LOCAL TOURISM
IN THE NEXT
ISSUE...
We visit Bourne Hall
Country House Hotel
Head Chef
Allen Stayley
under the tutelage of world-renowned chef Anton Edelman.
Allen also worked briefly on the QE2, before moving to another toprated hotel, the Chewton Glen, where he worked under head chef
Pierre Chevillard, helping the hotel to achieve a Michelin star.
However, the Island lad always had a yearning to return home – so
when William Bailey offered him the job of head chef at the Royal,
he jumped at the challenge.
Allen explains that when he started out as a chef, he realised that to
get on in his career would mean having to leave the Island and work
in some of the top London restaurants.
“Things have changed on the Isle of Wight now though,” he says.
“There are more opportunities to cook at the top level, and all the
members of my team here have been developed on the Island”.
In fact, every one of the dozen chefs he now has working with him
is an ex-student of the Isle of Wight College. The strength of the
team, he says, is the main reason for the hotel’s success in
consistently maintaining food standards at two rosettes over a
number of years, whilst catering for up to 120 people at a time.
The hotel’s Appuldurcombe Restaurant has long been sought-out by
visitors to the Isle of Wight, but local residents have also caught on
to the hotel’s growing reputation for its Sunday lunch and dinner
menus – and diners in the know have rated the food as among the
Island Life - www.islandlifemagazine.net
best to be found on the Island.
Head chef Allen aims to source as much produce as possible locally,
including free range poultry from Brownrigg Poultry in Godshill –
and, of course the legendary crab and lobster caught off Ventnor
Bay. If he can’t get what he wants on the Island, then he sends his
refrigerated van to the big London markets, Smithfield, Covent
Garden and Billingsgate, to ensure that diners at the Royal are
served only the best.
As well as attracting a wider clientele for dinner and Sunday lunch,
the Royal has also built a thriving function trade. Not surprisingly,
the architectural grandeur of the hotel has made it a magnet for
wedding receptions – and now that the hotel has obtained marriage
licensing certification, families can hold the wedding ceremony
there too.
If you haven’t yet visited the Royal – or perhaps not for a while –
you might be in for a surprise. It’s certainly worth considering as
the venue for any family or business occasion you have on the
horizon, or simply for a special lunch or dinner with friends.
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