Sussex


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-aa-rosettes-in-bloom-at-leonardslee-lakes-amp-gardens">AA Rosettes in bloom at Leonardslee Lakes &amp; Gardens</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2025/10/Untitled-design-246.jpg" alt="Interlude restaurant" class="wp-image-79792" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2025/10/Untitled-design-246.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2025/10/Untitled-design-246-800x800.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2025/10/Untitled-design-246-400x400.jpg 400w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2025/10/Untitled-design-246-768x768.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2025/10/Untitled-design-246-500x500.jpg 500w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Image credit: Interlude</figcaption></figure>



<p><a href="https://www.restaurant-interlude.co.uk" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Interlude</a>, the elite restaurant with rooms at Leonardslee Lakes &amp; Gardens, scored big at the recent AA Hospitality Awards, going home with the AA Restaurant with Rooms Overall Winner title and Four AA Rosettes. They’ll be added to trophy cabinet already agleam with a Michelin Star and a Green Michelin Star. Nor is their executive chef, Jean Delport, a stranger to the limelight, having previously made waves on the BBC’s Great British Menu, representing London and the South East and winning in both the fish and main courses – only the second chef in the show’s history to pull of that feat.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-room-for-more">Room for more? </h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="1500" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2025/10/Untitled-design-247.jpg" alt="Terre à Terre restaurant" class="wp-image-79798" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2025/10/Untitled-design-247.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2025/10/Untitled-design-247-533x800.jpg 533w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2025/10/Untitled-design-247-667x1000.jpg 667w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2025/10/Untitled-design-247-768x1152.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Image credit: Terre à Terre</figcaption></figure>



<p>Sussex also shone in the Tripadvisor Travellers&#8217; Choice Awards 2025, with six restaurants featured overall, four of them in the vegan and vegetarian category. Landing fifth place in that category was Hastings hot-spot Yaaze Cafe Bistro &amp; Meze Bar, praised for its sweeping views, lively vibe, and Mediterranean favourites. Brighton’s veteran Terre à Terre bagged eighth place for its playful take on veggie fine dining, fusing vibrant flavours with clever presentation. Their cocktails got a mention, too. The Fig in Rye came thirteenth (the halloumi salad and beetroot with creamed feta are winners every time but leave room for the cardamom pannacotta) and Moshimo, also in Brighton, came twenty-third for its well-stocked, ever-creative conveyor belt.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Feeling peckish now? Be sure to book for Brighton’s <a href="https://www.octoberbest.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">OctoberBEST</a>. Running from 11-26 Oct, it showcases irresistible menus from 38 of the city’s top eateries at an equally appealing £15, £25, £30 and £35 a pop. Terre à Terre and Moshimo are both taking part.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-an-extra-fine-vintage">An extra-fine vintage</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2025/10/Untitled-design-248.jpg" alt="Nyetimber harvest" class="wp-image-79799" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2025/10/Untitled-design-248.jpg 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2025/10/Untitled-design-248-800x533.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2025/10/Untitled-design-248-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2025/10/Untitled-design-248-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Image credit: Nyetimber</figcaption></figure>



<p>Good news for wine-lovers: Muddy hears it’s an early and exceptionally fine harvest across the county’s many vineyards this season. Earlier on, the Rathfinny Wine Estate in Alfriston was taking no chances as their crop ripened, bringing in a team of falcons, hawks and eagles to protect its grapes from other birds in lieu of plastic netting. </p>



<p>Over in Hassocks, Ridgeview’s harvest began last week, earlier than usual, and has winemakers very excited. Vineyard Manager Matt Strugnell says it’s been “a dream year” for the vines. </p>



<p>A spokesperson for West Chiltington’s Nyetimber has put their bumper crop down to a very warm, sunny spring followed by a hot and dry June. A 500-strong team is required to bring in a 2,000-ton harvest that should produce 1.8 million bottles of sparkling wine. </p>



<p>They’ve plenty to toast right now, having not only become sponsor of England Rugby, but also bagged a trophy for best sparkling wine in the world, becoming the first non-Champagne to win Champion Sparkling Wine at the International Wine Challenge. Their Blanc de Blancs 2016 Magnum triumphed after judges blind-tasted 1,000 wines (nice work etc). The vineyard’s head winemaker, Cherie Spriggs, was also named Sparkling Winemaker of the Year for the second time. Her initial victory back in 2018 made her the first person outside France to ever win the award and she remains its only female winner (throwing a pointed look in your direction, vineyards!).</p>



<p>Keen to get to know some of your local producers a bit better? Check out the <a href="https://www.visit1066country.com/things-to-do/rother-wine-triangle-p2620641" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Rother Wine Triangle</a>, the first trail from Sussex Winelands, who are out to give Napa Valley a run for its money.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-birthday-drinkies-with-an-electrolyte-boost">Birthday drinkies &#8211; with an electrolyte boost</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2025/10/Untitled-design-249.jpg" alt="Golden Tide Chai from Lindfield Coffee Works' collaboration with Cove Reformer Studio" class="wp-image-79801" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2025/10/Untitled-design-249.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2025/10/Untitled-design-249-800x800.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2025/10/Untitled-design-249-400x400.jpg 400w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2025/10/Untitled-design-249-768x768.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2025/10/Untitled-design-249-500x500.jpg 500w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Golden Tide Chai</figcaption></figure>



<p>Exciting tipples of a non-boozy kind are on offer at Lindfield’s <a href="https://www.covereformerstudio.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Cove Reformer Studio</a>. The boutique workout joint nabbed a Muddy Award for Best Pilates Studio in Sussex within just six months of opening, and now it’s celebrating its first birthday this month with a Lindfield Coffee Works (LCW) collab menu of limited-edition October drinks. Co-created with Cove’s nutritionist, the wellness-led beverages blend seasonal flavours with functional benefits. The Golden Tide Chai is a cocktail of spices, turmeric, black pepper, maple syrup and cinnamon, all shaken up with a choice of milks. The Pink Bramble Electrolyte features coconut water, lime, and LCW’s homemade blackberry and beetroot syrup. Either would be pretty perfect post-Reformer or Run Club session (or even pre-, we won&#8217;t judge!). </p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cute-pooch-alert">Cute pooch alert! </h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2025/10/Untitled-design-251.jpg" alt="Award-winning pet photographer Joanna Jones" class="wp-image-79803" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2025/10/Untitled-design-251.jpg 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2025/10/Untitled-design-251-800x533.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2025/10/Untitled-design-251-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2025/10/Untitled-design-251-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /></figure>



<p><a href="https://www.joannajones.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Joanna Jones</a>, a dog and pet photographer based near Chichester, has bagged the People’s Vote Award in the international 1839 Photographer of the Year Contest. Her winning image, titled ‘Living His Best Life’, captures Deeks, a friend’s dog, as he scampers in woods at West Sussex’s Slindon Estate.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Her journey into photography began with love and loss. After losing her beloved Westie quite suddenly, she was heartbroken to realise she had no meaningful photographs of him, so when her Cavapoo came along, she invested in a decent camera and started snapping. Sharing her photos with family and friends, made her realise she had an eye for photography, and her very personal project became a career.&nbsp;</p>



<p>She set up her business in 2023 and this was the first time she’d entered her dog photography in a competition. “It came as such a surprise,” she says. “To know that the public voted for my portrait makes it even more special, because these are the people I hope my work connects with.”&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-if-walls-could-talk">If walls could talk&#8230;</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2025/10/6.jpg" alt="The Malthouse Steyning - property for sale" class="wp-image-79805" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2025/10/6.jpg 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2025/10/6-800x533.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2025/10/6-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/sussex/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2025/10/6-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Paul Newman ate here! Image credit: TLC Real Estate Services Ltd</figcaption></figure>



<p><a href="https://www.tlclondon.com/the-malthouse/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Malthouse</a> in Steyning is newly reduced from a cool £2m to £1.65m, and was the Sussex perch of not one but two legendary stars of stage and screen. Joan Plowright and her husband Laurence Olivier holed up there when they needed a break from London and Hollywood. Originally two cottages, the couple bought the seven-bedroom property in the early 1960s, and its tennis court and swimming pool have been enjoyed by guests including Paul Newman, Sir Ian McKellen and Maggie Smith.&nbsp;</p>



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<p><strong><em>In the mood for more? </em></strong></p>



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Superflash! Foodie winners, birthday drinks and prize dog photography

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