Jericho

A Farmstead in the Vale of Belvoir

Arriving at Orchard Farm on a Thursday or Friday evening, the first thing that registers is the quiet. No village high street, no car park attendant, no ambient hum of a nearby town. Plungar sits in the Vale of Belvoir, the stretch of agricultural Nottinghamshire that runs between Grantham and Nottingham, and the farm itself sits deeper still, announced by little more than a gate and the smell of woodsmoke. The two buildings that make up the dining space were fitted out using salvaged materials from the farm's own outbuildings: the bones of the place are the place. Inside, the dining room moves between dark and light tones, with enough window space to pull in the flat Vale light on longer evenings. A kitchen bench gives direct sightlines to the pass. Outside, a pair of tepees serve as overnight accommodation for those who would rather not drive back across the Midlands after a four-hour meal.

Where Farm Restaurants Sit Now

The farm-to-table format has fragmented considerably since its early-2010s moment. At one end, there are destination properties that use agricultural branding while sourcing conventionally. At the other, a smaller number of operations where the farm is genuinely the kitchen's supply chain, not just its backdrop. Jericho belongs to the second group. Game and kitchen-garden vegetables are not decorative themes here; they structure the menu. This positioning places it alongside rural destination restaurants in England that have earned serious critical recognition not despite their remove from major cities, but partly because of it. L'Enclume in Cartmel and Moor Hall in Aughton both demonstrate that the further a kitchen is from London, the more the provenance argument has to be airtight. At Jericho, the farm itself is the argument.

The format is a surprise tasting menu running to twenty courses, which typically takes the better part of four hours. There is no abbreviated option. That commitment places Jericho in a particular tier of the contemporary British dining scene, one where the reservation is an event rather than a meal, and where the kitchen sets the pace entirely. Compare that to Kitchen Table in London, another counter-led tasting format at the same price tier, and the gap in physical context becomes the defining difference: one is urban and deliberately theatrical, the other is rural and almost accidentally so.

The Menu and How It Reads

Opening salvo arrives quickly: a mutton croquette cooked over coals and served with quince paste; a blackberry-glazed pork belly skewer with well-rendered fat; partridge leg in a pear coating. The speed of the early courses counters any anxiety about the length of the evening ahead. From there, the progression slows into the kind of sequencing that requires more attention. Elderflower sharpens a white beetroot soup. A wild mushroom preparation in the style of Japanese chawanmushi carries earthy depth, with pickled mushrooms and a measure of dashi adding contrast. Lamb arrives with turnips, dressed in lamb fat and walnut oil. Mixed-pedigree sirloin comes with Jerusalem artichoke foam and black garlic puree.

Wood-fire cooking is a consistent structural element rather than a finishing flourish, and it shapes the flavour register across the menu toward smoke, char, and rendered fat. The balance does not always hold: one iteration paired mallard with Granny Smith apple and sloe jam, and the acidity and bitterness of both accompaniments tipped away from the bird. A pre-dessert described as whole crop silage ice cream is, as one account noted, an acquired taste. The sweet courses recover: parsnip custard with honeycomb, and Bramley apple cooked in Marmite butter and served with clotted cream, are the kind of endings that reframe everything before them.

This approach to Modern British cooking, rooted in a specific geography rather than a generalised countryside aesthetic, connects Jericho to a tradition of destination kitchens that take their surroundings as a genuine constraint rather than a marketing frame. Winteringham Fields in Winteringham, Gidleigh Park in Chagford, and hide and fox in Saltwood all operate in versions of this register, though each interprets regionality differently. Jericho's version is the most literal: the chef grew up on this specific farm.

The Wine List

The list runs almost exclusively to natural, organic, and biodynamic producers. For most tables, the drinks pairing is the practical choice, and the range of what that pairing might include reflects a deliberate heterodoxy: Pétillant Naturel, Chilean Chardonnay, Hungarian rosé, and Muscat de Rivesaltes have all appeared across different iterations. The wine programme carries the same ethos as the food, prioritising provenance and minimal intervention over prestige appellations. Those who want to select from the list directly will find it crammed, as one account put it, with low-intervention options, though without prior knowledge of the producers it can be difficult to orient quickly.

Recognition and Critical Position

Jericho opened in 2022 and earned a Michelin Plate in 2024, while Opinionated About Dining ranked it 320th in Europe in 2025, up from 314th in 2024. The OAD ranking is the more meaningful signal here: the system aggregates assessments from regular high-frequency diners rather than anonymous inspectors, which tends to reward kitchens with a consistent, repeat-visit audience rather than those that perform well on a single inspection. A rise in the ranking in 2025 suggests the kitchen is consolidating rather than peaking early. The ££££ price tier places it at the same level as The Ledbury in London and Midsummer House in Cambridge, which makes the rural postcode either a deterrent or the point, depending on the reader.

Planning Your Visit

Jericho opens Thursday through Saturday, with service from 7pm. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Sunday are closed. The address is Orchard Farm, Plungar, Nottingham NG13 0JA. Given the four-hour format and the distance from any significant town, the tepee accommodation on site is worth factoring into the booking conversation. Driving is the only practical option for most visitors; the nearest rail connections are at Grantham or Nottingham, both of which require onward road transport. The surprise menu format means dietary information needs to be communicated well ahead of the reservation. For broader context on dining and staying in the area, see our full Plungar restaurants guide, our full Plungar hotels guide, our full Plungar bars guide, our full Plungar wineries guide, and our full Plungar experiences guide.