When a move to the Sussex countryside at 18 led to wandering fields and foraging for berries, Ivan Tisdall-Downes found inspiration in nature’s abundance. What began as a small venture making jams and chutneys eventually evolved into a celebrated culinary journey.
Today, this self-taught chef along with Imogen Davis have created Native, a restaurant that champions sustainable, seasonal, and foraged ingredients. This farm-to-table restaurant with rooms, located on the Herefordshire-Worcestershire border is rooted in the ethos of what grows together goes together.
Native’s immersive dining experience showcases the forgotten flavours of the British countryside. As the restaurant settles into its new home on the Netherwood Estate in Worcestershire, the focus remains on reconnecting with the land and reimagining what British heritage cooking can be. We caught up with Ivan to find out more.
How did it all start?
It all really started when my parents left London and moved to the Sussex countryside when I was 18. All my friends were still up in the city partying whereas I had to entertain myself wandering the fields with the dogs snacking on the berries. At the time, I was doing my business degree at Brighton University, so the entrepreneur in me said “Hang on, I’ve got free raw material here – I need to turn it into a product to sell”. So I started off making jams and chutneys, and as I learned more about all the wild ingredients that grow across the countryside the more in love I fell with it. Things snowballed, and long story short, starting as a street food stall, to a pop-up, I ended up with a restaurant!
Tell us all about your British heritage cooking ethos at Native.
We follow two mantras at Native:
- What grows together goes together
- Let the land dictate the menu to us
Fundamentally this means cooking with what nature provides, buying what is available from producers when in season and generally not putting stress on the food chain. Through foraging and championing heritage breeds and vegetables, we look to rediscover the forgotten flavours of the British countryside but serve it in a fun approachable, and nostalgic way. Being self-taught, I am free of the stereotypes of how and what you should be cooking
Your new project Native on the Netherwood Estate takes you to the Worcestershire countryside. Will you be foraging for ingredients?
100%! We were lucky enough to open bang in the middle of wild garlic season which we preserved for the rest of the year and then we stock-piled meadowsweet, wild chamomile and pineapple weed. This is what Native cooking is all about!
Tell us all about your tasting menu concept at Native.
The full-tasting menu at Native is an immersive dining experience designed to give you a true taste of what is flourishing in the fields, forests, and gardens at the restaurant as well as in the surrounding counties. By allowing the land to dictate the menu, we aim to create dishes that are both fun and nostalgic, while also provoking a sensory journey for our guests. Our ultimate goal is to deliver a taste sensation that leaves a lasting impression and a true appreciation for the local culinary landscape.
We also offer a short tasting menu and our ‘root to shoot’ set menu on Sundays, which is a more laidback, casual set menu really championing the abundance of produce from our garden.
What about the drinks?
Our drinks ethos mimics our food – all our cocktails are based on classics but champion foraged, gardens or low-waste ingredients such as our signature Meadowsweet Sour or Native Negroni, made with our house-made foragers’ vermouth.
Our wine list is dedicated to organic, bio-dynamic, UK and minimal intervention wines, all of which have been individually selected and tasted by myself and our General Manager, John Lacombe. We also receive bi-annual shipments of Portuguese wine brought to the UK entirely by wind power via The New Dawn Traders sailboats.
How do you put into practice a zero-waste kitchen?
For me, true zero waste in a restaurant kitchen is unachievable. It’s often said the most sustainable thing a restaurant can do is close!
It is important for us to always strive towards zero waste, but at the same time make it accessible and relatable to everyone in their homes. There is no point spending thousands of pounds on glass crushers and bio-digestors if it will not impact people’s everyday lives at home. That’s the way true change can be made, by influencing the masses, not one individual movement. Hopefully, this is also displayed by the way we use ingredients in our kitchen.
What are the challenges behind cooking only sustainable, ultra-seasonable produce?
The biggest challenge is how to deal with a glut of produce and where to use it all! This is also mimicked when cooking with a nose-to-tail approach, and trying to utilise what are deemed the “lesser” cuts of meat.
The limitations of cooking ultra-seasonally are what drives my creativity, so I love it.
Can sustainability in UK restaurants ever become the norm?
I think it has become the minimum requirement for most businesses now, not just restaurants, which is great. But sustainability isn’t enough, sustainability means to sustain, to remain and maintain the levels we operate at, which currently isn’t good enough as the state of the planet is still degrading. We need to move to a regenerative model and regenerate the soil health and the state of the oceans because sustaining our current level will not end well.
Top 3 favourite restaurants in the UK?
If you could award a Michelin star right now to a UK Chef, who would it be to and why?
David Smith at The Dipping Lugger in Ullapool, Scotland. It’s a faultless menu in an extremely special part of the UK and encapsulates the true essence of what Michelin should be about, travelling to unique locations to experience wonderful hospitality.
What is next for you?
Native has moved around a lot over the past eight years, and so now I want to focus on making this our forever home. It really is a dream site, but definitely don’t rule out a return to the city one day!
Discover more at Native – Netherwood Estate
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All imagery courtesy of Ivan Tisdall-Downes.