SEE GUS COOKING AT THE DARTINGTON FOOD FAIR: 28th MAY - 30th MAY
What better way to enjoy one of Devon's most beautiful and serene places
than a miniature food festival held right in the middle of it's stunning
grounds. Gus has been invited by Taste of the West to demonstrate alongside
some other great Devon chefs including Jane Baxter from the Riverford Field
Kitchen. There is also a cider marquee, a whole host of foodie exhibitors,
live music in the Upper Courtyard, walks through the estate and
plenty for the children to do. Please
click here for more
information.
Gus will be on stage between 1.30 & 2.30pm on Saturday 28th May.
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OUR NEXT BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO SMOKING & CURING
Join us for another fun and very informative 'Beginner's Guide to
Smoking & Curing at Home' at the beginning of July - the exact date
will be confirmed asap.
Angus will be providing recipes for smoking chicken, duck and pigeon, a
rough guide to curing salmon, talking through wet and dry cures as well as
the misconceptions and health considerations that surround smoking food at
home.
Rounding off the evening will be the chance to try a selection of The Holt's
delicious smoked and cured foods and the opportunity to ask plenty of
questions. Stay and enjoy a meal afterwards if you wish (booking advisable).
Tickets: £25.00 per head (to include a complimentary drink on arrival,
delicious samples throughout and recipes to take away.
Please call us on 01404 47707 to book. The evening starts at 5.00pm and
lasts approximately 2 hours.
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TOAST IN FULL BLOOM!
The gardens over at Toast are looking absolutely stunning at the moment.
Just up and over the road from us,
Kate & Beck's cake lovers heaven is getting very close to celebrating
its first year in business. With all this recent warm weather, the
cafe/patisserie couldn't have asked for a better start to the season and
the garden is looking fabulous as more and more things come into
flower. Well worth a detour if you are visiting Honiton for the day and the
perfect place to relax in (or out) of the sun. Cakes are also available to
take away.
Toast is open Monday to Saturday from 8.30am - 5.00pm and on Sundays from 9.30am
- 4.00pm.
For all enquiries please telephone 01404 598067.
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JAZZ NIGHT AT THE HOLT - 29th APRIL
This turned out to be the perfect way to wind down after the big royal
wedding. In the evening we were thrilled to welcome
the Jessie Mullins Quartet - Exeter's finest jazz quartet to the pub. A
good time was definitely had by all.
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7 CHEFS FOR 7 COURSES - A SPECIAL EVENING WITH MICHAEL CAINES & FRIENDS
- 27th APRIL
To help mark the start of this year's food festival, Gus was invited
for the second year running to join an exciting line up of the South West's
culinary stars at the Abode Exeter on Wednesday 27th April. They were each
asked to cook a special course for the pre-launch dinner with the aim of the
evening being to really showcase the South West's fantastic larder and the
skills of some of its leading chefs.
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THE BATON ARMY RATIONS DINNER
On Wednesday October 20th, we were proud to host an Army Ration Pack
inspired charity dinner in support of local Honiton charity ‘The Baton.’
We took our inspiration for the light-hearted six course meal from Army
cuisine, both past and present, and the ration packs of the 1940's. The
specially created military inspired dishes started with a baked egg served
with celeriac soldiers, then corned beef and bacon stovies with carrots &
peas, roasted pigeon & rabbit and to round the evening off, chocolate rice
pudding with soldier's doughnuts.
The Baton was established last year by Honiton Barber Alan Rowe and is there
to help support the UK's armed force's veterans as they integrate back into
society.
We also had three generations of the family together on the night including
Mum and Gran who is remarkable and still very spritely at 94 years of age.
We donated £600 from the evening’s proceeds to ‘The Baton’ and guests were
able to hear from Alan about the tremendous work the charity does for our
veterans.
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2010 GREAT TASTE AWARDS
Each of the three products we submitted into the prestigious Great Taste
Awards have all been awarded at least one gold star from a possible three.
Our Toasted Malt Ice Cream impressed the most winning two gold stars,
closely followed by our Truffle Honey and our Smoked Chilli & Tomato Pickle.
The awards are organised by the Guild of Fine Food and give consumers a
recognised mark of excellence underpinned by rigorous judging standards.
This year received the highest ever amount of entries but from the 6,017
products that were entered only 1,580 received either a one, two or three
star gold rating.
The esteemed judges included Chris Evans, Restaurant Critic Charles Campion,
Chef Mark Hix, Tom Parker Bowles and Nigel Barden so we were thrilled to
have done so well.
All of these products can be bought directly from The Holt together with the
rest of our ‘Smoking Jacket’ range of foods.
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TOAST IS NOW OPEN!
After many years working tirelessly away at The Holt, Kate and Becks
have decided to create a niche of their own in Honiton.
Housed within the beautifully decorated Yarrow Interiors, just up from the
pub, 'Toast' will serve patisserie inspired cakes, traditional English
cooking, ethically produced Fair Trade coffee and superb loose leaf teas.
As well as high teas and cream teas, there will be a daily changing cake
display featuring strawberry & custard tarts, a delicious selection of cup
cakes, cookies and sweet treats including a selection of homemade ice cream.
The more traditional fayre will predominantly be simple dishes done well:
Poached eggs on muffins served with air dried ham, Salad of mozzarella with
green and broad beans, peas and a basil dressing, Smoked mackerel and
cucumber relish, Heinz beans on hot buttered toast and also a daily changing
soup.
Now officially open, Kate had this to say: "Toast will be somewhere that
people will be able to come to for any number of reasons - lunch with mum,
an end of term treat, coffee or a really good hot chocolate with friends, a
special occasion or just somewhere to pick up a cake on the way back to
work.
The atmosphere will have a nice, calming, sanctuary feel to it - step
through the front door and you'll leave the world behind. We'll be baking
throughout the day so there will be some lovely aromas coming from the
kitchen. During the summer the long, enchanting garden is the perfect spot
to kick back with a big jug of homemade lemonade and just enjoy the sun."
Toast will be open Monday to Saturday from 8.30am - 5.00pm and on Sundays from 9.30am
- 4.00pm. For all enquiries please telephone 01404 598067.
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FOOD BLOGGING
We were pleased to welcome our first 'food blogger' to The Holt last
week! This is someone who is so passionate about food they take photos
during their meal and then write about it afterwards for their website.
Please
click here to read what Natalie thought about us.
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EXTREMELY LOCAL SALAD LEAVES
All our salad leaves at the moment are coming from between 5 and 6 miles
of the front door. Carolyn Bellinger at Oak Lodge is supplying the bulk but
we've also had the first delivery of leaves from mum up at the brewery. Her
new veggie garden with its raised beds and polytunnel is looking absolutely
fantastic. We can't wait for the courgettes, tomatoes and beans to start
coming down. Click here
for an interesting read.
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OFFICIALLY THE BEST IN THE SOUTH WEST!
On December 1st 2009 The Holt was awarded the overall title of ‘Best
Gastropub in the South West’ by Taste of the West in their annual
hospitality awards - an accolade we could never have dreamt of winning!
Judges comments ranged from “superb service, great style and very good food”
to “absolutely flawless” and “can't praise it enough.”