New sustainable seafood restaurant in Hastings to champion English wine

Husband and wife duo, Ben and Kate O’Norum, are to open a sustainable seafood restaurant that shines a light on English wine at Hastings Contemporary art gallery.

Boatyard will reside on the first floor of Hastings Contemporary art gallery

Due to open later this month, the sustainably focused Boatyard will serve locally sourced fish from the Hastings shore, plant-based dishes made with local produce from Sussex and Kent, and meat from lesser-used cuts.

The venue will be on the gallery’s revamped first floor, which boasts panoramic views of the English Channel and Europe’s largest fleet of beach-launched fishing boats. The drinks list at Boatyard will be built around biodynamic, natural and low-intervention wines, with several wines, craft beers and cocktails served on tap.

Boatyard at Hastings Contemporary art gallery is Ben and Kate O’Nourm’s second restaurant. Photo credit: Sebastian Hilditch / AYLC Photography

Among the English wines on pour will be Tillingham White, Pinot Blanc, Qvevri White and ‘R’ from former Gusbourne CEO, Ben Walgate’s Tillingham estate near Rye in East Sussex.

The restaurant will also serve Horsmonden Dry, Diamond Fields Pinot Noir and Limney Estate Sparkling from Davenport in East Sussex.

Head chef Nick Leonard’s menu will change daily depending on the fish, vegetables and ingredients local farmers, fisherman and suppliers have at hand, with meat dishes celebrating underrated and lesser-used cuts.

Brunch swill be served late into the afternoon and on Saturdays and Sundays, and will include everything from kippers and kedgeree to oysters and Bloody Marys.

Boatyard will also host a series of supper clubs, beginning with one focusing on sushi and Japanese izakaya dishes.

“We’re really excited to bring our love of local produce and low-intervention wines to such an iconic location overlooking the English Channel, and to have the chance to work so closely with Hastings’ famous fishing fleet in sourcing that produce.

“The fact that we can now source incredible natural wines from just a few miles away, and serve those wines on tap, is testament to how exciting the English wine scene has become,” Ben O’Norum said.

Boatyard is the second restaurant venture of former journalists Ben and Kate O’Norum, who founded Farmyard in St Leonards in 2018.