With our vineyards, coastline and breweries, it’s no surprise that we love a foodie tour here in Kent. So when we heard that Kent local Gregg Wallace (YES, the Gregg Wallace from Masterchef), had taken a foodie tour around the county by train for the newly released Southeastern Hop on Board podcast series, we had to take a listen!
Take a read of some of Gregg’s favourite foodie highlights and be sure to listen for yourself…oh, and don’t blame us if your mouth starts watering halfway through!
Hop on Board is available through your podcast app now, or visit https://hoponboard.lnk.to/podcast
Canterbury - The Goods Shed
Gregg’s first stop was Canterbury, where he hopped off the train at Canterbury West (under an hour from London St Pancras, don’t you know!). Now, there’s a lot to see in Canterbury, but Gregg didn’t make it more than 200 metres before he was tempted into his first location, The Goods Shed, and honestly, with this food hall and restaurant’s selection of fresh local produce, we get it!
Gregg got chatting with Jonathan Piggins, co-founder of Corkk Wines, and got to find out why Kent is known as one of the UK’s top wine producing regions, not to mention the fact that our soil and weather mirrors the Champagne region -not bad, eh? First Gregg sipped and gave the thumbs up to a Simpsons non-vintage classic cuvee, before moving on to the Heppington Pinot Noir Rose that was declared to be as good as wines sampled in Provence, before finishing off with the “yummy” Chartham Bacchus. So it’s safe to say we convinced Gregg with our wine-making prowess, so where to next?
Faversham - Shepherd Neame Brewery
Now, it’s a good job Gregg was travelling by train, because his next stop was market town Faversham and local brewery, Shepherd Neame. A few minutes’ walk and Gregg was stepping into Britain’s oldest brewery and getting straight down to the business of chatting about some of the brewery’s best with MD Jonathan Swaine. Here we learned that 80% of the hops Shepherd Neame brews with are grown in Kent and, most importantly, those very hops help flavour Gregg’s favourite Spitfire ale.
Gregg quickly stepped up to the pump and poured his very own pint, with a few pointers from Shepherd Neame’s Director of Brewing, Mark. Fancy taking a brewery tour for yourself? While we can’t guarantee a tutored pouring lesson from Mark when you visit, we can confirm you’ll get to hear all about Shepherd Neame’s long history of brewing, learn about the brewing process, and enjoy a tasting of some of their best brews.
Macknade
As any local knows, you can’t do a foodie tour of Kent without paying a visit to Macknade, so next Gregg walked the 15 minutes from Faversham station, to one of our favourite food halls. Here he met with CEO Stefano Cuomo, the 6th generation lead of the family business who talked about the importance of Macknade in being an outlet for Kent’s sensational seasonal produce. Stefano treated Gregg to a Kentish spread of some of our finest fayre…and because Gregg was catching the train, it only made sense to pair it with a little more Kentish wine too. Honestly, we’ve been dreaming of this combo since we heard about it; Ellie’s Dairy goat’s cheese fresh from Canterbury, paired with Canterbury honey and another glass of Kentish Bacchus – delish!
(c) @Tommorussell
Whitstable
Oh, you’d better believe that Gregg hopped straight on the train to Whitstable for his next stop, because who can resist those Whitstable oysters, especially when you find out Whitstable is just eight minutes direct from Faversham! On the train over, Gregg was waxing lyrical about this iconic seaside town that first drew him from London to Kent…the sea air, the quaintness of it, not to mention its ease of access from the capital.
From the Duke of Cumberland, to Wheelers Oyster Bar and Samphire, Gregg shared some of his favourite foodie haunts, before hitting the beach and heading straight to the Whitstable Oyster Company. And honestly, after Gregg’s description of these fresh oysters, we reckon even the nervous oyster newbies will be tempted in with these!
(c) @girl.aboutkent
Next up, fish and chips, and we were let in on a little secret as Gregg declared Ossie’s the only fish and chip shop, not only in Whitstable, but also on the South Coast as far as he’s concerned…yes, just listen for yourself! Crispy and fluffy chips, flaky fish, local ingredients…yeah, the salivation is pretty real now. Bonus tip, we even got to hear about how queuers at Ossie’s are given little tasters while they wait, all in the name of hospitality. Fish and chips on the beach can only be topped by a pint from a pub that’s literally right on the beach and a favourite for live music and locals, so Gregg finished off his delicious tour at the Old Neptune.
Hands up, who’s hungry? Once you’ve listened to Gregg’s tips for yourself, we can guarantee you’ll be needing to look up those train times, so be sure to download the Southeastern app and start planning your own foodie tour. And remember, as Gregg says, "wherever you go, eat where the locals go."
