Roots returns to Tewinbury Farm with expanded farm-to-fork guest chef dining series

Roots, the outdoor farm-to-fork dining series at Tewinbury Farm in Hertfordshire, will return this summer with a programme of seven evenings running from July to October, each featuring guest chefs and menus based on produce grown on site. The estate, located near Welwyn and around 30 minutes by train from London King’s Cross, hosts the dinners in its market garden, where partner grower Tewin Greens cultivates seasonal vegetables for the local community.

Each event centres on a menu prepared with ingredients grown metres from the scene. Guests are seated at long communal tables in the garden to enjoy dishes intended to reflect the season and the surrounding land. 

This year’s series – the largest to date – opens on Friday 31^st July with Ember at Roots. The fire-led cooking specialists bring their style to the garden for an experience built around wood, smoke and summer flavours, including charred vegetables and sourced meat or fish. Humble Grape will provide paired wines chosen to match the fire-led menu.

On Saturday 15^th August, Amber Francis, of BBC2’s Great British Menu, will host. Her menu will focus on vegetables, herbs and seriously fresh produce, with another paired wine flight from Humble Grape chosen for freshness and balance.

Humble Grape themselves return on Friday 29^th August as the headline act, placing wine at the centre of the evening. Each course will be designed to complement the glass served, with small-producer and low-intervention wines introduced as they are poured. The food remains seasonal and drawn from the market garden.

Mel Brown, chef sommelier and founder of The Laundry in Brixton, will hold a long-table supper on Saturday 5^th September. Her menu will be shaped around produce ready in the garden that week, progressing from lighter dishes to those with more depth as the evening continues – and Humble Grape on hand again with specially selected wines throughout.

The series concludes on Saturday 3^rd October with Late Summer Roots. This Tewinbury-led dinner marks the shift from late summer into autumn, with charred vegetables, slow-cooked elements, deeper sauces, warm breads and garden herbs, accompanied by wines chosen for their structure and depth.

Tewinbury Farm, a 700-acre country estate, also offers boutique accommodation alongside outdoor activities. Guests can stay in a variety of rustic-luxury lodgings, ranging from converted historic farm buildings to secluded lakeside cabins, woodland huts with private wood-fired hot tubs, and cosy shepherd’s huts. Beyond the rooms, the property invites exploration with scenic nature trails winding along the River Mimram, an active cookery school, a traditional farm shop and dedicated open-air spaces for yoga and wellness.

Food Desk

Roots opens on 31^st July 2026 at Tewinbury Farm, Welwyn, Hertfordshire AL6 0JB. For further information or to book tickets, visit the estate’s website here.