The Bildeston Crown wins “Taste of England Award”
Head Chef Chris Lee and owner/farmer James Buckle picked up the award for “Taste of England” at October’s black tie dinner award ceremony at The West Wing at Ickworth, near Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.
The awards celebrate the best of English tourism – and are known throughout the industry as the ‘Oscars’ of tourism. The winners go through to the national tourism awards.
“Food is what The Bildeston Crown is all about,” says Chris “And how many hotels or restaurants can say that have their very own farm just down the road providing the very best lamb and fantastic red poll beef. Now that is using local food!”
James Buckle is also delighted with the win: “When I bought the Bildeston Crown almost six years ago, I did indeed have this “field to plate” vision. I have huge admiration for Chris and his team and I truly believe that he can also achieve his dream which is to bring the first Michelin star to Suffolk”
This is the second consecutive EET win for The Bildeston Crown. Last year it won the “Best Small Hotel” category.
Link: http://www.eet.org.uk/TemplateView.aspx?sec_id=2862&art_id=7281
The Bildeston Crown Circular – Download the latest edition now!
Please click the link below to read the latest edition of our publication The Bildeston Crown Circular.
The Bildeston Crown Circular Winter 2009
View this pdf to see a summary of what has been happening in and around the Bildeston Crown and what is coming up.
Silver for The Bildeston Crown in national tourism awards
23 April 2009
The Bildeston Crown flew the flag for Suffolk in the annual tourism BAFTAs – the National Enjoy England Awards for Excellence 2009, organised by VisitEngland. The hotel was the only finalist from Suffolk in these national awards in which the winners were announced at a ceremony at the National Railway Museum in York on Thursday 23 April.
The path to Silver started last October when the hotel picked up both the Tourism in Suffolk Award for best small hotel and then only weeks later won the same category for East of England Regional Enjoy England Awards for Excellence which put The Bildeston Crown forward to the national heats for the wider category of hotel.
In February owner James Buckle and management couple Chris and Hayley Lee learnt that they had been short listed to the final three for the Hotel category alongside East Lodge in Derbyshire and Gidleigh Park in Devon.
Missing out on the Gold on the night to Gidleigh Park owner James Buckle was disappointed but still jubilant that the hotel had done so well. “When my mother and I bought The Bildeston Crown and refurbished it, we could never have imagined that we would find ourselves selected as one of three hotels to represent the best in the country only just over 5 years later. Credit must go to Hayley and Chris Lee who have managed The Bildeston Crown over these years and have helped transform a dream into a reality.”
Manager Hayley Lee was also in optimistic mood. “Gold would have been good but just being here at the awards ceremony celebrating the best of British tourism has been a real career high.”
Hayley’s husband and The Bildeston Crown Chef Chris Lee agrees. “It has been a superb year for us and although gold would have been the icing on the cake, we are proud to have come this far. I am personally delighted that all three finalists have great accommodation but that they really stand out because of the style and quality of the food they serve. Gidleigh Park is a worthy winner and with two Michelin Stars it most certainly sets a standard for The Bildeston Crown to aspire to.”
The 15 categories for the 2009 awards were: access for all tourism award, hotel of the year, self-catering holiday of the year, bed & breakfast of the year, caravan park of the year, tourist Information centre (TIC) of the year, large attraction of the year (over 100,000 visitors), small attraction of the year (under 100,000 visitors), tourism website of the year, the meet England business tourism award, outstanding customer service award, taste of England, sustainable tourism award, tourism experience of the year and travel journalist of the year.
Owner is new Sheriff in town
2 April 2009
The Bildeston Crown’s owner, James Buckle took up the gauntlet to be the county’s new High Sheriff, when he was sworn in by Judge Neil McKittrick on the 1st April.
The Office of High Sheriff is at least 1,000 years old having its roots in Saxon times before the Norman Conquest. It is the oldest continuous secular Office under the Crown. The High Sheriff’s duties include attendance at Royal visits to the County. James was delighted to be part of the welcoming party when Her Majesty visited Bury St Edmunds on Maundy Thursday. James looks forward to his year in office: “It will give me an opportunity to see what happens under the skin of Suffolk and hopefully allow me to give a little back to the community”
The Hairy Bikers visit The Bildeston Crown
_____________________________________________________________
24 August 2009 – Update:
Chris Lee took on The Hairy Bikers …and won!
The Hairy Bikers’ Tour of Britain – a new series in which Simon King and Dave Myers get on their bikes to find the best of each county’s larder and meet the local producers who are keeping traditional recipes alive, started tonight on BBC2.
In this first programme of the tour, which was filmed last February, the duo start with Suffolk. Si and Dave cook a traditional county favourite at Snape Maltings, collect flour from a working water mill, and then pit their new-found knowledge against our Chris in a cook-off. Restaurant diners decide who has created the dish that best defines Suffolk and Chris emerges as the winner with eight out of the nine votes.
Chris’ winning dish is now on The Bildeston Crown menu and you can also view the recipe at http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/roastedbreastofduckw_92120.shtml
Or read more on the BBC Suffolk website
Get the Flash Player to see this player.
_____________________________________________________________________
13 February 2009
Motorcycle-riding cookery experts The Hairy Bikers visited The Bildeston Crown, while filming part of their forthcoming BBC series. The series follows Simon King and Dave Myers on a tour of the British Isles, during which they will source ingredients unique to each county and go on to cook the local signature dish.
At each stop the bikers have a “cook off” with a well-known local restaurant chef, in which they compete to create a new dish from the county’s produce. For Suffolk, independent production company Cactus TV, which is behind the programme , chose The Bildeston Crown and chef Chris Lee to take up the duo’s challenge.
John Bonny, an associate producer with Cactus TV, explains the format: “We’re visiting 28 counties across the UK, discovering and celebrating the local produce available. We’re using local producers and sourcing ingredients to create a mixture of traditional and modern recipes that reflect the county’s cuisine and sense of identity.”
The Bildeston Crown is well known for being a champion of local food with dishes like Head to Toe Nedging Pork, Semer Lamb and Suffolk Beef Stew using owner James Buckle’s red poll beef as regular dishes on its menus. The Bildeston Crown chef, Chris Lee was delighted that he asnd The Bildeston Crown had been selected for a visit: “It has been great fun to work with Si and Dave. I share their passion for great local produce and truly believe that modern food is at its best when traditional methods are treated with a creative twist.”
To learn what was cooked and who actually won the “cook off”, you will have to wait until the summer when the programme will be screened on BBC2.
Back to topNow
designed & built by inspire: