Brassica Restaurant & Mercantile, Dorset
Brassica Restaurant is not what you might expect from a country restaurant in the small Dorset town of Beaminster, not far from the Jurassic Coast. It’s a confluence of good food and good design led by culinary and design double act, Cass Titcombe, and his wife Louise Chidgey. The couple describes the restaurant as an extension of their own home, where you can enjoy Cass’s skilled cooking showcasing amazing local produce in an intimate setting with a convivial atmosphere effortlessly created by Louise’s use of colour, pattern and lighting.
“It is a simple, deft cooking, with attention to detail” Jay Rayner, The Observer 2015
Brassica presents the very best food, beautifully cooked, with pride but without pretension.
The menu evolves daily and features seasonal produce cooked simply, with a strong Mediterranean influence, and with a refined edge. The majority of the ingredients are produced within 15 miles and much of it is organic - you’ll find Devon Ruby Beef from Haye Farm; organic dairy from Dorset’s Liberty Dairy’ fish, seafood from Lyme Bay and vegetables grown a few miles down the road. Typical main courses may be: Organic Devon Ruby steak frîtes with black garlic; Spaghettini with crab, lobster, chilli and basil; Asparagus with Jersey Royals, parmesan & pickled wild garlic’ or Cod fillet with chickpeas, cavolo nero and aioli.
Brassica won The Good Food Guide Award for Best Local Restaurant South West in 2020.
“All the signs of a chef slipping out of the constraints of a formula and just cooking what he fancies, using fine local produce.” Tracey Macleod, The Independent 2015
Cass, who co-founded Canteen in London in 2005, published the Canteen cookbook in 2010 and Louise, previously a buyer at The Conran Shop and manager/design manager for Tom Conran Restaurants, upped sticks from a hectic London life in 2014 to open their own restaurant in this beautiful corner of Dorset. A long search for the right site, led them to Beaminster Square to a Grade II listed building, which featured in Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles. The building manages to be both light and airy in summer, and warm and cosy in winter.
Nextdoor, Louise has opened Brassica Mercantile, an understated food & homes shop in the with a carefully curated collection of homewares sourced from her favourite designers across the world - there are textiles, tableware, ceramics & glassware and books. You’ll also find food from local farms and producers and cheese, charcuterie and more from Italy and Spain. There are handmade meals prepared by Cass which change daily but may include aubergine melazana, fish pies and soups. If you can’t make it to Dorset, the beautiful collection is available from their online shop.
Brassica is a true family business, with Louise’s father, Graham Chidgey, who led wine merchants Laytons Fine Wines for nearly 30 years, curating the wine list of mainly Old World Wines.
Brassica Restaurant & Mercantile
4-5 The Square, Beaminster, Dorset DT8 3AS
https://brassicarestaurant.co.uk/
Cass Titcombe - Chef Director
Cass is best known a co-founder of micro London chain Canteen in 2005 and as author of Canteen: Great British Food (Ebury Press 2010). After leaving Canteen he consulted with some leading hospitality brands before upping sticks from London to Dorset in 2014 to start a new life and open his own restaurant Brassica in 2014.
Cass began his career in the 1980s at the renowned Hole In The Wall, Circus and Woods restaurants in Bath. In 1994 he moved to London to the celebrated Daphne’s in South Kensington and went on to found The Collection and Pasha for Mogens Tholstrup.
Louise Chidgey - Co-founder/Director
Louise co-founded Brassica with her partner Cass Titcombe in 2014 fleeing a hectic life in London juggling being a mother with a career in interiors and lifestyle with plenty of intonational travel. Louise has not only established the restaurant but launched homes & food shop and online store Brassica Mercantile combining her love of good design and good food.
Louise is one of the UK’s leading design and retail creatives, with expertise in home, interiors and lifestyle. She has extensive experience in the retail sector as well as the influential global trend forecasting business.
After working as a senior buyer for The Conran Shop she became manager/design manager for Tom Conran Restaurants, Marks & Spencer and Selfridges. From 2005-2014 she gained an international reputation as global trend forecasting at WGSN.com and in product design at agency Stylus.com.
Graham Chidgey - Wine Consultant
Louise’s father Graham, held a long a prestigious career in the wine trade 1953. In 1965 Graham took over a small London merchant, Laytons Fine Wines, which he ran successfully until its sale in 1997. He’s also worked with Laytons Fine Wines, André Simon and Malmaison Wine Club. Following the sale of Laytons, Graham moved to Tuscany where he extended the sales potential for Montalcino, Chianti Classico and Piedmont. He also move do to West Dorset in 2014 with his wife, the painter Angela Chidgey
