A restaurateur dream team ensures this elegant Kentish restaurant with rooms is a delicious success

'I get asked about the paint colours a lot,’ says Updown’s friendly hotel manager as she shows us around the nooks and crannies of the farmhouse. She’s as knowledgeable about the soft furnishings – and how I can recreate the electric orange library – as she is the history of this family-run hotel: ‘I’ve got a list of Pantones if you’d like them?’ Updown Farmhouse is one of those effortlessly classy hotels. It draws you close with its plush sofas and welcome nibbles, then knocks your socks off with exceptional food and attention to detail. The down-to-earth vibe is an expression of its owners’ generosity and years of experience in the industry.

Ruth Leigh and Oli Brown are a restaurateur dream team: Oli was chef-founder of Duck Duck Goose, a Cantonese restaurant in London, and worked with industry legend Rowley Leigh at Le Café Anglais in the capital, while Ruth has run impeccable front of house for restaurants by chefs Stevie Parle and Henry Harris. Updown pulls off old-world touches – such as wellies by the back door and rambling roses in the garden – juxtaposed with bold colourways and modern art. Ruth and Oli live on-site, and they restored the Grade II-listed 17th-century farmhouse from scratch. You can feel the love in every room.

We stayed in the Gatehouse, a small converted barn hidden behind ornamental fruit trees and wildflowers. I felt a pang of missing our daughter when I saw the cute, nautical-style bunk beds in the family suite – then swiftly decided it was for the best when my husband offered me a fig leaf negroni from the mini bar. We were celebrating our anniversary with an overnight stay. Nature creeps into every aspect of the Updown eating experience. Vines spread across the rafters of the indoor-outdoor dining room and greenery sprouts from the brickwork, while Oli’s hyper-seasonal menu draws on Updown’s kitchen garden along with local produce. Everything is cooked over wood in the theatrical open kitchen. 

With just three starters, mains, and one pudding, the menu was a lesson in brevity and brilliance. We started with squid-ink tagliatelle tumbling around tiny shrimp, succulent mussels and a will-anyone-see-me- lick-this-off-the-plate sauce. Another small plate had a satisfying balance of soft stracciatella cheese draped with roasted peppers, salty anchovies and aromatic flecks of rosemary.

The main course was a handsome grilled sirloin of beef, tender borlotti beans and a peppy sauce with horseradish, tarragon and a confident splash of vinegar. Oli’s cooking looks effortless, but each ingredient lends unexpected flavour or texture – such as the fresh peas, apple and fennel, which elevated grilled butterflied mackerel with an early-summer lightness. We finished with a triumphant lemon tart, which left us both speechless. The alluring wobble of the yolk-yellow zesty filling was underscored with pitch-perfect brown butter pastry. I wonder if they can give me the Pantone for that?