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Head to the coast for local food and drink, fun and adventure!

From Brighton-made Gin to Porlock Bay oysters, in this blog we discover some of the best locally made food and drink on England’s Coast

Foodie places to visit in Sussex, explore top vineyards and a great brunch spot in Brighton

Brighton offers fine local food and drink as well as a seaside vibe that keeps going strong into the small hours.

When the sun sets after a hot day on the beach, smarten up and head to town to enjoy excellent local wines, gourmet food and top entertainment.

Local, seasonal produce is a real feature in Brighton, as fresh ingredients are on the doorstep, both fish and shellfish from the sea and meat and vegetables from the coastal countryside.

England’s wine is increasingly well-received and now routinely wins international awards. Much of the hub of this industry, including still, sparkling and fortified wine, can be found in Brighton’s surroundings, where there are several vineyards. Most of these, such as the Albourne Estate, offer wine-tasting tours while some, including Rathfinny, which is set back just to the east of Brighton, offer rooms for the night too.

And don’t forget the ubiquitous phenomenon that is Brighton gin, which uses 100% organic pure wheat spirit re-distilled with juniper, lime peel, locally-grown coriander seed (the first UK commercially grown coriander seed in more than 200 years) and milk thistle.

Good food can be found throughout the day. You could start with brunch at the Trading Post Café which has four outlets in the town. The in-house roasted coffee will wake you up as you tuck into vegan chilli bowls, sourdough bread with jackfruit or pancakes.

Brighton abounds with beach-front and sea view restaurants including Murmur, which overlooks the West Pier. You could perhaps start with rope-grown mussels before a main of monkfish curry or fish of the day.

When the restaurants and bars begin to wind down, Brighton’s nightlife seaside entertainment will still be going strong as the beachfront between the town’s two piers features several seafront nightclubs.

Head to the coast for local food and drink, fun and adventure! Head to the coast for local food and drink, fun and adventure!
Head to the coast for local food and drink, fun and adventure!

Visit Porlock, the heart of local produce in Devon

Exmoor straddles North Devon and West Somerset and the high coastal drama is breath-taking at any time of year.

The exposed ridges and plunging cliffs make up the edge of a huge plateau that marches inland and is incised and scarred with deep, steep-sided valleys known locally as ‘combes’.

In winter, the trees resemble broomsticks but they unfold the stunning yellows and pinks of spring blossom, a kaleidoscope of green before receding to golden, red and brown as the nights draw in once again. All year, everything seems mantled in lichens: these are a sign of good air quality, as they flourish in mild Atlantic winds that drift into the moor.

Head to the coast for local food and drink, fun and adventure!
Head to the coast for local food and drink, fun and adventure! Head to the coast for local food and drink, fun and adventure!
 

This quality of environment lends itself to local food. 

The Exmoor coast is home to around 20 food producers including Porlock Bay Oysters at Porlock Weir, where oyster farming goes back more than 100 years. The oysters thrive in semi oceanic conditions, filter feeding on fresh supplies of Atlantic plankton carried in on the tide.

You can gather a picnic, including oysters, from local shops in Porlock, such as The Big Cheese or the village grocer, where you can pick up Somerset brie or Devon Blue. Then head uphill!

Climb up Selworthy Beacon, the modest summit above Porlock, on top of an area of rare western maritime heath. Although you are a mere 310 metres above sea level, the soaring, swooping nature of Exmoor's landscape – it's also unusual for moorland to be so close to the sea in the UK – gives the impression of being much higher. You can then drop steeply down Hurlstone Combe to Bossington's magnificent pebble beach, the centre of a wonderful amphitheatre of cliffs.

Wander back along silent, narrow country lanes to Porlock where a clutch of olde-worlde pubs awaits where you can put the world to rights and talk, over fine local food, about the day’s thrilling walking.