Beau Rivage - Tankerton

Above: Beau Rivage

We felt immediately at home stepping into the warm and welcoming little restaurant that is the Beau Rivage. Set back from the main Tankerton Road, it’s only a step away from the sea and, on a cold, blustery night was just what the doctor ordered.
A restaurant since the 1980s, Natalie and Richard Myers bought the place nearly three years ago and have not only redecorated but set about building on an already excellent reputation for fine food, and tempting in a younger clientele as well as the more established regulars.
Seating 40 in a 23/17 format split by an eye-level wall down the middle – trust me, it works – we chatted with Natalie in the smaller section containing the bar area while studying the tempting menu.

Passion for food
A bubbly, lovely young lady in sparkly silver slippers, her passion for good food and wine is immediately apparent. “I got my first kitchen job at 13 in a restaurant called Beverly’s, and I loved it. Now here I am, 20 years later, with my own restaurant,” she smiles.
Not only a talented businesswoman, Natalie is also responsible for the artwork hanging on the walls and her canvas-mounted digital photos are for sale; she also designs the striking menus that advertise her regular and hugely popular gourmet evenings. Her artistic touch is apparent, too, in the pretty grey, blue and white decor and the single white rose on each table.

Tian of hot smoked salmon and avocado is both pretty and delicious

Husband Richard, a golf course architect, spends his spare time looking after their two young children, freeing up his Thanet College-trained wife to spend half her week in the kitchen and the rest effortlessly stage managing front of house.
She is aided by a strong and loyal team, including head chef Jason Hurran, who trained at the National Sea Training Centre in Gravesend and was responsible for our feast. He has been at the Beau Rivage for 11 years now and, like Natalie, loves using locally-sourced ingredients, including fish from Dave Chapman in Sevenoaks and meat and game from Wincheap Butchers in Canterbury.
It was a tough choice, but I was delighted with my, while an extremely hungry Other Half loved his very generous serving of dry-cured ham and melon, artistically drizzled with blackcurrant coulis.

Local lamb
To follow, I plumped for the simplicity of fillet of wild halibut with a delicate chervil sauce, while TOH got stuck into pinkly tender rack of local Romney Marsh lamb with a herb crust and Rosemary-infused jus (I sneaked a bit, and it was perfection). Accompanying vegetables are a highlight – two sorts of potato, baby carrots, cabbage and broccoli – and makes you long for the days when they were a proper part of a restaurant experience and not just the fancy decoration.
Puddings are simple but very more-ish: I had a chewily delicious meringue with vanilla ice cream, butterscotch sauce and toasted pecans, and TOH looked very happy with his white chocolate cheesecake, though it did revive the old “why don’t you ever make puddings like this?” er, conversation.
Rising above this slur, I will, however, allow TOH the last word for once: “It’s all so splendidly unfussy here,” he pronounced. “It’s the sort of place you could bring your friends to and have a really good time.”
Couldn’t have put it better myself.

Words by Sarah Sturt pictures by Rob Turner