Suffolk’s only Pop Up Restaurant in our Holiday Cottages!
Well, where to start? The last weekend of February 2014 saw our 3rd Pop Up Restaurant; by far our most successful to date. And we’ve now topped it! Over the weekend of November 7th, 8th & 9th 2014 we served a mouth-watering 7 course tasting menu to a whole load of very happy diners.
The recipe? Take one Michelin Star trained Chef and add 60 hungry foodies to the comfort and relaxed surroundings of a 500 year old thatched Holiday Cottage farmhouse. Stir in a dollop of informality, wave them off and then sleep! 
When we announced the date for this one to our holiday cottage guests we sold all six of our barns outand then thanks to the fabulous e-newsletter and Magazine ‘Aboutfram’ we had lots of local people coming to join them, many of whom were returning from the last one! Check out Aboutfram’s website. For the uninitiated, the concept is that we host Suffolk’s first Pop Up Restaurant, with Michelin Star trained Chef Mark Peters. All in the setting of our beautiful 500 year old thatched farmhouse.
(Photo courtesy of Tony Bell Photography)
To keep the price down and to keep it nice and relaxed it’s a bring your own drinks deal, with NO corkage charge! This is what the diners enjoyed this time;
Canapes & Bucks Fizz
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Amuse Bouche of Suffolk Blue Cheese, Smoked Pancetta and Red Thai Basil
(All the Cheese again courtesy of the award-winning Earsham Street Deli in Bungay)
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Chilled Green Tomato Soup, Heritage Tomato Salad and Ewes Yoghurt Panacotta
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Cep Smoked Dover Sole, Crispy Radish Salad and Glazed Crayfish
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Lime Sorbet with Elderflower Jelly
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Duck Breast, Soba Noodles, Pea Puree’ and a Soy Foam
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Mini Pear & Thyme Crumble, Toffee Apple Ice Cream and Blue Nasturtium
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A selection of Suffolk Cheeses, courtesy of our friends from the
Earsham Street Deli, Bungay
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Freshly Ground Coffee and Truffles
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We have had people coming back for more and bringing friends with them so we must be doing something right. We could tell you how amazing it was but it’s probably time to hand it over to our diners. This is what some of them had to say:
“Our 5th visit to Woodfarm Barns to enjoy 7 courses of outstanding food. Carl, your vision of making guests feel so welcome and offering another dimension to their stay never ceases to amaze us. The meal is a must and please let us know when the next one is” – Neil & Sarah
“Had a great weekend, topped off by the Pop Up Restaurant. Great food! Full of fresh produce of good quality. Thanks Carl & Mark for a wonderful time!” Colin & Sheila
“Thank you once again for a wonderful peaceful break to recharge our batteries and eat wonderful food cooked by Mark at the Pop Up Restaurant. We are slowly trying all the barns!” – Fran & Mark
“Our 6th visit to Woodfarm Barns and another Pop Up Restaurant. As always, so very enjoyable. Mark’s food is superb – delicate dishes, beautifully presented. A work of art! Carls welcome never fails and he always treats people like long lost friends” – Jenny & Derek
“Thank you for a lovely evening, the food was delicious. I loved some of your combinations; duck perfect and panacotta – yum-yum” – Angela “Six of us came for the evening and it was one of the best dining experiences of my life! Amazing venue & food! I will be back ASAP. Thank you guys” – Adam, Layla, Jon, Alex, Dave & Nic. X “Great to be back again and we have eaten so well – as ever. Thank you” – Chris & Caroline “An amazing achievement, great variety, very good quality and a fantastic venue. Really enjoyed the experience” – Steve and Lesley ” Another wonderful evening with food to match. Congratulations!!!” – Colin & Sheila “Superb and exciting food – great F.o H and home. We will be back” – Val & crew “What to say! Great food & great atmosphere. When do we come back?” – Rupert and Felicity “What a wonderful surprise this meal was! A real delight. We are a party of 8 to celebrate a birthday and what delicious food we enjoyed. Thank you so much. Varied, interesting, innovative, our vegetarian friend was equally catered for. I would love to think that I will get the chance to enjoy your food again soon. Congratulations to all your team. It’s a winning formula” – Sarah “Amazing food. Amazing day. Highly recommended. Much enjoyed, delicious food!” “Lovely food, great service, lovely waiter/ waitress (haha, that’ll be me and my daughter! – Carl). A lovely personal touch for a 70th birthday. Very special” – Josh “Keep up the good work!” – Erin “Great food, so relaxed and enjoyable. Great service. Great combination. A huge success! Will hope to see you again soon” – Charlie and David
The emphasis was on the ‘Pop’ as one chap plucked up the courage and ‘Popped’ the question before joining the Pop Up in the evening. Luckily she said yes so they had a fabulous celebration with us on Saturday night!
So, the next one? It’ll be dinner on Friday 27th and Saturday 28th February and Sunday lunch on the 1st March. If you don’t want to miss out you’d better secure your table now by emailing me for a priority booking – carl@woodfarmbarns.com
We have no idea what the menu will be yet as Mark looks at the best seasonal local products at the time. We will produce it in advance though. What we can tell you is that it will be at least 6 courses again and will be just as delicious as the first 4 events! A blurry pic of ‘Team Pop Up’ at the end of a very tiring three days! Massive thanks to my Chef buddy Mark Peters for coming up with the idea and sharing it with me here at Woodfarm and to the fab team of Anne, James and Lauren
(Photo courtesy of Tony Bell Photography) So, we will again be serving a mouth watering seven course tasting menu for just £65 per head. Hardly Michelin Star prices! Hope we see you on the next one….. Some diners this time actually booked the Sunday to Friday break instead and came early to attend the Sunday lunch. Please let us know if you’d like to do this as an alternative to the weekend break To book for the next one or just have a chat about the concept, just email or phone either of us:
carl@woodfarmbarns.com 07810 371218
mark@justimaginefoods.com 07974 197430
We have a couple of our gorgeous barns available at the moment for a two night stay on the Friday and Saturday so you’ll have to book early as we only have six of them! You can come for longer of course. Just look at our availability and price page to check them out and book.
To find out what Mark is all about or if you are thinking of hosting a special event then head to his website.
