Hartnett will work alongside Lime Wood Hotel head chef Luke Holder to create the menu for the, as yet, unnamed restaurant. The project will open at the beginning of next year in the hotel led by Hotel du Vin co-founder Robin Hutson.
Artisan producers
The seven-day restaurant operation is expected to be a luxury brasserie-style concept in the dining room of the country house hotel in the New Forest. The menu will blend locally-sourced produce and Hartnett's signature Italian-inspired cooking style to serve 'Italian-influenced forest dishes'.
Hartnett said she was: "very much looking forward not only to working with Luke and the team but also to working closely with the many very local artisan producers in the area." Many of the ingredients on the menu will be farmed and foraged in the New Forest.
"I think Lime Wood complements perfectly my Murano restaurant. They are a great bunch of fun yet really professional people at Lime Wood, that’s the reason why I wanted to work with them," she added.
Both the service and design of the restaurant will match the informal and relaxed style Hutson has developed at the Lime Wood Hotel which opened in 2009. The room itself is currently undergoing a refurb led by Martin Brudnizki who previously worked on the design for Le Caprice and J Sheekey.
Natural partnership
"We are thrilled to have Angela on board," Hutson, chairman of the Lime Wood Group said. "I have been a long-time admirer of her style and cannot wait for Luke and Angela to start working together. This is a natural partnership that will be one to watch in the coming months and years. Additionally, having worked with designer Martin Brudnizki during my time in the hotel industry, I know he will create one of the most innovative restaurant spaces in the UK."
Head chef Holder revealed he had already begun working with Hartnett, a protégé of celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay.
"I’ve always been a fan of Angela’s food and am really excited to be working with her. We are already working together on dishes for the new restaurant. It's all coming together very well indeed. We've always shared the same culinary ethos coupled with a joint passion and a core influence from the Italian kitchen. Our plan is to make maximum use of the forest produce that is available literally on the doorstep."
To celebrate this year's World's 50 Best Restaurants, Hartnett took part in a video interview for BigHospitality where she explained what she believed made a restaurant world class.