Eats and treats in Rye

Take advantage of all the tasty delights Rye has to offer. Visit a renowned scallop festival, buy organic produce from a farm shop and enjoy fresh local seafood at a newly refurbished beachside hotel.

Rye Bay Scallop Festival

Every February four storeys of Webbe’s listed Edwardian warehouse in Rye is dedicated to the appreciation of the famous local scallops, which are in peak season.

Chef proprietor Paul Webbe leads hands-on scallop cookery days, lunches and lessons for Rye College students who participate in a scallop sauce competition. The taster menu at the restaurant is a highlight of the event.
Call 01797 222226 or visit ryebayscallops.co.uk to find out more.

ABOVE: Paul Webbe’s Scallop School is the epicentre of the Rye Bay Scallop Festival in February.

Winchelsea Farm Kitchen

This combined butcher, gourmet delicatessen, wine shop and garden café in Winchelsea is a great local asset. Its owner’s farm in the village provides it with organic meat and all the food and wine is sourced from specialist producers. Savour home-made cakes, Kentish artisan cheeses, handmade ice cream, apple juice or cobnut fudge. Johnny Williams who runs this, plus a new shop at the premises of former Ashbee’s butcher in Rye, says, ‘We aim to serve home-cooked food using all our own ingredients sourced within 10 miles of Rye.’
Call 01797 226287 or visit winchelseafarmfoods.com to find out more.

The Gallivant, Camber

On the road to Camber, look out for the Gallivant Hotel and Beach Bistro, which has recently undergone a refreshing revamp. Decorated in New England style with bleached wood tables, driftwood framed mirrors and indigo walls, it is located just yards from the sea and is fittingly relaxed, serving a selection of local seafood with impeccable courtesy, such as whole Rye Bay plaice with crab and chilli butter.

The 18 rooms next door continue the nautical theme and its cookery school – which involves a visit to a farm or fisherman, watching a food demonstration and eating the finished dish – is under the expert tutelage of head chef Trevor Hambley, who worked with Marco Pierre White in London
Call 01797 225057 or visit thegallivanthotel.com.

ABOVE: Taste the freshest fish at the Gallivant Hotel’s Beach Bistro at Camber Sands.

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WORDS JOANNA WILCOX PHOTOGRAPHS BARRY YATES; DUNCAN.CALLOW@ALEXANDRAPATRICK.CO.UK
Featured in the February 2012 issue of Period Living