If you’re looking to take a staycation then the English Riveria is the perfect choice, with easy transport links and beautiful sandy beaches, you’re sure to have a fabulous time.
The Babbacombe Bay Hotel offers stunning views across the open sea towards Lyme Regis, Portland Bill and the Dorset coastline. The hotel has recently undergone extensive renovations and all of the rooms and restaurant have been completed to the highest possible standard.
They have received a silver award for their bistro dining and silver for the hotel of the year South Devon at the 2016 awards. They have recently appointed a new head chef who has big plans for the restaurant, so we caught up with him to find out more…
Adrian Widdicombe is currently experimenting with adding chorizo into his dishes and plans to add innovative dishes to the menu utilising fresh locally sourced ingredients. He is currently perfecting the recipe for a Cornish hake, chorizo & bean stew with basil oil and this will be available on the menu very soon.
Adrian states that Tom Kerridge is the chef who inspires him most as he takes classic British dishes and adds a modern twist to bring these favourites up to date. Adrian believes that the key to being a successful chef is having to keep track of and on top of all current trends and continue to strive to learn new skills.
Adrian predicts that the next big trend with food is going to be returning back to gourmet burgers with more and more adventurous fillings. Kit Soininen, head of UK food & drink research at Mintel agrees with this prediction and states that ‘customisation is a top expectation for gourmet offerings, in line with a more general demand for knowing what goes into one’s & the trend for personalisation.’
Babbacombe’s new head chef loves the food industry and immerses himself in the scene in Devon. Keen to learn and develop new skills and find out about current trends, he attends food events in both a professional and social capacity. He is looking forward to getting involved in the Brixham fish market tours. He will also be attending Brixham Fishstock in September and the Dartmouth Food and Drink Festival in October.
We asked Adrian for a cookery tip to share with our readers and he felt that as there is a lot of disagreement how best to cook a steak, he’d let us know how he would recommend for pan frying:
Adrian recommends removing your steak from the fridge 30 minutes before cooking to relax the meat, then oil and season your steak and not the pan. You’ll then need to sear in a very hot frying pan or on a griddle pan. Once your steak is nicely coloured he likes to add a good slice of butter. You’ll then need to turn down the heat and cook to your liking. Make sure that you keep basting throughout cooking and allow time to rest the steak before serving. Personally, I prefer melted seasoned butter to a sauce. Turn once while resting for a couple of minutes.
You can read our review of Babbacombe Bay Hotel here, or view our Devon Food & Drink Guide below: