Page 15 - Enjoy-it 2024

The sun always shines on the prestigious Chewton Glen! Certainly, in our experience it does, and we have visited this exquisite hotel since the inception of the magazine and it is always a delicious highlight.
Arriving in its most beautiful of grounds in the Hampshire countryside, with easy access from all points of the compass, the sun is indeed shining and we are welcomed to The Kitchen, the stand-alone restaurant and cookery school at the top of the hotel’s meandering drive, warmly with informed service and a smile, this is such a treat.
The Kitchen is directed and regularly attended by the charming James Martin, this is where standards consistently exceed already heighty expectations.
We are seated with grace on such a beautiful day at an outside table for two. Enough shade to keep us cool – along with the assistance of the Champagne and chilled wine of course, and enough space between tables to ensure privacy, yet allowing for a reassuring level of company.
We are chaperoned through the starters, mains and directed to some real delights, we follow advice and are thrilled with our choices.
We nibble on pickles, artisan bread and stone baked flatbread of the day (pulled lamb), which tease us into the afternoon. Chat turns to the hotel, its stunning wildlife sculptures from the Born Free Foundation prowling through the grounds, the spa, the Dining Room and the beautiful hotel itself, the unique Treehouses and how many incredible guests we have met along the way.
Out starters of the highly popular burrata and a classic prawn cocktail refresh as they are shared, each of us keen to sample all the wonders that chef has to offer.
Mains of Cornish cod with barbequed octopus, chorizo, romesco sauce, samphire and charred tenderstem
and New Forest asparagus with hot smoked salmon,
hollandaise and caper salad are unreal. The barbeque and charred smokiness of the cod dish was stunning and the cod flaky and succulent.
The local asparagus is plump and flavoursome – the buttery salmon complimented by the creamy hollandaise and the al dente asparagus.
We savour a lengthy wait with a glass of wine, (as requested, as we may have just overdone it with the delights that have gone before!) and hold out for the spectacular knickerbocker glory special and the best pudding that we have had this season, The Kitchen Apple – apple and hot tatin, an intricate, beautifully presented and reconstructed apple – quite the highlight.
We adore it here at the Chewton Glen, it would be impossible not to. We are looked after by professional friends, we eat like kings and queens and chat to like- minded guests and share stories of adventures of dining, life and the Chewton Glen.
There is so much to enjoy here, a sublime stay, the cookery school, garden-to-plate walks with estate manager Darren Venables, afternoon teas to supper clubs in the Kitchen. It’s all for the enjoying – you will be spoiled rotten however you enjoy the Chewton Glen.
Chewton Glen, New Forest, Hampshire, BH25 6QS 01425 282 212
www.chewtonglen.com
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