Breakfast, light bite meals or a snack at Tibbs Farm café is a very happy experience (when Covid rules permit) and, getting ready to open after lockdown, this beautifully situated oak frame café on Udimore Road probably has the most lovely views which match the take-away produce on offer.
As you open the entrance door you immediately feel it would be a nice place to linger, calming and peaceful, when lockdown allows. But the reasons you go there are for the range of edibles on the counter and beyond. You feel nothing can be bad in that place, in fact everything will be good. The astounding setting is key.
At present the farm provides most of the produce. Immediately as you enter there is a range of baked goods, chocolate brownies, choc chip cookies, gluten free banana bread, apple blackcurrant tart plus more as well as a range of savouries equally excellent. We had a Tibbs ciabatta with cheddar, ham, mixed leaves and chilli mayo and enjoyed it very much. It made a very tasty substantial takeaway lunch.
Showcasing a range of food
Its all about fruit at Tibbs so you can expect to see all of sorts of fruits appearing on the menu at times throughout the year. The aim is to showcase the versatility of the amazing fruits that are grown, be it a strawberry, raspberry or gooseberry.
You can also buy a range of fresh ingredients, especially pork, sausages, vegetables and eggs. Some wonderful jams and chutneys are also available. There is serious care taken over all the food on offer here, and there is the impression that it matters and that is important. The coffee and other hot drinks are also very good, and everything is carefully presented in biodegradable cups and boxes for taking away.
There are those who will tell you that places like this are a solution to the apparent iniquities of urban mass produced food retail, of long supply chains and concrete jungles so far from the fields. We could all eat simply and local if only we put our minds to it, and lifted the paving stones to find the dark fertile earth beneath. How lucky are we that all it takes is a short drive up the Udimore Road!
Tibbs Farm is a place in which the old traditional skills are kept alive, there are fruit trees, strawberries, hops and sheep. But there are other less tangible virtues to do with simple wellbeing and an environment that has been nurtured and cared for over the past 65 years by the same family. The farm has returned the favour, by nourishing the community within which it sits. The walking trails are as delightful as you can imagine.
But more than anything else, it is just a lovely place to be. Is it a culinary destination? Arguably it is. It’s also the sort of place you visit if you happen to be nearby. Now all you have to do is come up with a good excuse to be nearby. It’s only moments from Rye and more than worth the trip.
Image Credits: m.ivatts .
Yes Tibbs is a lovely place to be and the farm trails which have been available during lockdown are a delight! Working from home in Rye at the moment it has been a naughty but nice treat! When on my way back from visiting a house (I’m an estate agent) Tibbs can be on my route home and that takeaway lovely hot chocolate and sausage roll is such a pull! Their belly pork is yummy too! Well done Tibbs for thinking out of the box during these difficult times and look forward to when we can sit and admire that lovely view!
With so many people criticising Rye news reporters, i have too smile why free advertising is being given to the likes of Tibbs cafe by some, surely if people wish to drum up business for some of these outlets, the best way forward is to ask them to advertise their businesses in the news,i am sure the extra revenue will help the news,but sadly we are seeing more and more of people’s preferences for different outlets, which is a back door to free advertising.
It’s good to hear about great local places to
eat at and visit and the quality of the article makes you want to do that even more! Very engaging and interesting journalism. Thank you for a local journal of an exceptionally high standard.