Nest Farmhouse is as close to farm-to-table dining as you can possibly get. Occupying a restored cattle shed on a working farm in Docking Norfolk, Nest Farmhouse creates a restful dining experience supplied with produce grown on its doorstep. The thousand-acre Docking Lodge Farm supplies the farmhouse kitchen with carrots, parsnips, and potatoes.
Co-founders Toby Neill, Johnie Crowe, and Luke Wasserman are no strangers to sustainable practice. Their Smithfield venture, Restaurant St Barts, was awarded both a Michelin star and a Michelin green star for its outstanding commitment to small-scale farming and waste reduction. This philosophy informs every aspect of the group: thoughtfully curated and harmoniously balanced menus offering a supremely gratifying dining experience that highlights premium, seasonal ingredients treated with reverence and flair.
The trio’s first restaurant, Nest, originally debuted in Hackney in 2018, before making the move to Shoreditch. They have since launched a pop-up restaurant at Burnham Overy Boathouse in 2022 in Norfolk and subsequently gained a second residency there the year after. Now they have put down roots.
The restaurant is the team’s first permanent project outside of London, and with executive chef Crowe and head chef Grant Cotton at the helm the Nest Farmhouse menu is a brilliantly composed love letter to local and foraged produce from the area’s coastline and conscientiously-reared produce. A Norfolk native, Cotton has made the move back to his home county to welcome guests in true Nest Group fashion: with carefully considered dishes, served in locally made crockery, in an idyllic setting. To highlight the tranquil surroundings the dining room features an open kitchen and floor-to-ceiling glass windows that allow panoramic views of the valley. Just a few minutes walk away is a large pond where guests can enjoy the cocktails and drinks devised by Wasserman in the summer months.