Archives for Food & Drink
The Pub That’s Bringing People Together
TESSA BOASE Ed Nash and Robbie Ormrod dreamed of creating a pub with community at its heart. Just five months in, the revamped Prince of Wales is proving that their…
Cafes, Castles and Community: How Bunka transformed Hastings’ high-up spaces
ELLA LOWDEN In 2024 the Hastings Independent met with Josh Levy, Tad MacDonald and Celia Farrar to discuss the beginning of Bunka, a collaboration delivering restaurant pop-ups across Hastings and St Leonards.…
Small Plates Food Festival Returns to St. Leonards
The highly-anticipated Small Plates Food Festival is officially returning to St Leonards this summer on Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 June. Following previous success, the celebration of local flavours expands…
A Taste of Hope
ELLA LOWDEN To celebrate this year’s Refugee Week, venues across Hastings and St Leonards are taking part in a food festival, organised by The Refugee Buddy Project. Recipes of Courage is…
Feeding Hastings A Look at the Food Champions Series
JOEL CHESHIRE Looking back at previous issues, the Food Champions of Hastings & St Leonards series offers a useful indication of how HIP approaches topics of food, community and inequality. What…
Food Champions of Hastings & St Leonards
Wil Hospon Head Chef and Owner of Coquina What do you do and what’s your mission? Beca Fawn I am the head chef and owner of coquina at Hastings Contemporary.…
Seeds of Change: How Local Growers Are Transforming Hastings
Warrior Square is bursting with daffodils, the sun is finally rising just after , and – whisper it if you like, but I’m more than ready to shout it –…
New Tables, New Tastes
STEVEN SHORT When it comes to food and drink, Hastings and St Leonards continue to punch well above their weight. Times restaurant critic Charlotte Ivers ruffled a lot of feathers last summer…
So Flippin’ Easy
EDWINA HUGHES It’s Pancake Tuesday on 17 February. If you always make pancakes then you’ll be bemused at my decision to share a pancake recipe – but I’ve seen pancake…
Don’t Burn the supper
EDWINA HUGHES As the month draws to a close and we look for reasons to renege on all our New Year’s resolutions, we find the perfect excuse on Burns Night.…
An Apple a Day Keeps the Doctor Away!
EDWINA HUGHES On a recent visit to the Conquest Hospital I was greeted with a bright and colourful display of fresh fruit. I had stumbled upon Five a Day greengrocers…
Flavour Foraging in Brede Woods
Edwina Hughes My mushroom education began last year when visiting Basil’s Fungi Farm in Hastings, where Robbie showed me how he is growing mushrooms in the heart of Hastings. Then,…
Food Champions of Hastings and St Leonards
Stephen Atkinson & Hélène Maerschalck of Stonelynk Organics Thomas SmithStephen and Hélène on the farm Welcome to the second in our food champion series profiling people working with food in…
Wrap up warm with winter soups
ANDREW SWAN As the evenings draw in and the temperature drops, there are few things more comforting than wrapping your hands around a steaming bowl of soup. It’s cheap to…
The Crown listed in 100 best pubs 2025!
Shoutout to this week’s food contributor - Andrew and his partner Tess, of The Crown, Hastings who have been listed in The Good Food Guide’s 100 Best Pubs 2025. The…
Harvest Recipes
MATTHEW KENNARD-BOWEN We’re reaching that time of year when there’s a glut of vegetables and fruit from the garden or friends with allotments; there always seems to be a small…
Small Plates Festival St Leonards: Back by Popular Demand
Small Plates St Leonards, the food tourism festival launched in Spring 2024, will be returning to St Leonards Sea on Saturday 27 September 2025. A diverse mix of local eateries…
Food Champions of Hastings and St Leonards: Rima Sams: Founder and Director of Sustenance
Edwina Hughes Welcome to a new series profiling brilliant food champions in our local community. This series will feature conversations with people involved in the food system locally – from…
The Old Rectory Set to Host Summer Fair Weekend Spectacular
Hastings’ popular boutique hotel, The Old Rectory, announces the return of its Summer FairWeekend taking place on the weekend of the 30th and 31st August. Set within the hotel’s beautiful…
Love Food, Hate Waste – Tips from the Experts
EDWINA HUGHES and ANDREW SWAN Photos: Andrew SwanGetting the most out of delicious tomato scraps We all know food is pricey; quality ingredients and healthier options can be even more…
Plum & Almond Cake
IngredientsServes 8-10 people Cake Roughly 12 plums (550g) stoned and quartered 185g unsalted butter at room temperature 175g golden caster sugar 2 largish eggs (beaten) 75ml oat or dairy milk…
Refugee Week – Community as a Superpower
ANDREW SWAN Refugee Week takes place nationwide from 16-22 June, and this year’s theme is Community as a Superpower. Across the country, people are encouraged to explore how collective support…
No Sleepy Heads Hastings Bakers Rise Early
EDWINA HUGHES Rob BatchelorRob Batchelor aka Ginger Baker and his sourdough We are spoilt with an amazing range of bakeries in Hastings and St. Leonards – from the long-standing institutions…
Book Launch: The Garden by Matthew Ingram – Visionary Growers and Farmers of the Counterculture
An exciting evening awaits as author Matthew Ingram will be in conversation, discussing the stories and spirit behind The Garden, a richly researched work celebrating those who challenged industrial agriculture…
Edible Open Gardens Weekend: A Celebrationof Local Food Growing
EDWINA HUGHES Last month we featured a story on the allotments of Hastings, this month we are delighted to share news of an upcoming weekend that focuses on edible gardens…
Allotment life – a lesson in patience
EDWINA HUGHES As I write this piece, it’s raining – we’ve been waiting for rain for a while. My friend and allotment holder, Stella, tells me this year has been…
Asparagus, crab and radish salad
This recipe is prepared over two days and includes candied flowers – if you’re feeling adventurous, give it a try! Matthew Kennard-Bowen Asparagus season is upon us and should be…
Eat, Write, Love
Creative Concoctions, a local social enterprise, boosts creative health with a fusion of journaling, recipes and nutritional information. Brought to you from the journals of NICKY TORODE and the kitchen…
Foraging for Wild Garlic
STEVEN SHORT Ever wondered why the rats in Alexandra Park are so chill? It’s probably all that wild garlic they’ve been munching on. Wild garlic has been scientifically proven to…
Basil’s Fungi Farm
Growing mushrooms in the heart of Hastings KAYLA POWER If you’ve ever wondered what it takes to grow mushrooms in an urban setting, then read on, because this process is…
Mushrooms: a climate opportunity?
EDWINA HUGHES In this edition we’ve been treated to a peek inside Basil’s Fungi Farm with an inspiring recipe from Andrew at the Crown featuring some of the mushrooms grown…
Crispy chilli fried mushrooms with pickled kohlrabi, ginger and cucumber salad
Serves 2 Cooking time: 30 mins Ingredients: Spice mix for mushrooms: 15g paprika,3g cayenne,10g ground cumin,10g onion powder,10g garlic powder, 9g coarseground black pepper, 8g fine sea salt, 5g ground…
Choose Local with Noah’s Goat
JORDAN CONNELLEY pops down to the Old Town to visit Noah’s Goat, the newly opened wine bar and shop on George Street Run by dynamic and friendly couple Nick and…
Make Timeto Do The Roo
CHRIS CONNELLEY gets excited at the Prince Albert’s bar menu We didn’t have a television in my house when I was growing up in the 1970s, so I spent a…
Queen Bee
CHRIS CONNELLEY is bowled over by a new restaurant on Queens Road Like the stock market, Queens Road goes up and ; Aubergine dish When we rocked up in town…
Wine Choice: A Slightly Wet January
JORDAN CONNELLEY suggests that during this month of temperance and moderation, you might wantto drink less … but go for better-quality wines sourced by local small businesses So during this…
Festive Season Food Hacks
FIONA MCGARRY shares eight ways to save money on food this winter Eat Seasonally: in December, seasonal vegetables include squash, leeks, swedes, cauliflowers, kale and Brussels sprouts, so the prices…
Eat Write Love
NICKY TORODE & SONJA COLMAN of Creative Concoctions - a local social enterprise, boosting creative health Warm up this windy winter with this nutrition-packed recipe for Green Thai soup using…
The Secret Barista stops at Café La Mer
In Hastings Town Centre, operating from an elegantly appointed trailer, stands Café La Mer. Marc Wioland is the skilled barista producing some excellent artisan coffee from this prominent position. Marc…
The Secret Barista Visits Dovetail Cafe
Seeking further enlightenment on my coffee quest, where better to go than Bohemia? Sauntering up London Road, I was rewarded by bucolic views of the pockets of nature along the…