Heston Blumenthal’s Michelin star restaurant The Hinds Head in Bray will close its doors temporarily on March 27th, when it starts to undergo a major transformation.
The Hinds Head, whose origins date back to Tudor England, boasts a celebrated past with former patrons including the British Royal Family. The Grade II listed building has been offering locals and visitors to the village of Bray, hospitality and refreshment for over six centuries. The acclaimed chef Heston Blumenthal took ownership in 2004 and the restaurant was awarded a Michelin star in 2013.
The restaurant’s accomplished menu features British dishes that have stood the test of time. It also highlights favourites from bygone eras, which deserve to be revisited. Diner’s favourites include the likes of hash of snails, and oxtail and kidney pudding, to name but a few.
This latest incarnation in the building’s evolution will encapsulate its rich unique history, with playful, quirky design references to its origins as a hunting lodge and coaching inn.
The Hinds Head will offer a choice of three, four and six course menus that will change and evolve on a monthly basis, celebrating British cooking and the consummate eclectic style that it has become known for over the past eleven years.
On the ground floor, the space will be remodelled to create a larger more cossetted dining area. The Grade II listed oak panelling, antique beams and open fireplaces will remain and enhanced with deep, button-backed leather banquettes, heavy wooden tables and eccentric curiosities.
The wine collection too will be expanded and housed in its own private cellar with a glass wall temptingly overlooking the dining room. Isa Bal, Head Sommelier of The Fat Duck Group will curate the extended list, comprising approximately 120 bins, from more well-known vineyards around the world to lesser known ones, all we are assured produce great wines. We will try and get our Wine Editor Alistair along to investigate.
Venturing upstairs, guests will be invited to explore the newly created lounge. With its own bar, the space will be an opulent, handsome retreat filled with comfortable sofas, armchairs, rugs, fantastical trophies and dim-glow candle light, providing the perfect backdrop to indulge in a drinks list of artisan cocktails, classic and small batch gins, champagnes and wine. A smaller menu of bar snacks will also be available from the kitchen.
The private dining room, The Vicars Room, will remain but undergo a dramatic redesign, with teasing, tongue-in-cheek references to the building’s association with Simon Aleyn, the infamous Vicar of Bray. A monolithic dining table hewn from a single trunk of oak will dominate the room, under a pair of parlour chandeliers depicting the heads of Queens Mary I and Elizabeth I of England.
The team at Bray worked with Stephen Saunders, from interior designers Fabled Studio, to reawaken the hidden history of The Hinds Head, in a playful and eccentrically British manner. This latest chapter promises to deliver a truly unique guest experience in one of Britain’s most quintessentially English villages. We can only wait, visit and see.
Sunday, March 26th will be The Hinds Head final service before the renovations begin and is set to reopen to the public on Thursday, April 20th.
The post Heston’s historic Hinds Head in Bray to enjoy redesign this spring appeared first on Hospitality & Catering News.