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real food

Dining at the Damson Dene is a real pleasure. Our menu changes daily and offers a wide choice, using locally grown fresh produce whenever possible, much of it from our own farm or from our Victorian kitchen garden. We are able to provide special dietary foods, vegetarian meals and children's teas.
Furthermore, while you dine you can enjoy stunning views of the hotels grounds and the Lakeland hills beyond.

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Homegrown Produce

The Damson Dene Hotel is a founder member of Pride In Cumbria, an association of Hotel and Restaurants who serve the Best and Freshest Locally grown Produce.
We have our own Kitchen garden, which supplies as much quality fresh fruit, vegetables and herbs as we can, all grown using organic principles. There is a vast range of herbs, salads, fruit and vegetables, all grown especially so that our guests benefit from the freshest produce in season.

We rear our own free range Middle White Pork and Herdwick Lamb and take great care over our suppliers.

Our suppliers, for all the meat we do not rear ourselves, offer complete traceability and give a guarantee of flavour and tenderness.

A Royal Inspection (from the Westmorland Gazette)
When one of our guests remarked that the summer pudding was the best he'd ever tasted and he'd tasted a few, Jonathan Denby hotel proprietor beamed with pride.
"That sort of comment makes all this worthwhile", said Jonathan Denby. The fruit for that particular pudding, which was made by Jonathan's wife Margaret by the way, and practically all the vegetables used at the Damson Dene Hotel, are grown in a stunning walled Victorian kitchen garden at the rear of the Denbys' Grange-over-Sands home.

The garden is located in a sheltered spot and has all the essentials; its own micro-climate - warmth, a lot of rain, and good soil; a lot of attention is paid to the soil. "We follow Prince Charles's dictum - double digging every year, well rotted manure twice a year and rotating crops. We do not use any chemicals, we're super organic".

For Damson Dene chef Mike Wilson, each day brings new delights. Mike makes use of whatever the garden has to offer - which is as it should be, one hundred per cent fresh, seasonal foods, forming the basis of an ever changing menu:
· Hot Berries marinated in a kirsch to accompany a fan of Galia melon
· Roasted Tomato Salad with a coriander and saffron mayonnaise
· Minted Mash, port wine jus and pickled shallots to accompany grilled Lakeland lamb cutlets
· An apple, Sage and Apricot Risotto, alongside pan-fried organic port fillet
· Side Vegetables of broccoli, runner beans, turnip and ratatouille
" It's certainly a new experience for me to be able to work with such fresh produce" added Mike.

Jonathan, who meticulously keeps a diary noting the kitchen garden's daily bounty, says Prince Charles's books on organic gardening have been an inspiration.
"He follows all the true organic methods" said Jonathan. "We're just so lucky being able to use all this wonderful produce in the hotel".

Text kindly permitted by the Westmorland Gazette

Competing against profesionals from across the country Mike Wilson has won the Bladen Cheese Masters Contest with a unique recipe of Cheddar and Wild Salmon Tarte Tatin.