Marle at Heckfield Place

It’s a delicate dance to balance a luxurious restaurant without stifling the offering with stuffiness. Against the odds Skye Gyngell and her team have created a wonderfully indulgent space in Marle which still retains elements of relaxed homeliness.

The tone is set with the interiors; a lofty, open space with an orangery-like section to one side and wide terrace to the front. Here light wood and marble are mixed with neutral soft furnishings and sculptural use of the estate’s botanical bounty for a naturally whimsical flow that extends through the menu.

Each of the dishes on the short a la carte is carefully crafted using hyper-seasonal produce grown organically on the estate itself or by producers nearby. There’s very little going on in terms of intervention, just a handful of clean flavours on each plate. Starters of a creamy mushroom ravioli coated in a bright lemon butter sauce and sweet, perfectly caramelised scallops with a mellow sweetcorn puree are perfectly portioned to allow for the full three course experience. Elsewhere, a main of wild, locally caught seat trout, hollandaise and cucumbers was harmonious with herbaceous notes through the sauce.

The best was saved to last when a caramel chocolate tart arrived by way of the genial staff. Here, a smooth caramel reservoir is caught under a smooth chocolate tart filling and topped with wonderfully thick cream (from a very generous cow who had the good fortune of calling Heckfield home). 

Drinks are given no less reverence with cocktails like a Bloody Mary having been given a glow up with clear tomato water and horseradish-infused vodka combining to create a lighter version of this classic serve. Elsewhere there’s a carefully honed wine list, and softs are equally as sophisticated as the alcohol on offer, with homemade lemonades and fragrant lemon verbena pressés.

This kind of laidback luxury doesn’t come cheap, with dinner easily clocking in at £100 per person, but for a little countryside escapism within a stone’s throw of London there’s nowhere we’d rather temporarily call home.

Set inside the magnificent Georgian manor hotel at Heckfield Place, Marle restaurant is connected to the surrounding countryside in every way. From the stunning marble and slate interiors to views which stretch over the woodlands and lakes of Berkshire, Marle feels organic. Plants climb and trail the walls and surfaces, as light spills into the dining room through large windows.

Marle's ace in the hole is nearby Fern Verrow Farm - a 16 acre biodynamic farm that produces a staggering range of fruit, vegetables, flowers and more (and also supplies the likes of Spring at Somerset House and Quo Vadis). The essence of Marle is to take locally and responsibly grown produce, and present it in it's most natural, delicious form - this is a restaurant that truly values the excitement and immediacy of food that comes straight from the earth, to your plate, with minimal intervention in between.

Naturally the menu evolves with the changing seasons, so dishes may not feature for long. Some vegetables and plants have a season that lasts just weeks, so blink and you may miss them at their best. The menu features a short list of aperitifs, using locally-grown herbs of course. At the time of writing, starters include wild nettle risotto, crab tagliolini with shellfish butter, and chicken liver parfait with muscat brioche. Mains are similarly pared-back, and focused around classic flavour combinations - lamb from the Heckfield estate comes with broad beans, peas, turnips and horseradish cream, and there's a delightful take on a bouillabaisse, where monkfish comes accompanied with Jersey Royals, fennel, saffron, tomato water and aioli. Marle's seasonal menus earned it a Michelin Green Star in 2022 - awarded to restaurants that champion sustainable practices. 

If there's still room for something sweet, perhaps a hazelnut meringue cake with rhubarb ice cream would do the trick, or a trio of ice creams, made in house.