Current owner(s) Andrew Brownsword Food type French cuisine City Chagford | Head chef Michael Wignall Rating County Devon | |
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Gidleigh Park is a restaurant within a hotel located in Chagford, Devon, England. The executive head chef is Michael Wignall. As of 2011, the restaurant holds two stars in the Michelin Guide. It was named the No 1 UK restaurant by the Sunday Times Food List on 31 October 2010.
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Description
The hotel–restaurant has been owned by Paul and Kay Henderson since 1977. The building is a Tudor–style country house set in 55 acres of gardens and woodlands. In 2005, it was bought by entrepreneur Andrew Brownsword who completed a renovation during 2006, refitting both the restaurant and the hotel, adding another ten bedrooms.
Michael Caines took over as head chef of the restaurant in 1994 and held the reins for 21 years before leaving in early 2016 to pursue his own business ventures elsewhere. In 2005, Gidleigh Park gained its second Michelin star. As of 2009, Caines was the Executive Head Chef, as he oversaw several other interests while Ian Webber remained on site as head chef. Webber had originally joined the team in 2006 as Sous chef with no previous Michelin experience.
Michael Wignall joined as executive head chef in January 2016 after spending 8 years at The Latymer at Pennyhill Park Hotel.
Reception
Susan D'Arcy of Times Online reviewed the hotel and restaurant in February 2007. It described the restaurant as offering "some of the best dining in the UK". The food received a score of nine out of ten.
In 2009, the hotel won the "Hotel of the Year award" in the Enjoy England Awards for Excellence. It was the first year that the small and large hotel categories had been absorbed into a single category based on quality. In 2010, it was named as the best restaurant in Britain in the first ever Sunday Times Food List, beating The Fat Duck into second place, and Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley into third.
In 2013, the restaurant won Harden's Sunday Times Restaurant of the Year, along with Wine List of the year and came second for Best Service of the Year