An evening at the Deer Park Cafe for the Food & Drink Networking Club

The Food and Drink Networking Club, co-hosted by Thomson Snell & Passmore, Sankey’s and The TN Card, met last night (Tuesday 9 July).

Hosted by the Hatton Group, the Club spent a delightful evening at the Deer Park Cafe in the stunning Eridge countryside.  Despite the wet weather, guests enjoyed delicious canapés such as mushroom croquettes with truffle mayo and grilled chorizo and pea hummus accompanied by delicate wines whilst taking in the views of the beautiful surroundings (and the odd deer in the woodlands!)

The Club welcomed two local businesses, ‘La Mexikent’ and ‘Pig & Porter’, who provided tasting tables demonstrating the quality of the products offered by food and drink businesses in Kent.

The first tasting table was local brewery business, ‘Pig & Porter’.  Owned by Robin Wright, Pig & Porter produce modern beers from their Tunbridge Wells brewery and supply independent pubs and bars throughout the Southeast.  On Robin’s table guests sampled Pig & Porter’s award winning KEIPA ‘Lucky Day’ IPA of which won the Kent Beer of the Year category at the Taste of Kent award last month.  ‘Lucky Day’, a hazy, sweet and juicy IPA with low bitterness, has fruit salad and pineapple aromas with grapefruit and citrus flavours.

‘La Mexikent’, run by Carla Graef Millar, is a local Mexican catering business.  Based in Goudhurst, Carla is surrounded by amazing local produce of which she incorporates into her Mexican dishes. On the night Carla delighted guests with little plates of small tostadas (round crunchie tortillas) topped with black beans and locally sourced cheese and potato basket tacos (also called steamed tacos) filled with colourful potatoes from The Potato shop in Tenterden topped with spicy salsa and picked red onion served from a special ‘Wonderbag’ slow cooker.

Thank you also to our co-hosts, Jess Gibson of the TN Card and Matthew Sankey of Sankey’s whose efforts and contacts help make the Club events possible.

As ever, the evening brought together like-minds who clearly have a passion for what they produce and the local communities they produce it for. The Club continues to demonstrate the diversity and quality of the produce and products on offer from food and drink businesses in Kent.

The evening was a huge success and it was a pleasure to see so many local food and drink business people attend. If you work in the food and drink industry and would like to come along then please email alisa.sweeney@ts-p.co.uk – all are welcome.