Farm yards rather than food miles.......
Our kitchen is a tiny space that requires a good deal of lateral thinking to cope with the daily demands placed on it. Jean-Philippe Bidart (JP) our Head Chef is without question one of the very best chefs around and we count ourselves very fortunate to have him lead our kitchen. Not only has he gained two rosettes during his time at Buckland Touts-Saints but since moving to The Millbrook Inn he has gained us recognition for our food with Alistair Sawday, achieved runners-up in the final of the Gastro Pub Restaurant Challenge at the Restaurant Show in Earls Court (Oct 2009), Pub Chef of the Year 2010 of The British Pub Food Awards, London (Mar, 2010) and runner-up as Pub Restaurant Chef of the Year 2010 at The Craft Guild of Chef Awards (May 2010). We expect to further build on this during 2010 with our first AA Rosette and entries into both Michelin and The Good Food Guides. We are advocates of Simple Food Cooked Well and Nose-To-Tail-Eating.
The Millbrook Inn is a destination Pub in every sense of the word. It's two miles off the beaten track by anything other than boat and almost a two mile sail if you are heading up to us by water. In our case it isn't just a case of "we use local produce" - We have to ! We are simply too far away for most of the larger suppliers to eve consider delivering to us in the time frame that we need. Luckily, our locals produce superb lamb, beef, pork, game, fish, dairy goods and vegetables, which in turn means that we do not have to make do with being the last on the run for the delivery people. You can't get fresher than that.
When we combine great local produce with Jean-Philippes' expertise in the kitchen the result is an interesting and original meeting of rural French and English cuisine.
