Image shows: Lucknam Park exterior (credit: Adam Lynk)
Lucknam Park’s new Walled Garden Restaurant will open imminently, with plans to showcase the best local produce in a relaxed setting – the perfect foil to the hotel’s existing Michelin-starred Restaurant Hywel Jones. Rosanna Spence caught up with Alex Greene, head chef and the driving force behind the new concept.
Just over half an hour’s drive from Bristol lies a not-so-secret garden, complete with a brand-new restaurant that’s about to elevate Lucknam Park’s culinary offerings to new heights. The five-star hotel’s existing Brasserie has been developed into the Walled Garden Restaurant: a foodie dining destination that will illuminate the very best local produce, with its own kitchen garden providing vegetables alongside supplies from some of the best farmers in the country.
It’s not just the ingredients that will be sourced from the local area, though. The driving force behind the Brasserie’s transformation into the Walled Garden Restaurant has been head chef Alex Greene, who was born and bred in nearby village Stanton Saint Quintin.
After a relatively short stint working in kitchens, including the Royal Crescent Hotel & Spa in Bath, Greene joined the team at Lucknam Park’s other dining destination Restaurant Hywel Jones and worked there for around four years before moving across to the Brasserie.
It’s worth noting that Jones’ Chippenham-based eatery retained its Michelin star a few months ago amid a discouraging year for the south west, which saw Bristol’s star accolades reduced to one restaurant.
Greene’s vision for the Walled Garden Restaurant is that it complements Restaurant Hywel Jones perfectly, offering a more relaxed dining environment for people to enjoy, using many of the same quality suppliers as its Michelin-starred sibling, but with an accessible menu of small plates – in line with the changing eating habits of diners. The new restaurant, which will seat 88 guests and has space for 40 more to stand with drinks, will also be powered by people well versed in providing the same quality of drinks, food and service expected of Hywel Jones.
The talented bar manager Jordan Wiltshire and multiple chefs already working at Lucknam Park are keen to support Greene’s vision and ethos of showcasing a fantastic menu brimming with the best ingredients in the local area where possible, and the wider west country region. He’s also worked with many of his chef brigade before, as well as Ellie Dimes, who will be the Walled Garden senior restaurant manager heading the front-of-house team, is a trusted familiar face at Lucknam Park, having previously worked with Hywel Jones.
Time for a change
Lucknam Park is having a transformative year. Alongside opening the new restaurant, the hotel is also launching two new cottages for guests to stay in, and is making further improvements and additions to its luxurious spa.
What was the reasoning behind the Brasserie’s evolution? Greene explains that Lucknam Park is a lot bigger than it used to be, with cottages now dotting the estate (one sleeping up to 12 guests) and more guests than ever before seeking somewhere to dine each day. He notes that the evolution has in some respect been gradual, with his chef peers helping him develop the Brasserie into a real foodie destination in its own merit, rather than just another restaurant on site.
And what better way to help his concept make a name for itself on the local dining scene, than with a new name? With improved kitchen facilities, a larger chefs’ pass and new interiors allowing the space to possess all the romance and serenity of an English country garden, the Walled Garden Restaurant will honour its surroundings of the stunning private gardens (which are also receiving some TLC ahead of the opening, including the renovation of an existing nearby building into a smart cigar lounge) that also provide botanicals and aromatics for the food and drink menus.
The bounty of Lucknam Park’s developing kitchen garden in spring and summer will be pickled and fermented for starring roles on Greene’s autumn and winter menus. Elsewhere on the menu, spring lamb reared on the estate’s grounds will feature, as well as many local suppliers (Greene notes the area is home to some of the best farmers in the country) who already have a strong relationship with Lucknam Park.
Once opened and established, Greene will add a breakfast offering to the Walled Garden Restaurant, continuing the same ethos found throughout the day. Whether you visit for breakfast, a light lunch of small plates and sandwiches, or are joining for the full a la carte evening menu, Greene’s efforts to create outstanding dishes that are a love letter to Lucknam Park’s local area – in an environment where he can nurture and train other chefs to grow in their careers – will have you wanting to escape the city again and again.
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