One of the best day trips out of London is Rye, East Sussex, and it is likely to improve further with the launch of Harry’s, a new restaurant from the chef Matthew Harris. You might know his brother, Henry, the chef behind Bouchon Racine.
Harry’s comes from the team behind the Gallivant, a coastal hotel founded by Harry and Sigrid Cragoe and awarded a Michelin Key earlier this year.
Harris, who was at Bibendum and joins Harry’s as executive chef, has put together a menu that highlights local seafood and seasonal produce, and which leans heavily toward classical French cooking.
Signature dishes include freshly made terrines — crafted from local game, rare breed pork or foie gras — alongside local fish such as hake and bass caught from Rye Bay and Dungeness. Elsewhere, dishes will include wild foraged mushrooms, sea vegetables, Basque-style chicken and racks of Romney salt marsh lamb.
“The greatest thrill I derive from being here is the opportunity to cook what I love and to return to dishes I have cooked on and off throughout my life,” said Harris.
“These are dishes and ingredients that have stood the test of time and will, I hope, be enjoyed by many. I share Harry’s view that delicious food brings people together and is at the heart of our happiest memories.”
Set behind the beach, the hotel and restaurant is inspired by the Cragoes’ time in California during the Eighties and Nineties. By day, the space is filled with natural light and offers views of the sea across Camber Sands.
By night, it is a “romantic, candlelit retreat”. It also offers one of Britain’s largest selections of English wine, with Gusbourne and Oxney Organic Estate notable inclusions.
Cragoe said: “Harry’s is about creating a space where our local community can come together and feel a sense of escapism by the sea, we want to celebrate the beauty of where we are located and the simplicity of good, simple cooking and great wines — much of my inspiration has come from the pages of Simon Hopkinson’s cookbooks, so meeting Matthew a few years ago felt like divine intervention.”
Harry’s will open in February 2025. New Lydd Road, Camber, Rye TN31 7RB
