Terms & Conditions of Business and General Policies & Information
Liability absolute limitation: We accept no liability whatsoever for guests, children of guests, visitors, your possessions or your vehicles and you accept that when you book with us and when you visit our restaurant or garden or premises. The gates are electrically locked when all booked guests have arrived, so your vehicles should be secure.
Booking: by booking with us you are deemed to have accepted these Terms & Conditions of business in full.
Guest Numbers: We usually limit reservations to 14 for daily service but with a slightly simpler menu can serve up to 24 by arrangement.
Deposits: We require a reservation deposit of at least £35 per person on booking or £50 per person if within a week of your dining date. There are two reasons for this: it gives us assurance that you are serious about coming to dine with us and discourages the unfortunate practice of a few people who book multiple restaurants then cancel some at short notice, and more importantly for us we order premium ingredients well in advance and we always pay our suppliers immediately. The deposit system means we have assurance on guest numbers and helps us to keep our prices reasonable for our superb experience, and we back this up by having pre-ordered menus which achieve almost zero food waste as we know exactly what we will be cooking for you. Deposits are not refundable unless we can re-sell the table for the same number of places (or more) on that day, which we try to do - though it is near impossible if you cancel on the day. Cancellations within a week of the reservation date are not refundable unless we are able to sell your places to people on our waiting list. Deposits are not refundable in any case if we have bought or made special produce that you have requested, such as cakes or special vegan dishes, or for a bespoke menu agreed for your group booking. Often we need to order special ingredients - such as wild boar or fallow deer - several weeks in advance for bespoke menus and in such cases deposits are not refundable.
Deposit expiry: Where we allow a deposit to carry over to a future date, then that deposit must be used up within 1 calendar year of the date the deposit was made. It can be put towards the cost of the current menu when you eventually eat with us - it does not secure the original price when you first booked (menu prices change depending on the ingredients etc). Deposits are not transferable or marketable. We do not allow diners or booking operators to secure future dates and then offer them for sale to others.
Discretion: Business friendly, private and discreet.100% friendly and discreet for LGBTQ+ too.
Allergies: see separate web site link please. This is on the button on the Book page.
Service: 12.5% is added to your total bill as a fixed service charge. It is not discretionary or optional, but part of our cost structure. If you have any issue with quality of service, please tell us straight away during your meal and we'll try our best to put matters right. Service charges are shared in full fairly with the team. If anything is even slightly wrong, please tell us straight away as soon as you are served or taste, and we'll fix it somehow as we really want you to be happy, full and content.
Sustainable: Yes. It's not just buzzwords for the media. No ultra-processed food. We buy only what we need for bookings we have and we buy everything fresh apart from dry store cupboard goods. We ask you to make advance selections from our menu choices and in that way you help us to achieve near total sustainability as we only harvest, buy and cook exactly what we need. We don't waste produce. No landfill. We recycle properly and ethically. All food waste goes into our hot composter system of three bins plus a compost heap and eventually grows your vegetables & herbs. Wine leftovers (rare) make vinegar or sauces and stocks. We grow a lot of herbs, vegetables, salads and fruit in our large kitchen garden and glasshouses. Single use plastics are minimised, as are food miles. We self collect a lot of produce using a low impact electric car.
Produce: We source the best. We're open about where it comes from: we know the best local butchers, farmers and fishers personally. We grow a lot. We don't cut corners on quality and sustainability. We pay our suppliers immediately. We are fully organic and high welfare.
Wine: Our Chef Patron is licensed to sell retail wines etc. This is separate to the food business but usually billed together. We have an extensive wine list of both accessible and very fine wines and champagnes, and also use the superb Coravin system that enables us to serve some fine wines and wine flights by the glass without removing the cork. Please enquire. We specialise in German and French wines mainly, though we carry a selection from various countries. Chef may taste a very small quantity of any wine that we serve on the premises to check that the wine is not tainted or corked. If you are offered wine to taste, that is to check for taint, not whether you like it or not.
Corkage: We allow bring your own (BYO) but in order for it to be economic for us as a restaurant business selling food & wine we charge corkage and also require that you buy some wine from us - at least one bottle for every two BYO 75cl. Zero alcohol wines do not fulfil this requirement though dessert half bottles do, as do half bottles of champagne and English sparkling. We do not permit BYO for wines that are also on our own wine list so please check with us if you plan to bring your own wines. We can send you by PDF, though strictly not for publication anywhere, our frequently changing up to date list on request when you confirm your booking and have paid your deposit. Corkage £25 per 75cl still or half bottle, £40 per magnum, £30 per sparkling 75cl and £50 per sparkling magnum, plus service. Includes fine Riedel stemware – which must be used indoors only and not taken into the garden. We do not allow BYO beer, cider, spirits, minerals or soft drinks. If you want BYO wines chilled you may deliver them in advance by arrangement. We can aerate your young wines, filter & decant fine and aged wines requiring special handling: fines / sediment removal in advance £10. Service charge of 12.5% applies to all BYO. We may at our sole option and discretion slightly vary BYO policies for frequent guests bringing groups of at least 10, and sometimes for wine societies who bring interesting fine wines that we can also taste - please discuss with us in advance.
Times: Gates open for pre-dinner drinks at 6.45pm unless prearranged otherwise & food service usually starts promptly at 7.30pm. We close fully at 11pm though are not super strict on this for regular guests. Gates open for lunch drinks at 12.15pm and lunch service begins promptly at 1pm unless otherwise arranged. Lunch usually closes at 4.30pm. If you're going to be late, please call us asap on 07463 897435 to let us know. You might miss a course, though we will try to catch you up, but you'll still have a great time and be well fed. Timings can be flexible for full room bookings.
Tables: 3 or 4 large rectangular 6 to 8 seat and sometimes one oval 4 seat indoors, and 3 more outdoors in summer. The oldest is from the Henry VIII early 1500's era so you'll get a slice of ancient history with your meal. Seating is casual and sometimes mixed so you may meet new friends (especially at couples evenings), but we can generally do whatever you want. There is no dress code but we do like guests to dress nicely. We can combine 2 tables to seat a single group of circa 14/15 (depending on how cosy you are willing to be).
Garden group visits: we can serve light 2 or 3 course lunches for up to 24 people indoors and 30 if the weather is fine enabling us to use outside tables. This is a simpler menu. Prices start at £24 for two simple courses, plus service. This menu is only available for pre-booked garden group visits and the minimum group size is 10. All garden visitors are asked to make a charitable contribution of £10 per person to visit the garden. If you are a garden group smaller than 10, that is fine but our minimum charitable donation is £100 for the group. We support the Whitechapel Charity that feeds homeless people, where we also volunteer sometimes. Picnics are not allowed. We do not allow Bring Your Own drinks for garden groups.
Teaching: Courses for small groups: skills people struggle with such as sauces, pasta, baking, knife skills & sharpening, plating, etc. Please enquire.
Payment: We use MyPOS for credit & debit cards, cash & BACS. Sum Up as a back up system. All bookings require a deposit. Sorry we do not take American Express or Diners Club cards.
Guests: We reserve the right to refuse or terminate admission or service to anyone at any time, including during service, and kindly ask our guests to behave with courtesy.
Children: We are very happy to welcome children over 5 as long as this is pre-arranged with us on booking please. We do accept younger children and babies at our sole discretion by prior arrangement, but they must be well behaved. We do not have formal baby change facilities but can find a solution for new mums who eat with us. We can discuss child portions of course, but we don't have a children's menu as such or children's prices: as our food is focussed on adult guests. Because we are a chef's table set up, where guests are close to the action - which means hot things and sharp knives - we need children always to stay seated at the table please and we do not permit felt tip pens etc as cleaning furniture is expensive! The ornamental Japanese garden has a number of deep fish ponds, open bridges and stepping stones, hence for safety reasons we do not allow children anywhere in the garden unless accompanied by an adult at all times. There is no play area and children must not go on the raised banks or canal boardwalk. We only have a small team and so also require a parent or adult to take pre-teen children to and from the lavatory please. Pre-teen children are not allowed stemware - again for safety reasons as we use delicate and expensive Riedel glassware. Children are not permitted alcohol by law. For teenagers permitted by law to drink wine, this must be ordered and paid for by a responsible adult who is present.
Open kitchen: For safety and security reasons no guests are permitted behind the island / pass or in the larder / chiller / prep room, laundry, office or cellar or anywhere upstairs.
Menu changes: Menus may change without notice, even when pre-agreed or bespoke, due to produce availability, produce quality, because we've sold out (eg wine) or the chef thinks something is better that day and your booking is always on this basis and you by booking are deemed to accept this. For example: it occasionally happens with fresh fish as despite having the very best suppliers, both we and they are in the hands of the weather and what the boats catch. Seasonal produce like local wild mushrooms or asparagus or truffles can have erratic supply too. Price supplements given on our web site are a guide only as market prices can be volatile.
Menu substitutions: we do not permit guests to substitute menu items or swap or substitute courses, because we have a set menu offering at a set price, usually with some options and possibly supplements. Any guest may opt not to have a course served if you wish but this will not change the set menu price. Our primary offering is a four to five course menu with a cheese course as an addition at a supplement. We source fine local cheeses in perfect condition and plate them individually or put them on a sharing board or plate - quality artisan cheese is very expensive and we obviously have to buy it in - in fact we drive to Canterbury to collect it from the artisan maker, so we do not substitute a cheese course for a dessert without a supplement. The dessert is being made anyway so we do not save anything. We also make some organic unpasteurised cheese ourselves. We can also do ten course tasting menus and matched wine flights.
Cakes & food brought by guests: We do allow guests to bring cakes for special occasions for which we charge a minimum of £25 per cake plus service to cover the costs of plating, service and washing up. We can also make cakes for you or have our very creative specialist local cake maker do so, for example for a wedding celebration. We do not allow any other food to be brought to our restaurant or garden by guests, including food or drinks for children (except babies). Based on experience we would gently suggest that when guests bring cakes in, very little, if any, tends to be eaten.
Parking: Free and plentiful. Behind locked security gates & largely hidden from the road. Private CCTV may be in use. All parking is at your own risk - we accept no responsibility or liability for you, your vehicles or your belongings whatsoever.
Smoking: the law requires that we prohibit smoking in the restaurant or anywhere indoors. However, you may smoke outside if you are considerate to other guests and the property. We will provide an ash tray. We do not allow access to the Koi pond terrace in winter or when it is wet, because it can be very slippery on the oak boards. However, in such cases we can allow access to the north side of the building externally.
Japanese Garden: booking the restaurant does not give automatic access to the Japanese Garden, though we may permit it at your risk due to deep ponds, unguarded bridges and trip hazards typical of a Japanese garden style. Guests are never allowed in our kitchen garden or orchards.
Take away "doggy bags": We do not do this as we cannot control how food is handled or stored once it leaves our premises and we do not have take away boxes. This is a food safety issue. If you consume part of a bottle of wine (not decanted - as the bottle will be disposed of immediately) we can on request re-cork it and you may take it away, but we do not guarantee quality or condition after you take the bottle away.
Disabled guests: always most welcome of course, though access to the lavatory may be difficult especially for wheelchairs and mobility scooters due to numerous steps & narrow doors in this ancient tithe barn. We will assist where possible. If you have particular requirements or needs please discuss with us in advance.
Dogs: limited to registered guide dogs / registered assistance dogs on a lead by your seat please at all times. As an open kitchen, loose pets risk our FSA 5 star hygiene standing and so are unfortunately not allowed even though we love dogs. Sorry, dogs are never allowed for garden visits.
Closing time: Dinner service ends at 11pm, which is our closing time, unless by prior arrangement or on New Years Eve. Lunch service ends at 4pm and we fully close at 4.30pm for lunch. This is variable at our discretion by prior arrangement, especially for large groups and our valued returning guests.
Taxis: we can recommend (without any liability) a local taxi service who frequently bring and collect guests from us. Please speak to Silke. If you want to sample our wines, then taxis are a good idea.