Chatting to the chef around his work with Angela Hartnett at Lime Wood Hotel
Lime Wood sits next to Lyndhurst in the New Forest – close enough to London to escape to, far away enough to still feel like an escape. There’s a serene calm permeating the residence, split up between the house and surrounding cottages.
A highlight of our visit to the property was the food – seasonal and local italian cooking conceived by Angela Hartnett and Luke Holder. In line with the hotel’s approach and setting, they’re aiming for something unimposing and inviting; the idea is that this should feel like home, and it does. The lobster bisque was particularly memorable.
Following our visit Holder talked to Port about his culinary approach at the property, and his ambitions for the space as well as broader restaurant culture.
You set up a compelling duality, between a chef’s home-cooked food and chef-cooked restaurant food. Could you tell us a bit more about how you see that contrast, and why you have chosen to do the former at Lime Wood?
Yes certainly! Chefs can often cook what they perceive to be restaurant-style food, which I think sometimes comes with a restricted, more constrained approach. It can lead to being over-thought, unnatural food with an emphasis on dishes that are centred around presentation or trying to impress. When you have friends and family over to eat, there is less focus on overthinking presentation – you want to provide a delicious meal, where the food is simply part of the evening entertainment. It’s all about good conversation, great atmosphere, and of course, great food. Generally I have always had people compliment me on my home cooking, saying it would be great to have this type of food in a restaurant. So that was the idea – cook the food chefs cook at home!
You’ve mentioned in the past that your upbringing abroad has informed how you think about eating – is there a scene from your childhood that encapsulates what you want to do at Hartnett Holder & Co.?
I wouldn’t say there was one specific scene from my childhood, but certainly the feeling of shared dining experience.
Could you describe how you and your fellow head chef Angela Hartnett work together?
Angela and I are a great team, I see her as the best in class. I will lean on her for advice regarding the direction of the restaurant, the food and certainly the people management. Angela trusts me and the team to be able to run the day-to-day side of the business but she and I will often discuss the subtle culture of the business and the vibe as that makes a big impact on guests’ experience.
What have you learned from each other?
I have learned more about the people in this business from Angela, than just the food. I would like to think we wholly represent Angela and her values properly here, while I believe Angela has learned to trust us to make decisions on the menu without the need to run everything by her day to day. She has really widened my understanding of the business and human side of the industry which has been hugely important to retaining our staff and driving the working culture at HH&Co.
How does the setting at Lime Wood influence your culinary decisions, compared to, say, London’s kitchens, Florence or Thailand. Is there anything incompatible, or anything surprising that carries over?
Cooking in a hotel is very different from cooking in a restaurant. Within restaurants guests are coming for the food you are known for. When cooking in a hotel there are different requirements from both the menus and guests. The reasons why people are here at the hotel vary from business to leisure, from families to corporate events. Your menus need to be flexible and well organised to better cater to all, and to ensure that you don’t burden the team or lose control of the consistency. Guests will often be here for many days at a time and having just one menu can become quite tiresome, so we approach that challenge by writing new menus every day. One thing that really doesn’t change is the expectation of where you are, whether it’s London, Florence or the New Forest; if you come to a hotel like this where Angela’s name is above the door, you need to make sure you deliver on expectations both food and service wise!
You’re doing some ambitious work, with things like your partnership with Four Acre Farm and considerate approach to staff workload – how have you found those, and is there anything surprising you’re excited to do next?
We are really excitingly launching our charcuterie as something you can purchase for home, and we are also hoping to be able to sell it to other restaurants long term. In terms of staff workload, the considerate approach to staff and rota writing is really important to me personally, and it thrills me that the new generation of chefs we are bringing up here are seeing how to write rotas and treat each other kindly without the immense pressure that kitchens are traditionally known for. Having that legacy effect on those that work for you and trying to improve the conditions from within is so important.
