As he retains his Michelin star and jumps 11 places in The Good Food Guide, the Great British Menu 2018 winner has exciting expansion plans for the building over which he is delighted to have full creative control.
In a busy couple of months in the Wye Valley, Chris Harrod, chef-owner of The Whitebrook Restaurant with Rooms has retained one Michelin star for the sixth year running as well as finally securing the freehold, allowing him and his wife Kirsty to make significant changes to the interiors and the rooms, as well as plans to build further dog-friendly rooms and facilities within the grounds.
The Great British Menu 2018 winner launched The Whitebrook Restaurant with Rooms, near Monmouth, South Wales in October 2013 and within 11 months he was awarded his Michelin star. He has now consistently held his star for six years and last month The Whitebrook jumped 11 places in The Good Food Guide to number 38 in the UK Top 50 Restaurants. Until now, Chris has been the proud custodian for the charming whitewashed building, a fine dining restaurant since the 1970s, but is now delighted to have full creative control over the site.
"We have so many exciting plans and are just delighted that this purchase brings us a big step closer to making them a reality at The Whitebrook. Now that we have acquired the Freehold we'll be upgrading the fabric of the property, adding more bedrooms which will include a dog friendly room and expanding the restaurant to add more luxury and ensure that the business has sufficient scale to cover the ongoing fixed costs of delivering a very high quality restaurant offering. We'll also improve staff accommodation. The somewhat isolated location means staff generally need to remain on site and given the difficulty in attracting high quality workers to the area, the staff accommodation is an important element to ensure the success of the restaurant."
Chris Harrod, chef owner, The Whitebrook Restaurant with Rooms
Having trained under Raymond Blanc at Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, Chris had an unexpectedly long and tough journey to finding somewhere he could call his own. Potential sites fell through and recession hit so the banks turned their backs. However his current home was worth the wait and along with his Michelin star, he now has 4 AA Rosettes and is named in The Good Food Guide Top 50 UK Restaurants, at number 38.
Almost everything on the menu at The Whitebrook, from breakfast through to dinner is sourced within a small radius. Whether grown in the kitchen garden, foraged from the local countryside or sourced from one of the many suppliers within just a few miles, the provenance of the ingredients is paramount and Chris’ food has been described as ‘The Wye Valley on a plate’.
The Whitebrook Restaurant with Rooms offers some of the best value Michelin star dining in the UK. Chris Harrod’s three-course lunch menu available from Wednesday to Sunday is priced at £42 per person, whilst dinner, bed & breakfast is priced from £279 for two.
