Top chef takes helm at Oxfordshire Country House Hotel and Restaurant

Fallowfields Hotel and Restaurant at Kingston Bagpuize in Oxfordshire has announced an award-winning head chef will take the helm there from the beginning of March 2013. Matt Weedon first gained a Michelin star at Glenapp Castle in Ayrshire and then at Lords of the Manor near Cheltenham. Altogether, he has held the accolade for a total of six years, and is said to be one of the top 100 chefs in the country. While Matt heads up the kitchen, his wife Rachel will run the restaurant. Rachel brings her experience as Restaurant Manager for some of Britain’s top restaurants and Country House Hotels. She has worked at Hambleton Hall, Blantyre, L’ortolan  The Waterside Inn, Glenapp Castle and Lords of the Manor.

Asked why they chose to move to Fallowfields, Rachel and Matt said: “Our hearts have always been in the small Country House Hotel environment; and in Fallowfields, we saw owners with a clear vision that matched our own: – Exceeding guest expectations by delivering superlative food and service.” “In addition,” said Matt, “it is also the perfect opportunity to increase my skills as I work with my own farm, kitchen garden and orchards – an amazing “field to fork” control over my ingredients has to be every chef’s dream come true.”

Owned by Peta and Anthony Lloyd, Fallowfields opened its fine dining restaurant in October 2011. Anthony says: “Peta and I are simply delighted that Matt and Rachel Weedon are joining us. With Matt at the helm in the kitchen and Rachel in the restaurant, Fallowfields will move forward and become ‘one of the best fine dining experiences in Oxfordshire and surrounding counties.’”

Ends

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Thoughts from a restaurateur on the horsemeat scandal!

- I love horses, particularly on the “backs” at Lambourne or in the Gold Cup. And our “rescue” pony who has been with us for the last 6 months.

-I have eaten horsemeat [knowingly] in France…my point is I do not want to eat it unknowingly…..and particularly because some scoundrel is profiteering or being downright criminal somewhere down the complex chain.
- I definitely do not want to ingest noxious chemical substances no matter in minute quantity. There are already enough risks to health for our beloved NHS to clear up!

- I am truly concerned that if we cannot get the species right on the label, are we getting the animal welfare right…this just does not bear thinking about.

- I am outraged for our Muslim citizens who may have eaten pork unknowingly.
- I believe fervently in the phrase “it does what it says on the tin”….unfortunately it seems no longer can the tin be trusted…..nor the packet nor the shrink-wrap!
- I passionately believe in the free market. However, cannot stand being lied to….in the guise of the free market.
- I hear the thought that it is us the consumer who gained the habit of cheap food during WW2, and has not been able to let go of it.

You are what you eat…they say. And, I want to determine exactly what I am thank you!

It seems you could be at risk of eating horsemeat unknowingly in a school dinner, or in hospital food, in a burger bar or indeed if you eat in one of our large pub chains. You might also be at risk if you buy processed foods from some supermarkets.
So where can you eat safely?

I am tempted to say I know wot of a little place in darkest Kingston Bagpuize. But that would be self promoting…

However, it is all of the above that many years ago, drove us to become so much more self sufficient. The only risk of my Dexter cows being “contaminated” by a horse is when they graze in the same field as our rescue pony! The only risk of eating pork here is if you have chosen it from our menu. Our vegetables from the kitchen garden are uncontaminated by chemicals, as is the fruit from around 150 trees in our orchards. In the process, we also are supporting rare and British native breeds, and, protecting the bio-diversity of farm livestock.

Am I right…please do comment below

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We are one of few wedding venues in Oxfordshire with a beautiful rose arbour

Several years ago, my wife Peta checked out some of the many wedding venues in Oxfordshire. She could not find one with a beautiful rose arbour. She had this vision of Brides having a photograph taken against a profuse backdrop of roses. Apparently, this had to be remedied soonest! Peta set about her research – roses, rose growers and arbour construction. Our groundsman marked out the site, dug the holes and suitably manured them. Finally the timber was picked up and construction began. In all, the arbour is about 100 feet long [30 metres]

Oh yes and some 40/50 climbing roses had been ordered too. With the arbour constructed, planting could now begin. So in the Spring of 2008 we saw the fruits of her labour and the first blossoms appeared  The arbour has been beautiful ever since. However, despite rigorous training we could never get the roses to arch over the top and join with those on the other side.

 The solution came in for coffee one day

The rose arbour at Fallowfields

Then, the maestro himself came along. The Robert Mattock of Robert Mattock Roses Ltd, who have been growing roses for generations. Robert’s business is the creation and generation of rose gardens; not only in wedding venues in Oxfordshire like ourselves, but around the globe. He counts oligarchs and big country houses as his customers.

Robert diagnosed that we had planted the wrong type of climbing rose. We would never be able to train them to arch gracefully over and produce that ultimate profusion of flowers her Ladyship wanted. Needless to say, our expert had just what the doctor needed to order. 24 hour later and here is the man himself planting one of a dozen replacement roses. These will climb/ramble some 3 to 4 metres. Roll on summer, we will be one of the few wedding venues in Oxfordshire with a fabulous rose arbour!

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Acorn Awards are prestigious in our industry

The Acorn Awards are held annually. They are about recognising the top 30 future movers and shakers in our industry. All nominations must be under 30 years old. So no chance for me then!

Our Head Chef  Shaun came through as one of the 30 winners in the 2012 season. Every aspect of the industry is eligible to participate. From Chefs, waiters and front of house staff to Revenue Managers. To be an award winner is well known as being great for your cv. It is one of the first things for managers to look for when recruiting.

Organised by Caterer and Hotelkeeper, the awards this year were sponsored by ACT Clean. They were held at the 54 bedroom Bovey Castle.

Congratulations Shaun, you join an elite band of previous winners. Many of them now household and TV names. Fantastic job! Fallowfields is proud of you.

This year, the ceremony was hosted at Bovey Castle. Caterer first started recognising the brightest talent in the hospitality industry with the Acorn Awards 26 years ago. In that time, only 750 people who work in hospitality and tourism have ever earned the right to attach the words “Acorn Award Winner” to their CV. Many of those, including stellar names as Marco Pierre White, Marcus Wareing and Michael Caines,. all of whom of course have gone on to become major figures in our industry.

Designed to acknowledge flair and reward good work, each year the Acorns recognise 30 people under 30 who are nominated by their peers and colleagues for having made an impression in their field.

“The Acorn Awards offer recipients the opportunity to be noticed and publicly recognised for their outstanding achievements in their young careers to date” said William Baxter, Deputy Chief Executive Baxter Storey

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Here is a link to the original post by Sarah Whitelock of Green Apple Communications, the full text follows below. Link to original post 

At the onset of the 2008 credit crunch Anthony Lloyd realised that he would have to rethink his hefty advertising budget and look for new ways to attract potential visitors to his Oxfordshire country house hotel and restaurant. He turned to Twitter and calculates that it brought in over £150,000 worth of business during the first year and he now has over 26,000 followers. The on-going success of Fallowfields is largely due to its enviable reputation for good food and warm hospitality but at a time when other restaurants and small hotels are struggling I wanted to find out how Anthony had made the most of social media to promote his business.

When did you open Fallowfields?
About 20 years ago, I was in the air force before working for IBM for 23 years. When I left IBM my wife and I agreed that we would like to build a business that could be part of our lives. We both enjoy good food and the rural lifestyle so a country house hotel and restaurant seemed to be an ideal model.
How many employees do you have?
We employ 25 people in the hotel and restaurant. We believe in the field to fork principle so we also have a small farm that supplies the restaurant with produce and rare breed pork. Our chef is responsible for the farm and he manages the workers from the local open prison. Their involvement with the farm gives them skills they can use when they get out into society and need a job.
How do you approach public relations and marketing?
I consider them to be really important, when I wanted to reduce our advertising costs social media was not as popular as it is now and a few people thought I was mad but I felt that it had real potential. It took me about six months to get going but it quickly became clear that it was working. I think it was the day that I took a lunch booking for 70 dentists in our function suite following an enquiry via Twitter that I realised just how powerful it was. I have used it for other areas of the business as well, once, when I was having some last minute technical problems with a really important presentation I put out a plea on Twitter and this guy in America sorted it out for me overnight. I have recruited three people through Twitter and found a beekeeper who has located some hives in the grounds. It really can encourage a sense of community.
What future plans do you have for PR and marketing?
I am looking at Pinterest, the food from our kitchens and the produce from the farm are clearly ideal for photo led digital media. We are on Facebook and I would like to develop that a bit more. I have some real ambitions for the restaurant to source 100% of its produce from Oxfordshire and our marketing will reflect that.

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Angela and Elton were married here just over a year ago, and they stayed again last night to celebrate their wedding anniversary and, to take a well deserved break from their very successful SEO business Urban Media

As they were strolling the kitchen gardens and orchards this morning they were met by the following sight

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Extending our brand is an important part of our marketing mix. almost exclusively I use Social Media to achieve this. Recently I have been approached by a reporter for the online version of The Guardian newspaper and, a writer and blogger Chris Brown, who goes under the name of Mr Content. Here are links to both.

The Guardian link

Mr Content Link

I couldn’t resist adding a couple of photographs taken last week of two new dishes on the menu.

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It is always so rewarding when guests take time out to thank our people.

Hi James and Co,
We picked your hotel for some peace and quiet and a chance to relax.
That we did and we are greatful for all your hard work on our behalf, many thanks. All your staff (from house keepers to owner) were very attentive to our needs and made us feel very welcome and nothing was too much trouble.
The meals we had were excellent, delicious, and well presented, a lovely touch was telling us when each course was presented, what it was, very well done! The recommended wine you made (James) was excellent. We have been left with some very fond memories and that is largly due to you and all your staff. Please find attachad the photo we promised. We would like to stay with you again soon, but in the meantime we wish you every sucess for the future.
Kindest regards,
M&E F

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I love lunch alfresco on the terrace [unless there is a breeze blowing of course] and 4 people arrived in this helicopter for lunch the other day, dropping in to our Helicopter landing pad.

We hadn’t quite managed to get the Dexter’s out of the paddock, so the helicopter flew low over them….not too keen on that were they, but soon settled down and got back to mowing the grass, whilst pilot and crew got down to a bit of serious lunch.  Our 2-4-1 lunch offer on the Menu of the day is at a ridiculously low price [from our point of view], but extremely tasty and beneficial to you the customer.

You do not need to arrive in one of these to take advantage of our offer.

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Testimonials are the litmus test of how a hotel is performing at any one time. Rather like a balance sheet, the testimonial gives a snapshot of a hotel’s service performance. Earlier in the week we had an overnight inspection of the hotel and restaurant by the AA. We have set ourselves some challenging goals for the next two years and the AA provide us a “mystery shopper” health check. We were overwhelmed with his verbal report to us.

However, the AA inspector is only one way we get this all vital feed back on our hotel. It is you the customer who on a daily basis gives us this check and balance. We are very privileged to receive dozens of testimonials like this every month. To post them all would be to strain your patience….but from time to time a testimonial is a useful barometer for you the potential guest here, to let you know what you may expect.

“From the time the booking was made to our leaving we were all so impressed with the friendly professionalism shown to us. lovely comfortable “everything thought of” rooms, scrumptious dinner and breakfast, beautiful grounds, interesting interior the list is endless. added to this there was a real sense that the staff were interested in giving a good service and happy to join our chatter, as opposed to tolerating us!

we would have no hesitation in recommending fallowfields, and would like to thank the entire team for allowing us to have a lovely break.

wishing you all a sunnier summer and thanks again,,
kind regards

Christine D”

Christine has encapsulated exactly what we have set out to achieve over the last 12 months and, into the future. Friendly professionalism is where we are and where we want to be….now of this stuffy, napkin over the arm and white glove approach….there is a time and a place for that, perhaps on the Strand, but it is not right here at Fallowfields in the heart of Oxfordshire.

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