Duration
Five days
When
Autumn 2023
Why?
There’s more to Somerset than cider… although it makes a great starting point the foodie trail
First, I should declare a personal interest. I’m not Somerset born (Aberdeen, Scotland, actually). And I’m not quite Somerset bred (we came south when I was six and our village moved overnight into the then-new county of Avon when I was at primary school, the victim of boundary changes). But I’m definitely here now, having made the cathedral city of Wells my home some four years ago.
Food and drink research
And what better place than Wells to start my food and drink research/tour? A small and particularly welcoming restaurant called Root (it even caters for well-behaved dogs) in the city is spearheading something of a dining revolution here, with its mantra of ‘veg-led, small sharing plates’ (think tapas, but Somerset-style!).
So our Somerset food and drink route kicked off in Wells, which is served by plenty of other restaurants, of course. It’s also home to Wells Deli (offering an excellent range of cheeses, in particular), as well as its annual Food Festival, which celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2023.
Among a list of local speciality ingredients, mostly organic, head chef Rob Howell (who owns Root with his wife, Meg) explains:
