Eat The Seasons: Picnic Essentials

Kent is now at its very best… Every shade of green is filling wooded, soft-rolling valleys, beaches are lapped by warming waters and the season of abundance is starting to pulse. All in all, the perfect picnic weather!

As you would expect, Macknade and picnics go hand in hand, so make sure to call into our Faversham Food Hall before your next alfresco adventure to stock up from our famous deli counter, wine store & more. 

Here’s what we're recommending you add to your basket on your next haul...

Strawberries & Raspberries

The hot summer sun is concentrating the sugars in our Kentish soft fruits. We have strawberries grown just across the road from our Faversham Food Hall and raspberries from the Kelsey Family Farm, east of Canterbury – ruby red, firm fleshed and intense in their sweetness!

Sausage Rolls & Sarnies

Back to the picnic basket and all its goodies. We'd certainly be bringing one of our Mr Peppers free range sausage rolls – handmade at Macknade with our award-winning sausage meat – along with a Wingham Bakery Huffkin stuffed with Winterdale Shaw Cheddar and Thanet Earth Tomatoes, which are just glorious at this time of year.

Homemade Quiches

Our in-house baked quiches are another one of our top picks, rammed with the bounty of the county. Think Hinxden Dairy cream - from cows grazing the western downs – and free range eggs - laid by chickens roaming pastures not far from the Cathedral City of Canterbury. Currently, we are serving up a Kingcott Dairy Kentish Blue & Sevenscore Asparagus Quiche, but flavours change week on week.

Beer & Cider

And so to quench the thirst… Macknade is of course based in the foodie powerhouse of Faversham, and on our doorstep is the grande dame of the Kent brewing scene: Shepherd Neame. Masterbrew is always a classic in the summer, but with temperatures rising, we have been enjoying a glass full of ice, mint & cucumbers grown in Thanet, served with a bottle of Curious Apple - Curious Brewery’s very drinkable cider, fermented using Bacchus wine yeasts.

Kentish Wine

On the topic of Kent’s iconic grapes, Chapel Down’s own single varietal Bacchus is perfect with our Kentish cheeses. Its green and grassy notes work beautifully with a fresh and zingy round of Ellie’s Dairy goat cheese, made in the Newnham Valley.

Much like beer, we are blessed with delicious fizz across the county, and at Macknade we have some of the very best only a crow’s flight away. With their first release just months old (it has been seven years in the making!!), Domaine Evremond’s Classic Cuvee is a special bottle, setting yet another high bar for this corner of the country’s wine culture. It is a treat on any occasion but especially so in the sun, on a tartan rug with a picnic basket at the ready!

Sweet Treats

And finally for something sweet… Bears Ice Cream Imaginarium in Whitstable has come up trumps! In a little ice box, nestled at the bottom of our picnic basket, are a couple of handmade ice cream sandwiches: a Lemon Meringue Pie flavour and a Peanut Butter, Miso & Caramel flavour…amazing & unique!! Or try one of Gilda’s Bakery’s cream filled cruffins, filled with seasonal delights.

Ready to shop?

Our Food Hall is open every day in Faversham - located at the junction of Selling Road & The A2. For opening hours and directions, please click here.