ILLUSTRATION
RICKARD WESTIN
WITH THANKS TO
VISIT SCOTLAND
dining-out junkies
can be a bit snobbish when it comes to hotel
food and as someone who used to work in a hotel restaurant, I
can understand why. The kitchen was always so busy with room
service, private parties, weddings and golf-wife coffee mornings
that fine dining was, understandably, the last thing on the agenda.
However, a growing number of chefs are cooking with so
much skill and daring that they’re making the hotel restaurant a
place to visit in its own right. Take Michael Wignall, the recent
recipient of two much-deserved Michelin stars at The Latymer,
Pennyhill Park Hotel (
pennyhillpark.co.uk
),
in Surrey. His seafood
cassoulet, a heavenly confluence of clams, baby squid and
cuttlefish, is more than enough reason to head out to the beautiful
British countryside. He sums the difficulties up very well: “It’s not
ideal for a chef, because things go on in a hotel that you don’t
really want to go on – we’ve got weddings at the weekend and
kids running around.” But he also points to the flipside:
“
We’ve got the support of the rooms and it’s just
that little bit easier when you’ve got a £20m
business behind you.”
That seems to be the key: when hotels
have the good sense to let skilled chefs
get on with what they do best, the financial
clout of the hotel is a welcome bolster. Just look at the creative
cooking of Nuno Mendes at London’s Town Hall Hotel (
viajante.
co.uk
)
or the Galvin Brothers’ two new restaurants in Edinburgh’s
newly restored Caledonian hotel (
galvinrestaurants.com
).
The brothers, who are renowned for their French restaurants
in London, have had creative control from the outset and it shows.
These are restaurants that just happen to be in hotels and they
have all the hallmarks of their London siblings.
The Galvin Brasserie de Luxe, on the ground floor of the
hotel, is sumptuous and buzzy, with plush blue banquettes and
hearty, French brasserie fare. The Pompadour, upstairs, has listed,
ornate painted wall panels; views over Edinburgh Castle and a
gourmet tasting menu as well as à la carte. It’s a grand, special-
occasion dining room in the mould of some of Paris’s finest hotel
restaurants and chef Craig Sandle, previously of Number One
at The Balmoral, is doing wonderful things to prime
Scottish produce. Indeed, crab and scallop mousse
lasagne and slow-roasted rabbit are a far cry
from stale club sandwiches and curly fries. So,
next time you’re booking a holiday, don’t rule
out hotel dining. If you do your homework,
you might even want to factor it in.
Eat, stay, love
A L O T O N H E R
P L A T E
Hotel restaurants may have a bad rep, but an increasing number of top
chefs are changing things for the better, says
Rosie Birkett
When you book a
holiday, don’t rule out
hotel dining. If you do your
homework, you might even
want to factor it in
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V I E W P O I N T S
