As Northumberland’s only 5 star hotel, our country estate offers only the very finest when it comes to dining. With four luxurious destinations, guests are invited to sit down to elegance and savour an experience to remember.
Our dining team prides itself on carefully curating imaginative and seasonal menus, with a focus on fresh, locally sourced ingredients. So today, we’re sitting down with Head Chef, Eddie Saint, Head Pastry Chef, Laurèns le Gal and Michael Marran, Head Chef at The Keepers.
Join us to get to know the men behind the culinary magic at Matfen Hall.
Tell us a bit about working at a 5 star country estate?
Michael: The key thing for me is to feel that I’m making a difference – making guests happy with what I do is the most important thing.
Eddie: I understand the standards our guests have come to expect when visiting the estate here at Matfen Hall. There’s always a slightly raised expectation when it comes to 5 stars but I firmly believe we can deliver on that in all of our restaurants.
Laurèns: For me, it means that we need to deliver the best possible experience to our guests, everything has to be thoroughly thought about and all the details are important – down to the very smallest details. We are looking for perfection in all areas, which is exciting and brings new challenges every day.
Can you give us a flavour of what you bring to the dining experience at Matfen Hall?
Eddie: I am born and raised locally in North Shields and enjoy producing menus and dishes that are highly focused on local suppliers and ingredients where possible. I come from a family that was heavily linked with the fish quay in North Shields, so I look forward to using produce from there where possible.
Being in the heart of Northumberland we have a huge range of choice when it comes to quality meats and quality vegetables.
So I will be bringing the best seasonal, local produce to the menus here at Matfen.
Laurèns: My goal is quite simple, good food. For me, presentation is also important. We eat with our eyes but the presentation has to match the taste – there’s nothing worse than a beautiful dessert or pastry that disappoints when it comes to flavour. So, flavourful, beautiful food has always been my number one goal.
Michael: For me, it’s very straightforward as well and it all comes down to quality. Creating timeless classics that you all know and love, doing it perfectly and adding a little twist to elevate the experience. My goal is to continuously improve the quality and create a real wow factor for guests.
Matfen Hall offers a range of dining destinations, each with its own style and character. How do you approach that as a chef?
Eddie: At Cloisters, you can enjoy a relaxed brasserie style setting with classic, seasonal menus, given a contemporary twist and highlighting the best quality ingredients. Emerald Restaurant is our fine dining destination, really showcasing the finest produce we have available here in Northumberland, both in the countryside and the coast to create lasting memories for special occasions.
Michael: As Head Chef at The Keepers, my style and approach really does depend on our guests’ expectations for the restaurant. Set in the parkland, The Keepers is our beautifully informal destination, with a focus on relaxed dining and classics done well. So I look to give the guests what they want, taking something like Sunday Lunch and elevating it to another level.
Laurèns: Having four unique dining destinations is truly amazing from a chef’s point of view. Emerald Restaurant is a place for guests to be surprised and wowed with imaginative Tasting Menus, so it’s an opportunity for us to be more creative and go beyond what we know to pair and blend new flavours. Cloisters Restaurant is table d’hote dining with a contemporary twist, so I like to take classic flavours to a new level. For example, we currently have a plum-based dessert served with smoked hay ice cream which sounds strange, but works beautifully. And Afternoon Tea is the quintessential British experience. My approach as Head Pastry Chef is to keep the traditional spirit whilst bringing flavours not usually found in an afternoon tea – with a good dose of French patisserie obviously.
What have been your favourite dishes on the menu?
Laurèns: It would have to be the Buckwheat, Kalamansi & Buttermilk dessert on the Emerald Restaurant Tasting Menu. It is a rich buckwheat pastry cream, inside a crunchy buckwheat, topped with sharp kalamansi citrus caramel, puffed buckwheat seeds, refreshing buttermilk sorbet and white chocolate. For me it has everything you would want from a dessert, it is creamy, crunchy, acidic, sweet and almost addictive.
Eddie: For me it’s the Salt Aged Beef Fillet with Roscoff Onion and Bordelaise Sauce on the Cloisters Menu. It’s my style down to a tee, the best quality beef we can source, classic cooking methods with a touch of modern techniques in there, a delicious Bordelaise sauce with bone marrow. It’s rich, its hearty and for me it’s a complete dish.
Working in the North East, do you find inspiration in the character and spirit of the local region?
Eddie: Being born and raised here, I love the character of the region.
I love using what we can from local suppliers and being able to create menus and dishes from local produce as well as recognised local dishes.
Its easy to create a dish and a menu when you have the quality of produce that we have here in the north east.
Laurèns: I have lived in the north east for almost 9 years now, and what I have found very refreshing is that the people here have been very receptive to trying new dishes that are out of the norm. I enjoy the fact that I can place something slightly unusual on the menu, be it Afternoon Tea or on our Tasting Menus, and the people of the North East are really enthusiastic. This encouragement inspires me and pushes me to do more in the next menu.
With 300 acres of parkland at the doorstep of Matfen Hall, do you enjoy exploring the local produce and flavours of Northumberland?
Laurèns: Absolutely, we have many edible plants and nuts right outside the kitchen and ready to forage. Woodruff, sweet cicely, mint and walnut – you couldn’t find fresher. Northumberland is also full of local, small artisans producing amazing food, from chutney and honey to incredible dairy.
Eddie: Yes, I’m a big fan of foraging, I’m looking forward to working with our team of gardeners and using their expertise in what we have growing here on the estate!
Seasonal dining is a cornerstone of the culinary experienc at Matfen Hall, what can guests expect to see on the menu throughout winter?
Eddie: This winter, guests can expect to see plenty of hearty, well cooked meals, showing off the produce from our land and suppliers. The best cuts of meat and plenty of game. We’re all passionate in the kitchen about using seasonal produce and we like to reflect that on our cooking and menus.
Laurèns: It’s time to bring the apples, pears, quince and plums back to our menus – always with a twist to make these humble fruits exciting. And with the festive season here, timeless Christmas flavours will return – chestnuts, cranberries, oranges, chocolate and or course, homemade Christmas pudding!
From Dinner, Bed & Breakfast and a luxurious Gourmet Break to timeless Sunday Lunch or an intimate table for two – explore our unique and exquisite dining destinations to make your next celebration or indulgent evening out, truly unforgettable.