Pensons awarded Michelin Green Star

Visit Herefordshire is delighted to share the news that Pensons at the Netherwood Estate has retained its Michelin starred status for another year and also won its first Michelin Green Star.  Pensons is located at the point where Hereford, Worcestershire, and Shropshire meet and is the only Michelin starred restaurant in the three counties.

Fans of Pensons will know that the restaurant delivers on the Michelin Stars promise of outstanding cooking, including flavour, technique, expression, and consistency both over time and across the entire menu. 

The award of a Michelin Green Star is exciting as they are awarded to restaurants with the best sustainable practices. Only restaurants that combine culinary excellence with outstanding eco-friendly commitments are awarded Michelin Green Stars. 

Pensons head chef Chris Simpson said: “It’s the pinnacle for any chef to be awarded a Michelin star and I’m honoured to have one for another year, not to mention winning my first Green Star. 

“At Pensons I take great pride in showcasing local produce and it gives me great pleasure to work with the gardening team, not to mention local suppliers such as Little Pomona Cider, Legges, and Huntsham. 

 Restaurant owner Peta Darnley said: “Pensons prides itself on its admirable ‘estate to plate’ ethos. These Michelin awards are a testament to the talent and commitment of the entire team at Pensons and the Netherwood Estate.

“Where possible Pensons grows, forages, or farms much of its own produce and our kitchen garden allows chef Chris and his team to have the freshest ingredients possible, which is immediately noticeable in the flavours on the plate.  It also eliminates packaging, food miles, and environmental ‘nasties’.”

Pensons believes that this hyper-local ethos shouldn’t just be limited to ingredients and collaborated with local artisans to furnish the restaurant and courtyard bedrooms, for example using fabric woven on the Netherwood Estate’s own mill, as well as plates and bowls made by local potters, lampshades woven from local willow, and steak knives forged by a local blacksmith.

Pensons composts the uncooked fruit and vegetables waste from the kitchen, but they also shred cardboard waste from the restaurant, adding this to the compost heap as a valuable source of carbon and to aid aeration, allowing the compost to decompose more quickly. The gardening team also makes its own charcoal to create rich soil.

Pensons believes in the ‘no dig’ principle for creating new beds, excluding light from the soil and applying a deep layer of manure from the farmyard to eliminate weeds, improve the structure of heavy clay loam, and retain all-important microbes. It might not look the prettiest for a while, but patience pays off and after six months the beds are full of goodness and raring to be planted.

Guests can also tour the restaurant’s kitchen gardens, as well as visit Pensons’ Concept Store that stocks handpicked and handmade artisanal pieces and products. 

Find out more about Pensons restaurant and accommodation here.