FOOD & BEVERAGES
DINE
Designed by native South African Executive Chef Jean Delport ( only the second SA chef to be awarded a star ), Michelin-starred Restaurant Interlude offers guests a seasonal multi-course tasting menu and the ambience of an intimate dinner party within the estate ’ s Italianate mansion .
Interlude ’ s tasting menu takes you on a breathtaking and unexpected gastronomic journey through the flavours and textures of the woodland gardens at Leonardslee using ingredients foraged , cultivated and grown on the estate , or local farms . With its South African influences , the seasonally changing menu – of up to 21 courses – features dishes such as bracken fiddleheads , pine and burnt butter ; brown choux with dandelion and hazelnut ; rabbit eats carrot ; middle white pork with lobster and wild garlic ; estate deer , skilpadjies and juniper , and Leonardslee honey , salted caramel and whisky .
Curated by Head Sommelier Ndosi Gumede the fine-dining restaurant also features award-winning wines from owner Penny Streeter ’ s family-run South African vineyard , Benguela Cove Lagoon Wine Estate in Hermanus .
Other gastronomic offerings include a range of indulgent afternoon teas – creatively prepared by the Michelin-starred kitchen – bespoke picnics to enjoy in the gardens , in-depth tutored wine tastings and educational tours on English wine-growing around the 3.1-acre pinotage vineyard . England ’ s first pinotage vineyard , planted at Leonardslee in 2018 , will release its first English wine next year .
Restaurant Interlude Sample Menu £ 145 per person , www . restaurant-interlude . co . uk
Afternoon Tea www . leonardsleegardens . co . uk / afternoon-tea-at-leonardslee-house
- 12 -