Michael Caines' Devon

With surf and turf yielding top-notch produce, romantic moorland and quaint seaside towns and villages, Devon’s charm is unrivalled. Michael Caines gives us a tour of his home county that instantly catapults it to the top of the list for our next staycation

On the northern edge of Dartmoor National Park, in the speck of a village that is Crockernwell – 19km west of Exeter and a short yomp to the comparative metropolis of Cheriton Bishop (population: 652) – Michael Caines gets daily reminders of why he loves his home county of Devon. His regular runs take him down the trails that weave their way through the natural beauty of the moors, including his favourite spot, Fingle Bridge, a 17th-century stone-arch bridge across the River Teign.

‘I just love that spot,’ he says. ‘I feel very privileged to be able to go for runs and walks on the moors. Some of my earliest memories are of adventures on Dartmoor, taking strolls with the family, enjoying the sense of freedom.

‘You don’t appreciate what you have in Devon until you move away,’ he continues. ‘When you grow up you don’t know any different – I was born in this area, and for the first eight years I lived in Cullompton (north of Exeter). It’s this rural area where you’d play on farms with your friends and have all these lovely meadows to run about in – my childhood was amazing. Then we moved to Exeter and you have the trappings of a city, albeit a small city of about 128,000, but you’re still only half an hour to the coast or Dartmoor.’

It was around Dartmoor that Michael also made his name in the food world, holding two Michelin stars for 18 consecutive years while heading up the kitchen of Gidleigh Park, a manor house at Chagford, in the northerly part of Dartmoor’s 954 sq km expanse.

Three years ago, Michael moved east again to open up his own country house hotel, the Georgian, Grade II-listed Lympstone Manor near Exmouth. He earned his first Michelin star within six months but, at the time of our interview, like the rest of the industry, has had to temporarily close its doors. ‘We’re a hotel, we’re not in a location to do takeaway, we’ve also got more restoration work to do, live-in staff to look after, to man and secure the building and continue with the vineyard,’ he explains. ‘So there’s plenty to do, but we have had to furlough 90 per cent of the staff.

‘We’re all in the same boat though, so we can’t bemoan our fate, we’re all in this together and, while we’d like to return to normal, the more pressing need is how we beat coronavirus, and to think about people on the frontline.’

He believes, however, that when movement restrictions in the UK begin to ease, Devon will be high on the go-to list of many. ‘We’re beautifully poised to benefit, if you allow yourself to look beyond this,’ he says. ‘International travel may take time to come back, people will look towards the staycation, and that’s where Devon comes in.

‘You go from the great expanse of Dartmoor, with its prehistoric remnants, hill forts and Neolithic landscape that feels like it has been untouched for centuries, and then you contrast that with seaside strolls along the beaches at Dawlish Warren, Exmouth or Torbay.

‘There are differences between north and south, too. You’ve got the rugged feel of the coast and headlands in the north and then it has a different feel in the south. In between, you have wonderfully contrasting moorlands in Exmoor and Dartmoor. You can camp on Dartmoor. You can hike around, responsibly have a fire, pitch a tent, then go off walking again the next day. There’s also mountain biking, trail running and, in Exmoor, there are even routes for off-road driving.’

As Michael takes us on a tour of Devon, he covers, all corners of the county, flitting between areas. We head north. ‘North Devon is really remote. Here you’ve got places like Combe Martin and Wild Pear Beach, which are not that well known – they’re sparsely populated and absolutely beautiful.’

He takes us east. ‘One of the places I love to go is Budleigh Salterton – it’s a pebble bed on the Jurassic Coast that has this wonderful geology, and the coastline takes in Lyme Regis, too.’

Then we go south. ‘I love the outcrop of Berry Head [the Torbay headland home to the Napoleonic forts of Brixham] where you can look out over to Paignton, Torquay and right back across Lyme Bay.

‘Heading further south, you’ve also got Salcombe – a great place to sail – and, perhaps better known, are Dartmouth, Totnes and South Hams. Then, in and around all of these are lots of little hidden places, little villages and beautiful coves, right along the coastline.’

He completes the circuit with the Cornwall-bordering Plymouth. ‘There’s so much naval history here, an incredible fort, Drake Island, cliff walks and, although it was heavily bombed during the war, if you look back at the city from the seam, you can still see a lot of its heritage. Take a boat trip up the Tamar, and you’ll go past the naval docklands and it’s stunning – one of the biggest naval ports in Europe.’

When Devon activities allow time to stop for lunch or dinner, Michael says visitors are well covered, too. ‘We’ve got these amazing pastures,’ he says, ‘so beef does really well. We’ve South Devon and North Devon, which are native breeds and are fantastic. You get good milk, too. You don’t have huge expansive areas to farm here, it’s all about making the most of this patchwork of contrasting landscapes, so the local breeds have evolved to give you the choice of dairy and meat production. The quality of the grasslands means that both are superb.

‘Devon has the largest amount of food producers,’ he continues, ‘more than any other county, and the mild climate means our season for vegetables and fruit lasts longer, too. We’ve got organic farmers like Riverford, the Sharpham wine estate – there’s a lot of vineyards here now – and then we have cheeses, which are incredible.

‘Quicke’s, Ticklemore, Sharpham – just look at The West Country Cheese Company’s website to see how wonderful the area’s offering is. The makers are all so passionate. Over the years, because of the quality of the milk, Devon cheese has just blossomed. Pork and poultry are good, too,’ he adds, continuing the food leg of his tour, ‘and we have great early lambs.’

Best of all though, is the fish. ‘We’re very lucky that, in Brixham, we have the largest landing port for fishing in the UK,’ he says. ‘There’s incredible scallop beds, lobsters, turbot, brill, mullet, mackerel, hake, cod, razorclams, all the shellfish, flatfish – a bounty of seafood.

‘We have the widest array of fish, because Brixham has access to the warmer waters right down to the Bay of Biscay, so we even get tuna sometimes. And we’re not just getting it from Brixham, Exmouth has some 13 boats landing there, and there’s also Plymouth.

‘Devon is like south-west France,’ Michael says, ‘it has a larder better than anywhere else in the UK, even Europe, because of the incredible resources of land and sea.’

Just as the restaurant industry has grown exponentially in all parts of the UK in the last 20 years, the same applies to Devon. ‘Our food guide, The Trencherman’s Guide, has been going for 30 years. When it started there weren’t even 30 good restaurants in the entire South West, now you have that number in Devon alone.

‘It’s hardly surprising given what they have available to work with on the produce side. Now, there are so many wonderful restaurants making the most of this abundant larder.

‘There are really fantastic places to eat like The Elephant in Torquay, Gidleigh Park, Thomas Carr in Ilfracombe, The Angel – Taste of Devon, in Dartmouth. At The Angel you’ve got chef Elly Wentworth, who has done a great job in a restaurant that has been famous ever since Joyce Molyneux won a Michelin star there (when it was The Carved Angel) back in 1974.

‘It’s not just about stars though, you’ve got The Farmers Arms in Bideford, a lovely rural retreat with a thatched roof, the Salutation Inn at Topsham, Boringdon Hall, just outside of Plymouth, the NoBody Inn at Exeter – there are so many places, small ones, too, with up-and-coming chefs emerging from pub kitchens. I think when we get beyond this, and people open again, there’s going to be a fantastic scene waiting for us.

‘We’re going to appreciate the beauty of the freedom we’ve been given, and people will want to get out and soak up how beautiful Devon and England is. We always go away to Italy, France and Spain in search of the sun, and we’re sometimes too quick to get away from this country. But Devon is as beautiful as anywhere in the world.

‘So many people just travel through Devon to get to Cornwall, where it’s cramped and busy, but there’s more space here in Devon, and there’s more beauty in Devon, so people should stop passing through and stop to take it all in.’

Michael's Pit Stops

The Elephant, Torquay ‘Run by talented chef-owner Simon Hulstone, this bright and informal restaurant serves excellent, Michelin-starred food that celebrates local and sustainable ingredients. He also uses produce from his dedicated farm in Brixham.’ elephantrestaurant.co.uk

The Angel – Taste of Devon, Dartmouth ‘Chef Elly Wentworth has proven herself to be a wonderful cook and now, in her first role as head chef, she isn’t disappointing and it’s great to see this iconic restaurant once more under the helm of a talented woman. Expect changing menus that make the most of the seasons and the wonderful Devon larder and expansive views over the harbour.’ theangeldartmouth.co.uk

The Farmers Arms, Woolsery ‘Woolsery is a beautiful village and this thatched restaurant has been renovated with care. Heading up the kitchen is my old head chef Ian Webber, a brilliant cook with a passion for using all things local and from their farm.’ woolsery.com

Masons Arms, Knowstone ‘Chef-owner Mark Dodson and his wife Sarah have held a Michelin star for 10 years for their simple, high-quality cooking. Set within a 13th-century thatched inn, a warm welcome, attentive service and great local food is a given.’ masonsarmsdevon.co.uk

Words by Alex Mead.

This interview was taken from the June/July 2020 issue of Food and Travel.

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