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Combe House Devon selected for Alastair Sawday’s new guide ‘Eat Slow Britain’
Combe House Devon, a Grade I Elizabethan manor house hotel hidden in a lush 3,500 acre country estate near Exeter, has been chosen to appear in Alastair Sawday’s new guide, Eat Slow Britain as a champion of local and seasonal produce.
Eat Slow Britain recommends and celebrates some wonderful restaurants and organic producers. The restaurants are chosen for their owners’ commitment to supporting local suppliers, sourcing food grown without chemicals and to creating a convivial space for guests to dine. The Soil Association approved producers are some of Britain’s best and are all passionate about the importance of producing delicious food without harm to animals, land, humans or the environment.
Combe’s contemporary British cuisine is created by the hotel’s two Master Chefs of Great Britain, Hadleigh Barrett and Stuart Brown, who are ardent about sourcing the freshest and best quality local ingredients for their menus. In season, the majority of fruit, vegetables and herbs are from Combe’s own restored Victorian kitchen gardens.
Committed to sustainable hospitality, owner Ken Hunt said, “We have dug deep to find local producers whose principles we endorse and whose products are honest and evocative of local traditions. We want to bring back the cultural heritage of food.
“Our festival of spring lamb, which runs for six weeks from 6th June, features organic Dorset lamb from Blacklake Farm, just five miles from Combe. Sunday leg roasts, slow-cooked shoulders, rosemary-stuffed saddles and seared loins are just a few of the dishes on offer,” continues Ken. “This is true spring lamb, a flavour I remember from long ago. The Broomfields don’t force lambing in December to make the Easter market; their lambs arrive later so they feed on spring grasses and taste incredible.”
The new guide will help readers discover these and other inspiring dishes lovingly composed from local larders and the freshest ingredients, which have been worked up into something magical by some of the most gifted and creative chefs in Britain. It will feature 45 restaurants and 43 organic producers, plus a listing of the best food websites and blogs, an essay from Eric Schlosser and information on the Slow Food movement. Eat Slow Britain will be published early June 2010, priced at £19.99 (ISBN: 978-1-906136-37-6).
For more details about Combe House Devon call 01404 540400 or visit www.combehousedevon.com.
Behind the scenes with stars and staff a London’s Grosvenor House Hotel
The Grosvenor Hotel on London’s Park Lane is one of the world’s premier five-star hotels, an unabashed temple to extravagance and glamour. Built back in the 1920s on the site of the former London residence of the Dukes of Westminster, this magnificent palace of luxury today boasts some five hundred bedrooms, an opulent ballroom and a 2,000-capacity ‘Great Room’ that, over the years, has played host to an array of glittering events from society charity balls to TV award ceremonies.
In Celebrity Hotel, Neil Kirby, a former General Manager of the Grosvenor, looks back at his extraordinary rise from below-the-stairs washer-up to bespoke-suited manager and, in doing so, lifts the lid on this formidable institution. What emerges is an entertaining, highly amusing portrait of two contrasting worlds – the ‘below stairs’ world of the hundreds of pageboys, chambermaids, valets and porters who keep the hotel’s cogs turning and the exclusive, ‘above stairs’ one of the well-heeled, spoilt and super-rich. Themed chapters including weddings, royalty and Hollywood actors.
Neil Kirby began his career at London’s prestigious Grosvenor House Hotel on Park Lane at the age of 15½, washing up in the basement. He quickly progressed, working on a daily basis with Hollywood film stars, royalty, international politicians, top sportsmen, and many well-known celebrities. Neil eventually became General Manager of Grosvenor House, and in 2005 bought his own multi-million pound hotel in Eastbourne.
Paul James is the author of 93 books, including a number of royal biographies, and has ghosted many books for a wide range of celebrities.
Contact: Laura (01273) 720900 or laura@bookguild.co.uk