Riverford Field Kitchen

Famous as purveyors of organic vegetable boxes, it’s hard to believe that Riverford’s slightly lesser-known sibling celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2025. Situated in the heart of its (original) Buckfastleigh farm, Riverford Field Kitchen is ‘as farm to fork as it can get’, with produce grown in polytunnels metres from the simply adorned open-plan kitchen/dining room with its dried flowers and mismatched furniture.

Everyone is served at the same time (family-style) and meals are bulked out with shared seasonal salads and vegetables at their peak, while daily changing menus featuring only prepared-to-order food means that waste is kept to a minimum. Expect the likes of freshly baked sourdough, meze-style starters, just one main course and a choice of desserts. 

On our visit, starters featured the purest of flavours ranging from gently warmed, sweet figs with crumbed, salty feta to Thai-style cauliflower florets tossed with blackened flat beans, coconut and ginger. The main course was equally delicious and delivered our only hit of meat – roasted, organic pork belly (from renowned farmer/campaigner Helen Browning), soft and juicy with perfectly brittle crackling, paired with a riot of autumnal produce including Crown Prince squash, fennel, tomato and aïoli, plus crushed, roasted potatoes bejewelled with finely chopped gherkins, and well-seasoned January King cabbage draped in chilli butter.

The line-up of desserts, meanwhile, might include a soft and fluffy chocolate olive-oil cake with chilled Chantilly and frosted almonds, or a play on apple crumble involving rum-soaked fruit, hazelnut crumb and a creamy parfait. Saturday brunch (a four-course veggie set menu) is a new addition to the set-up, and there’s an extensive range of drinks to match the food – the house-made cordials and ferments are divine.