After a great meal, there’s nothing better than climbing
into a comfortable bed. Dedicated foodie Rufus Purdy goes from the Kentish
coast to the Scottish isles in search of Britain’s best places to eat and sleep.
Langford Fivehead
in Somerset
It has taken the British a while to come around to the idea
of a top-quality restaurant with rooms. Although country pubs have
traditionally provided space in which diners could crash out after their meal,
there has been little on these shores to rival the French auberge – where guest
can expect to enjoy a meal prepared by expert chefs from the finest seasonal,
local ingredients before climbing the stairs to sleep in comfort and luxury.
But the number of UK restaurants with rooms has been
increasing and several have opened in the past 18 months. In an era when it
seems every major hotel has a destination restaurant overseen by a star chef,
this less glitzy scene flourishes under the radar. Talented chef who don’t have
a TV series on their own range of cook-in sauces are realizing that by
providing accommodation within walking distance of their tables they can not
only boost their profits but also entire far-flung foodies who might not
otherwise have visited.
Duck egg and black
pudding at The Pig in Hampshire
Wearing the hats oh both hotelier and chef, however, is
hard. Increasingly savvy guests expect high levels of style, comfort and design
as well as fabulous food. So the successful restaurant with rooms has to excel on
two fronts. The food and wine, the main focus, must be of a standard worth
travelling for, while the accommodation has to hold its own against a very
healthy British boutique hotel scene. The following 10 places, for the most
part, walk that fine line very well indeed.
The Pig – Brockenhurst, Hampshire
The Pig hotel
As the brainchild of Hotel du Vin co-founder Robin Hutson,
The Pig is every bit as glossy and stylish as you would imagine. Its proximity
to London – about 90 minutes’ drive down the M3 – means that HdV’s core client
base has been kept close, while a gorgeous New Forest location ensures the kind
of rural seclusion stressed-out metropolitans spend their working weeks
dreaming about. And from the moment I arrive - when I’m greeted with Champagne
and a platter of homemade sausage rolls, cured hams and pork scratching – I
find myself adoring the place.
The Pig is based around a pretty, ivy-covered mansion and
spread over several acres of grounds in which ancient oaks tower over manicured
lawns. My room, in the former stable block, is an expert combination of
hip-hotel essentials – free-standing bath, polished floorboards, bold-print
wallpaper – and luxurious country-house comforts. As well as the homely wooden
furniture, log-burning stove and forest-themed artwork, there’s a dog basket
and a milk churn out in the porch.
Restaurant
at The Pig - Brockenhurst
Chef James Golding, formerly of The Ivy in London, creates
the Modern British cuisine served in the conservatory-style restaurant. Many of
the ingredients he uses come from The Pig’s beautiful kitchen garden, and many
others are sourced from the New Forest. My starter of home-smoked salmon,
served with an apple-and-chard salad, has a wonderful dendeness that comes from
the oak chips and Brockenhurst honey with which it is infused. My main course –
a 38-day-aged rib-eye steak from nearby Pennington Farm- comes with crispy
tobacco onions and a selection of mushrooms foraged from the forest only that
morning. The robust flavours are expertly matched and thoroughly satisfying.
The Pig may have been open only a year or so, but it feels
as though it’s been here for decades. Watch it become one of Britain’s most
successful country retreats.
Beaulieu Road, Brockenhurst, Hampshire (01590 622354; www.thepighotel.co.uk). Doubles from
$190, B&B. Dinner about $115 for two without wine.
