Farmer-chef Will Devlin of The Small Holding in Kent this week opened his first London outpost, Birchwood at the Conduit members’ club in Covent Garden.
The venture is starting out as an all-day cafe and wine bar with a roof-top restaurant follow in the autumn – all of them open to the general public.
The Small Holding, at Kilndown between Tunbridge Wells and Sissinghurst, sits on an acre of land that supplies much of the produce its kitchen serves. The Harden’s 2026 guide awards the restaurant a maximum 5/5 rating for its food, backed up with praise for Will’s “beautifully considered menu, cooked to perfection in idyllic surroundings”.
Will’s company Acre also runs Birchwood restaurant at Taywell Farm near Goudhurst, with produce from the two properties now being showcased at the new Covent Garden site.
Will says: “This is a big day for the Acre team, our first hospitality space in London. Birchwood – The Conduit grows from our core values of integrity, seasonality and sustainability – the pillars of everything we do at Acre. Our food has a deep connection and respect for land, having farmed our own land at The Small Holding and Birchwood Taywell in Kent for eight years, while always pushing flavour and freshness to the forefront. We are excited to be bringing these values of independent, ethical farming and season-led cooking into central London.”
The daytime menu lists Block Butchery sausage and egg muffins, a beef topside pastrami Reuben on rye, and a cured Kent ham and Ashmore Cheddar toastie. Evening dishes include Wild Farm sourdough with Hook & Son butter, house-made fennel salami and beef bresaola, braised green lentils with smoked beetroot and Blackwood feta – and, for dessert, a Kentish gypsy tart with poached gooseberries.
