As Featured in the new Love Ilfracome Focus Magazine
Feed the family for just £1 per person with this deliciously healthy Chicken and Chorizo recipe.
Now that summer is just around the corner we are buying local asparagus, and this features through our brasserie menu. Delivered by Edds (wholesale greengrocer at Mullacott) grown and picked at Broadlands Farm, outside Braunton which is part of the flat landscape known as the Great Field.
Typically and throughout the year we also receive, locally grown swede, cauliflowers, Maris piper potatoes and spring greens from Braunton.
Other potatoes picked in Bideford and depending on the time of the year, savoy, tundra and red cabbage are available again in Braunton. Occasionally, purple sprouting and kale are available again from the Great Field.
About the Great Field
Braunton’s Great Field truly lives up to its name. It is treasured as one of only two surviving medieval open strip field systems in England and is believed to date way back the 1200s. Here you can walk through a medieval landscape; covering an area of around 350 acres (equivalent to 200 football pitches). Such fields were the norm in medieval England but virtually all have since been lost or modified.
This huge field would have been used by hundreds of landworkers, busily farming the food they needed to support their families. The land was farmed in narrow strips, most comprising of 22 yards (one chain) by one furlong (220 yards) in length, which interestingly makes an acre, which it was said was the amount an Oxen could plough in a day. Clusters of strips were given field names such as Gallowell, Pitlands, Longhedgelands, etc.
In 1840 it was recorded that the Great Field was divided into some 600 strips in 60 different ownerships. Today the land is worked by just a small number of farmers but clues to the field’s ancient heritage are easy to spot. Although some of the distinct landsherds (small mounds of earth separating the strips) have been lost through modern farming methods together with the Bond Stones which marked division in ownership, many landsherds and the furlough boundary tracks still remain in place.
Business events in conference venues can be such dull affairs, so it’s no wonder that business leaders are looking for new ways to inspire their team and seek an alternative training venue or away day experience. One such innovative experience is pairing Michelin star food with a beautiful seaside venue to stimulate minds and focus.
The Carlton Hotel in North Devon is doing just this with its new Michelin business package offering which includes a fine dining evening with Thomas Carr at The Olive Room, the area’s only Michelin starred restaurant (see his exclusive interview below).
The author Bill Marsano, once wrote that, “The British Empire was created as a by-product of generations of desperate Englishmen roaming the world in search of a decent meal.”This was particularly true of British seaside towns which for many years were typified by menus that were high in sugar and fat and low in flavour and substance.
That was then, but things have changed dramatically in recent years. Now the British coast is speckled with small towns where culinary pearls are waiting to be discovered. This is particularly true for Ilfracombe, one of the most picturesque harbour towns on the West Country’s Atlantic coast and home to one of Devon’s most pleasant conference venues for hosting business events.
Business Events With a Difference
The Carlton is pushing the envelope with three unique two day businesspackages that combine business class luxury accommodation with top of the range training venue facilities (from on site meeting and seminar rooms to gym and treatments). The Carlton is one of the more exclusive Devon conference venues for business events – from team meetings and business workshops to training & development courses.
The Carlton Hotel’sMichelin Package, centred in Ilfracombe, sits neatly into this programme, offering a truly unique shared experience for office teams seeking an alternative training venue in North Devon.
For a restaurant, a Michelin star is the pinnacle of success and one that cannot be bought. The go-to guide for food quality began life in 1900 and was soon blazing a trail for the finest food to be found on its travels. The secretive nature of the world of the Michelin inspector was revealed to the New Yorker Magazine in 2009, which noted that ‘inspectors themselves are advised not to disclose their line of work, even to their parents’.
An interview with Michelin Star Chef, Thomas Carr
This is what Michelin Guide inspectors say about Thomas Carr at The Olive Room; “A simple, homely restaurant beneath a B&B, run by an experienced local chef who trained under Nathan Outlaw. Ultra-fresh seafood is the focus, with dishes only confirmed once the day boat deliveries come in. Cooking is skilled.”
So what can Carlton Hotel guests expect from the fine dining aspect of Michelin Package? We caught up with Thomas Carr to get his views on Ilfracombe, what makes the Olive Room so special and where his culinary inspiration comes from.
What is special about Ilfracombe as a place?
Well you only need to have a look around to see. You step out the front of the restaurant and you have a lovely view down Fore Street to the sea. It’s really at its best when the sun’s shining and everyone’s just enjoying a walk along the seafront. We’re also a special place for food! We’re the only place in Devon to have a Michelin Star and a Michelin Bib Gourmand. We’re punching above our weight for such a small town, but it’s brilliant.It’s not just about the Michelin level dining though. We also have the best chippies, fantastic local artisan producers and lots of quality restaurants.It’s a foodie haven.
What is special about the Olive Room fine dining experience?
I think for us, it’s always about making the food the star of the show. Our dining room is cosy and the service is relaxed. Our customers often comment on how they love how unpretentious the experience is. People expect a Michelin Starred restaurant to be a high class affair, but when we have such amazing ingredients to work with, we want to make sure they don’t get lost in an in-your-face Front of House service; we just want our guests to relax and enjoy themselves.
Where does inspiration for the Olive Room menu come from?
I think we are always inspired by the quality of the ingredients we have access too. When a beautiful fish comes into the kitchen we just want to do it justice. We offer chef’s tasting menus (and a la carte midweek), and it’s about keeping the tastes simple, not overloading the dish with unnecessary additional flavours, and showcasing the ingredients. That’s not to say that there aren’t some nice little hidden flavours amongst the dish though. As a chef I’m a bit of a grazer so I tend to pick at different ingredients and every now and then I’ll stumble across a combination of flavours which aren’t typically served together, but I can taste that they could work I’ll start trying to develop a dish from that.
With delegate prices starting at £119* per person per night (for a two night midweek business package stay), the Carlton Hotel in Ilfracombe offers one of the most unique Devon business venues and without doubt one of the most flavoursome! Please emailor telephone (01271 862446) to find out what the Carlton Hotel can bring to your business this year.
*Price based on 20+ delegates.
