Highest Standards of Food

From Nick Holt, Head Chef

I want our guests to leave the hotel feeling content, with their appetites amply satisfied - and with smiles of pleasure on their faces.  In order to achieve this, I work with my team on menu design and the sourcing of quality ingredients. We then concentrate on achieving and maintaining the highest standards of food preparation. 

Since joining The Grange I have spent much time in finding and building up good relations with suppliers. In order both to reduce the carbon footprint and to support the local economy, wherever possible I use suppliers who are as near to the hotel as possible. I try to find small, individual producers who can provide me with quality seasonal ingredients.  Although these values of community and partnership are very important to me, I also allow myself the freedom to explore further afield and to discover excellence from beyond the locality. Wherever they are, when I find producers who I believe share with me a dedication to and love of their work, I know I have found a winning combination.

I am very fortunate to be working in West Dorset with its abundance of high quality produce; the location also gives me the opportunity to source my favourite game and fish - which I love working with. Passers-by may be surprised to see me foraging in the surrounding hedgerows and woodlands – where I find Nature’s neglected store-cupboard of berries, wild herbs and mushrooms. 

I am privileged to have had a wonderful start to my career, being trained in classical French cuisine; using those classical methods as a basis, I think that I have been able to carve my own niche in modern British cuisine.  The food should speak for itself; I try not to over-complicate my dishes with too many flavours and elements.  My philosophy: simple, seasonal, sustainable, well-cooked and always to the best of my ability.

Our Suppliers

Whenever possible we use local companies for the produce used in the restaurant.  I have changed the menus to only include fish dishes from sustainable sources.  I am pleased to list the following suppliers who are renowned for the high quality of their products:

Meat

Andrew Barclay, butchers of Wincanton
Broadoak Slow - traditonal heritage chicken, Copse Hill Farm, Sturminster Newton.

Bakery

W.T. Taylor & Son, Bakers of Bruton
Stoates Flour of Shaftesbury

Fruit and Vegetables

Dorset Down Mushrooms of Poyntington
Chalmers Brothers Fruit and Vegetables of Wells, Somerset
Mike Sugg - Asparagus and seasonal fruits of Sandford Orcas

Dairy

Longman Cheese - West country dairy suppliers of North Cadbury
Jason Thompson’s Free range eggs – Milborne Wick

Wine & Drinks

Christopher Piper Wines of Ottery St. Mary, Exeter - Wine merchant to top quality hotels, restaurants and pubs.
John Lawrence - Traditional cider of Corton Denham
The Somerset Distillery Burrow Hill - Somerset Apple Brandy and Somerset Pomona; great with cheese!
Yeovil Ales - A small brewery supplying us cask conditioned guest ales
Wadworth - Wadworth's 6X, one of the South's most famous ales.
Piddle Brewery - Imaginatively named bottle conditioned ales from Piddlehinton (Piddle in a Bottle, Jimmy Riddle etc!).
Clipper - Organic and fair trade speciailty tea supplier

Specialist Produce

The Fine Food Company, Wincanton
Capreolus - Producers of Fine Smoked Food and Charcuterie, Rampisham, Dorset.

Fish

Samways, Fishmongers of West Bay
Kingfisher of Brixham