The story
Recognized in the recent Good Food Guide, The Fig Tree in Hurstpierpoint operates as an elegant dining venue offering fresh and seasonal dishes. James and Jodie Dearden established the modern British kitchen there in 2016. The rolling hills of the South Downs National Park frame the High Street location. Seasonal ingredients arrive directly from surrounding farms. The cooking style leans contemporary while respecting traditional British pantry staples.
Evening guests follow a six-course progression that shifts with the harvest. Lunch service offers a fixed-price carte instead. Starters like tandoori monkfish tacos and salt-beef crackers give way to mid courses pairing fresh crab with lemon and dill alongside truffle-scented quail. Vegetarian plates feature fiery horseradish with beetroot while a shared cheese plate closes the night.
English sparkling wine fills the glass list where a Coravin preservation system keeps bottles fresh. Prices begin at £26 for entry level selections. The dining room maintains an elegant yet relaxed atmosphere that matches the quiet High Street location. This contemporary British cuisine thrives on straightforward execution and local provenance.
Recognition
Details
History
2 Rosette Award for Culinary Excellence
Pretty Hurstpierpoint on the edge of the South Downs National Park has been home to James and Jodie Dearden's restaurant since 2016, and if all looks charmingly traditional from the outside, rest assured, James' cooking brings things right up to date. It's a tasting menu format in the evening, six courses (seven if you add a plate of British cheeses), with choice offered only at lunch (from a fixed-price carte). Regional produce plays its part across the board, and things get going with some genuinely contemporary amuse-bouches – tandoori monkfish taco, salt-beef cracker. There's classical good sense in combinations such as fresh crab with lemon and dill or the scent of truffle cutting through a quail dish with celeriac. Seafood is a strength – sea bass, say, with parsnip and tarragon, or turbot with more of that crab. A vegetarian tasting menu is packed with flavour too, perhaps fiery horseradish with beetroot and celeriac or tender leeks in crispy puff pastry, while rhubarb and custard makes a comforting finale. English sparkling wine gets its due on the drinks list, where the Coravin preservation system ensures plenty of cut-above offerings by the glass. Bottle prices open at £26.
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