Casual dining – an exceptional diversion from the typical formal hotel dining experience.
Casual dining at its very best.
We are delighted to announce the arrival of Philip Clench as our new Head Chef.
Philip uses a Woodstone oven to roast fabulous fish, meat and game in his open-plan kitchen with a stylish pewtar bar top. His trademark home-baked breads, signature crudités and traditional desserts make an exceptional diversion from the typical 'fine dining' hotel experience.
Philip has worked as a chef in many of the region’s finest hostelries and cooked at three rosette level. Now, he feels he has come of age. His cooking can best be described as ‘country casual dining of the highest order’. Philip has never seen food as fashion. You won’t find froths and foams on his menus. Instead, he prefers to source good local food produce. Every week he scours local farmers markets, farm shops and ethnic delicatessens for interesting produce and seasonal ingredients.
Philip's great strength is the depth of his experience and breadth of his knowledge. He has been a licensed game dealer, had his own fish retail and wholesale business, and is a keen market gardener, still producing his own squash, fruit trees, soft fruits, beans, and rare varieties of potato.
The dining room is an old stone lodge, once used for Masonic ceremonies, which has fascinating stone carvings that remain a feature to this day.