There’s a new skipper at the helm of Lime Wood’s Raw & Cured. And as no one really likes change, it’s a brave decision to alter an institution! Well, as they say, that luck favours the brave and after sampling the modified proposition from Raw & Cured – the clean-cut dining operation serving Herb House members, hotel guests and spa clientele, I’d say we were the lucky ones!
Enjoy-It has been reviewing Limewood for years and always respected the literal offering from Raw & Cured, it’s not until there’s a little shake-up that one sees there can always be positive change.
The rather dynamic and well-educated (in food and nutrition) Ria Rhodes, who has spent many years in the Pig Hotels, was tasked with that very shake and has come up with a more rounded version of something that we all loved!
Her mantra for the change is: Repair, Restore and Reboot! And while the changes are subtle, they reflect a new ethos that runs right the way through the kitchens at the luxury hotel.
The new menus change daily from breakfast (see breakfast reviewed in this magazine) to the drink menu, lunches, and snacks and it represents a more modern dining experience.
Every day sees a new selection of sharing and grazing dishes such as spinach and butterbean hummus and dishes imported from Hartnett Holder & Co just across the driveway (something we hadn’t seen before) such as smoked salmon pâté… The introduction of dishes from the hotel could in principle erode the autonomy of Raw & Cured but quite to the contrary it strengthens its appeal, and makes complete sense…
There are still the raw dishes – Caesar salad, tomato salad, and raw and fermented fennel. There is the Cured – line-caught halibut ceviche and home-cured Loch Duart salmon for example. The new Hearty & Healthy choices include soup of the day with Hoxton sourdough, brown rice pasta salad, and Fluffet’s organic eggs ‘niçoise’ on organic pumpernickel with salsa Verdi. There are protein sides that one can add to anything – eggs, feta, and poached sustainable salmon. And then there is the ‘Good for the Soul’ section – cake of the day, meringues, seed bars, and classics such as raw rocky road.
The all-day dining is open to everyone, whether combined with a stint in the pool or spa or not, the offering is now available to a far wider audience and is sourced from more than just the facilities of Raw & Cured itself.
We dined from the new menu and found its lessened restrictions refreshing – almost as refreshing as the Chase rhubarb and Bramley apple gin and tonic just one of the features of the Naughty & Nice drinks menu along with Hambledon English sparkling and wine – and the menu is headed up with the Lime Wood signature Bloody Mary – how bloody marvelous!
All the charm of Raw & Cured remains, other changes include the courtyard’s partial covering to extend dining capacity in all weathers. Sit next to the swimming pool, at the open serving bar or outside and enjoy the new choices or stick with the original concept as it has not been lost by any means.
It’s time to embrace change and applaud those kitchen trailblazers – as we are the ones who benefit…
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