The story
At Sorrel on Dorking’s South Street, cooking is both the craft and the conversation. The open kitchen places chefs directly in view of every table, turning dinner into a shared creative process. It is an approach that has earned Sorrel a Michelin star for high‑quality cooking.
Chef Patron Alex Payne brings a deep respect for classical dishes and timeless flavours. His training in British and European cuisine informs a style that refines tradition without losing its heart. “At the heart of my cooking is a deep respect for classical dishes,” he says. The kitchen works with the best seasonal produce, letting each ingredient speak through precise technique.
Sorrel is an unassuming restaurant with 28 covers across two intimate floors. Upstairs, diners watch the kitchen in action; downstairs, a fireplace warms the room during colder months. The open‑kitchen philosophy means Alex and his team often serve dishes themselves, sharing the stories behind each plate. The atmosphere is welcoming and direct, without pretence.
Two menus change with the seasons. The Exploratory Menu offers a la carte choices such as Brixham Red Mullet with courgette and potato, or Herdwick Lamb with smoked almond and purple sprouting broccoli. Lunch is £79, dinner £99. The Signature Tasting Menu (£159) unfolds over several courses: Orkney Scallop with morels and N25 caviar, Scottish Turbot with cauliflower and Argentinian red prawns, Herdwick Hogget with wild garlic, and finishes such as Gariguette Strawberry with mint, or Cuban Chocolate with hazelnut and Armagnac. The style is modern British – grounded in classics, but with clear, contemporary precision.
Sorrel’s cooking is disciplined yet warm. Each dish aims to create a memory that lingers long after the last bite, and the Michelin star simply confirms what guests already feel: this is fine dining at its most personal.
Recognition
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High quality cooking
*Owner Steve Drake is stepping back from the kitchen to concentrate on other projects and has appointed Alex Payne (previously at the Tudor Pass, Egham) as his new chef-patron. Watch for a new review coming soon.* Steve Drake is a local legend in Surrey, having spent 14 years at Drakes in Ripley before decamping to Dorking in 2017. Since then, Sorrel has become a real asset to the town and continues to go ‘from strength to strength’. Occupying a series of smartly turned out, low-ceilinged rooms in a Grade II-listed building complete with beams and standing timbers, it’s a thoroughly agreeable spot. Proceedings revolve around a multi-course ‘Discovery’ menu that runs effortlessly from ‘departures’ (exquisite mouthfuls such as apple and curry meringue) to ‘journey’s end’ (jasmine and lemon bonbon, miso fudge etc). In between, the cooking is of the moment, subtle but also razor-sharp when it comes to teasing out flavours from the finest seasonal ingredients. Pork belly might be paired with mussels, raw broccoli and piquillo pepper, while guinea fowl could be given the ‘coq au vin’ treatment, with parsley root and chocolate adding their own unexpected notes to a reinvented classic. Hand-dived scallops feature regularly (perhaps with crushed apple, turnip miso, Ortiz anchovy and turnip leaf oil), while dessert often heralds a voguish sweet-savoury confection (grapefruit, shiitake, coffee, peanut and passion fruit, for example). A more manageable three-course option (also framed by 'departure' and 'journey's end' nibbles) suits the lunchtime crowd. The whole package is enhanced by efficient, considerate staff who explain everything in knowing detail and serve dishes at ‘just the right speed’, allowing diners time to take it all in. A constantly evolving, contemporary wine list aims to match the flavours of the season, with quality and value across the board, and plenty of accessible by-the-glass options for easy drinking.
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