This month’s Featured Chef…
Hywel Jones
Head Chef, Lucknam Park
Hywel Jones is Head Chef at the Michelin starred, 3 AA Rosette Lucknam Park in Wiltshire where he has been at the helm for over 4 years. Hywel previously worked for Marco Pierre White and Nico Ladenis before taking the stove at Foliage, Mandarin Oriental, gaining his first Michelin star.
Hywel, thank you very much for seeing me today to do this interview.
Pleasure.
How long have you been here at Lucknam Park?
It will be four years in January.
Can you run through your day to day role here at Lucknam?
My day to day role ……
You obviously commute from Wales?
Yes, I commute but it’s worth it to wake up in Wales! I get here, normally, for about 8 O’clock by which time we are normally already into breakfast service. Then breakfast runs until about 10/10.30. Then around 10.30 we usually have a Heads of Department meeting, it just tells us what’s going on in the hotel; it gives us the opportunity to bring up any issues we have, questions, and any maintenance issues. So that normally lasts about 30 minutes. On a Friday we usually have a bigger one, where the Managing Director goes through the weekly forecast, so we all know where we are heading.
Then back into the kitchen to get ready for lunch. Lunch is not our busiest time, but it is an area we are trying to work on.
You are in quite a remote location though, aren’t you?
Yes, I mean our lunch trade is gradually building up but I don’t think we will ever be full for lunch. The new Spa that we are building will certainly help as it will attract a different type of person.
