Gidleigh Park is a hotel and restaurant located in
Gidleigh, near
Chagford
Chagford is a market town and civil parish on the north-east edge of Dartmoor, in Devon, England, close to the River Teign and the A382, 4 miles (6 km) west of Moretonhampstead. The name is derived from ''chag'', meaning gorse or broom, and ...
, Devon, England. Chris Eden joined as Executive Head Chef in September 2019, following 12 years as Head Chef at Driftwood in Portscatho, Cornwall, which has held a Michelin star from 2012 to 2019.
The hotel belongs to Andrew Brownsword Hotels which was named AA Hotel Group of the Year 2017–18.
Description
Paul and Kay Henderson bought the hotel and restaurant in 1978. The building is a
Tudor–style
country house
An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...
set in 107 acres of gardens and woodlands.
In 2005, it was bought by entrepreneur
Andrew Brownsword who completed a renovation during 2007, refitting both the restaurant and the hotel, adding another ten bedrooms.
Michael Caines
Michael Andrew Caines (born 3 January 1969) is an English chef born in Exeter, Devon.
He was head chef of Gidleigh Park in Devon until January 2016. He is currently the executive chef of the Lympstone Manor hotel between Exeter and Exmo ...
took over as head chef of the restaurant in 1994 and held the reins for 21 years before leaving in early 2016 to pursue his own business ventures elsewhere. As of 2009, Caines was the Executive Head Chef, as he oversaw several other interests while Ian Webber remained on site as head chef.
Michael Wignall joined as Executive Head Chef in January 2016 after spending 8 years at The Latymer at
Pennyhill Park Hotel
Pennyhill Park Hotel is a 19th-century country house hotel and spa in Bagshot, Surrey in the south east of England.
History
The first historical reference to Pennyhill Park's land relates to when the site was used as a warning beacon point in ...
. In early 2018, Wignall left Gidleigh Park to pursue his own ventures. In January 2018, Chris Simpson took over as Executive Head Chef for 12 months after holding his position as Head Chef at Restaurant Nathan Outlaw for seven years.
Reception
Susan D'Arcy of
Times Online
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
reviewed the hotel and restaurant in February 2007. It described the restaurant as offering "some of the best dining in the UK".
The food received a score of nine out of ten.
[
In 2009, the hotel won the "Hotel of the Year award" in the Enjoy England Awards for Excellence. It was the first year that the small and large hotel categories had been absorbed into a single category based on quality.]The Fat Duck
The Fat Duck is a fine dining restaurant in Bray, Berkshire, England. It is run by celebrity chef proprietor Heston Blumenthal. Housed in a 16th-century building that had previously been the site of the Bell pub, the Fat Duck opened on 16 Aug ...
into second place, and Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley into third.
In 2013, the restaurant won Harden's Sunday Times Restaurant of the Year, along with Wine List of the year and came second for Best Service of the Year
See also
* Jesse Dunford Wood
Jesse Dunford Wood is an English chef and restaurateur. He is a frequent guest on the BBC program ''Celebrity MasterChef'', and won Time Out (company), Time Out's 2007 Best British Restaurant Award.
Early life and education
After schooling at Leig ...
, a notable chef trained at Gidleigh Park
References
External links
Gidleigh Park's chef Michael Caines interview
{{Michelin stars in the UK
Restaurants in Devon
Tourist attractions in Devon