Dave Flynn, owner of The Allotment restaurant, with waitress Hazel Marshall
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The Allotment produces the goods
For so long - and not so long ago - allotments were largely-ignored, and more often forgotten, edge-of-town semi-rural relics of a bygone grow-your-own age. Lacking the food of love, allotments were seen as a slight step up from brownfield bombsites and about as now as tithes, enclosures and Digging For Victory, writes Andy Stevens
But that was then - and we're talking a few short years here. Now, low carbon-this and local-that has seen the green-fingered of all ages excitedly talking turnips, tomatoes and turning the earth while preening that peeling potting shed.
And one professional chef is taking this zeitgeisty zest for the fresh to its logically local conclusion in a new restaurant project called, naturally-enough, The Allotment.
After 35 years working in the restaurant trade both at home and overseas, Dave Flynn was determined to blend his culinary skills and passion for homegrown produce - and then throw something new and exciting in the mix.
It was then that the concept of The Allotment bore fruit. And the concept? It's as simple, rewarding and sensible as the whole notion of getting an allotment itself.
"Many allotment owners find that they end up with gluts of extra produce which they can't use themselves," explains Dave, 50, who divides his time between the restaurant in Dover, Kent, and his home in Twickenham, south-west London. "It can be such a waste. The idea behind The Allotment is for these allotment owners to come along and supply us with their surplus. In exchange we will give them vouchers for the restaurant or discounts on certain items on the menu.
"We've been open for a couple of months and the response from local producers and customers has been very pleasing. I think they are very keen on the whole thing while the bottom line of any restaurant - the food - has received a lot of positive feedback too."
Dave credits the inspiration for the restaurant's memorable moniker to his teenage daughters, Corinne and Maddy.
"The Allotment name? Well, it was a no-brainer, really," says Dave. "My daughters came up with the idea. As a family we have an allotment - my wife Steph has a garden design business too - and we've always been keen on growing our own."
Dave's green dream is no mere flash in a fancy Le Creuset, mind you. As well as sparking the interest of allotment owners and wine and food suppliers across the Garden of England, Dave has also taken on talented wannabe chefs, Jamie Oliver-style, from local colleges to learn their trade.
* For more information call Dave Flynn at The Allotment, 9 High Street, Dover, Kent on (01304) 214467 or (07828) 168885 or visit the website at www.theallotmentdover.com
* Calling all allotment owners - how The Allotment plans to celebrate National Allotment Week - click here for details
This article was created: 10 August 2007.
This article was last edited: 13 August 2007.
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