Westcountry

Top chefs land at Trebetherick's St Moritz Hotel bringing the ultimate Cornish dining experience - all day long.

For over 75 years, people have been making a hungry 'pilgrimage' to St Moritz hotel, following the trail of its reputation for award-winning gastronomy. Against a backdrop of unsurpassed personal service and luxurious décor, throughout the years people have relaxed and socialised over long breakfasts, succulent Sunday lunches and feasts of dinners within the walls of St Moritz restaurant.

The hotel has recently undergone a £13.5m redevelopment and announced the arrival from New York of head chef Elliot Ketley and his sous-chef Eddie Gray. In state-of-the-art surroundings, Elliot is set to make his mark on the Cornish dining experience - offering guests and local visitors alike the ultimate British menu using predominantly Cornish ingredients - providing just the right balance of comfort and extravagance.

Elliot has arrived at St Moritz following an illustrious career in some of the best UK and international kitchens. His impressive CV reads like a top eating guide to London and includes four years as the head chef at the famed J Sheekey as well as senior positions at the renowned Le Caprice, The Ivy and Langans Brasserie.

Elliot Ketley: "I want our menu to be definable as British and inherently Cornish."

After a long spell in the country's capital city, Elliot decided he wanted to spread his wings and work in another country and the head chef position at the internationally renowned Soho House in New York beckoned. With his links to the Soho House group through St Moritz's new Cowshed spa, hotel owner Hugh Ridgway heard that Elliot may be ready to move back to the UK and made a telephone call.

Elliot says: "About two months ago I was in my apartment in Brooklyn, New York and had two exciting options that I was considering. One was in California and the other in London, and then a call came in from a very enthusiastic Hugh Ridgway. Prior to this call, I would never have thought that Cornwall would be my next move but throughout that first conversation I began to get the feeling of St Moritz proposition and the opportunity that existed here. I flew over to check it out and once I saw the setting, met the passionate team and saw the vision behind the project, my mind was made up. I returned to New York, immediately packed up the apartment and moved to Cornwall!"

Elliot has also scored another result as he has managed to persuade his talented Soho House sous-chef, Eddie Gray to relocate to St Moritz. Prior to his position in New York, Eddie was the head chef at a number of the Hotel du Vin boutique properties and together, Elliot and Eddie will offer a seamless team, developing the dining proposition alongside the local chefs who have been recruited for the new St Moritz kitchen.

Elliot has worked with owner Hugh Ridgway to create his vision of a menu that's almost solely made up of the very best Cornish ingredients. On Elliot's arrival, he immediately met with a range of local suppliers and has been highly impressed with their passion for the products and their pride in the county of Cornwall.

Roger Olver, of The Cornish Duck Company, personally delivers the daily order and has also put the team in touch with John Bolton who in Elliot's words, "produces the best tasting chickens I have ever eaten". Local company Plough to Plate is delivering all of the items from smaller Cornish producers and fresh, succulent beef and lamb is being provided by Philip Warren butchers of Launceston.

The resultant St Moritz restaurant menu ensures that the ingredients are the star of the show and keeps garnishes simple but appropriate. Elliot's aim is to make the restaurant approachable to all and create food that complements the hotel's luxurious yet informal proposition.

He says: "I want our menu to be definable as British and inherently Cornish. When people are visiting or staying in Cornwall there's every chance they'll want great fish and chips one night followed by an extravagant platter of Cornish shellfish or steak or something just as grand the next. Our style will reflect this and our menu will provide it."

The new breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner and vegetarian menus include options such as fried pollack, chips and mushy peas, Cornish fish stew, braised Cornish duck with apple and parsnip mash. There are also a number of twists on traditional Cornish dishes, including the warm saffron cake with clotted cream - a much lighter steamed pudding base but with the saffron and dried fruit flavours associated with a traditional Cornish favourite - and items like Hogs Pudding - a traditional West country sausage similar to black pudding serve sauteed in a salad with Frisse lettuce leaves, crispy croutons and a poached egg with a rich grain mustard vinaigrette. A delicious beetroot salad also appears on a special vegetarian menu and uses locally grown beetroot, slowly roasted, thinly sliced and finished with tiny wood sorrel leaves, toasted pine nuts and a delicious goats cheese from Menallack Farm in Penrith.

Sundays have always been a special day at St Moritz and Elliot and his team will be reinvigorating the concept with a special all-day brunch menu and an extensive range of lunch options including the traditional roast. Brunch will include corned beef hash made with heritage beef cured on the premises, Eggs Benedict, soft boiled ducks eggs and, following Elliot's experiences in New York, the best hash browns you are likely to have tasted.

Elliot says: "There's nothing better than a long, sociable Sunday lunch with friends and the papers and our new restaurant offers the perfect setting for this. People can either choose Eggs Benedict washed down with a darn good Bloody Mary or a sumptuous roast with a great bottle of Claret."

Families and children will also be taken care of with a special hearty, healthy kid-friendly menu and contrary to many Cornish establishments, once the hotel is fully opened, the restaurant will be serving food all day and all evening long.

Owner Hugh adds: "Since St Moritz opened, over 70 years ago, its reputation for amazing food has been unsurpassed and with our new environment and new team this can only continue. We're obviously delighted to have Elliot and Eddie on board and look forward to welcoming visitors from all over the county and the country to our new restaurant."

To make a booking, call St Moritz restaurant on 01208 862242.