Hotel lines up TV chef
Tom Naylor-Leyland at the Talbot Hotel, MALTON, which is undergoing total refurbishment. They are holding an open day to let people know what is planned for the Talbot Hotel once work is finished in March 2012. Picture Andrew Higgins. 114552a 11/11/11
CELEBRITY chef James Martin is coming home to play a leading role in the future of a historic hotel when it re-opens after a £4 million restoration and refurbishment.
He will return to Malton to work in collaboration with the Fitzwilliam (Malton) Estate as part of the landowner’s ambitious plans for The Talbot Hotel, which is due to open in the spring.
“North Yorkshire is in my blood and I’ve watched the town of Malton successfully build a reputation as a foodie destination, with its popular food festival and the abundance of growers and producers in the area,” said Mr Martin, who was raised in the town.
“I’m really looking forward to working with the team behind the new Talbot Hotel.”
It is another coup for Ryedale which is fast earning a reputation as a popular destination for food lovers.
Last year’s Malton Food Lovers’ Festival attracted more than 10,000 people and organisers are once again pulling out all the stops for this year’s event in May by inviting Italian cook Antonio Carluccio and award-winning food writer and critic Matthew Fort as its newest patrons.
They are joined by food columnist and television presenter Tom Parker Bowles, cookery expert Rosemary Shrager and Andrew Pern, chef patron of The Star Inn at Harome and TV presenter and journalist Selina Scott, who has taken up the new role of festival president.
The Talbot Hotel, on Yorkersgate, Malton, has been owned by the Fitzwilliam Estate for more than 200 years.
It is undergoing a restoration programme in excess of £3.5m to return it to its former glory as a “stylish and classical country hotel” with 26 bedrooms and suites, restaurant, lounge bar, public bar, private function room and landscaped grounds.
Mr Martin boasts the right ingredients for his new role after cutting his culinary teeth as a youngster at Castle Howard and Scarborough Technical College and appearing on television in programmes such as James Martin: Yorkshire’s Finest and the popular BBC One show, Saturday Kitchen.
He is already working on his vision of how the restaurant and food menu will operate.
“The first step is to plan the kitchen that will be equipped to cater for a 70-cover restaurant, lounge bar and private function room,” he said.
“I shall be looking at sourcing local suppliers and guests can look forward to finding all my favourite Yorkshire produce on the menu from Wakefield rhubarb to Whitby crab.”
Speaking on behalf of the Talbot Hotel, Tom Naylor-Leyland, who is also responsible for Malton’s Food Festival, said: “This completely sets the tone of what the new hotel will be all about. We have an abundance of fantastic fresh produce right here on our doorstep and James is just the chef to make the most of it, creating exciting dishes that will bring customers back time and again.”
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Thursday 24 May 2012
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