
/ 01580 291726 (pre-book)
Coolings Green and Pleasant – www.coolings.co.uk/green-andpleasant / 01959 534386 (pre-book)
Temper Temper – www.tempertemperchocolate.co.uk
/ 01892 538 758
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory –
www.charlieandthechocolatefactory.com
(tickets available online from £25 upwards)

Temper Temper

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