The kitchens are big at Chilston and everything is clean – I have turned up after lunch and the prep for the evening is underway. Zoe skilfully shows me how to butcher a mallard and presents to me the perfect Pomme Anne. If I used these newly gathered skills in my home kitchen I can guarantee the result would look very different. Zoe is an enthusiastic cook and one of the first things she assures me is that “I don’t like shouting in the kitchen.” This is refreshing to hear as it seems every cookery programme shows a grumpy chef putting the fear of God into their kitchen staff.
“My typical day starts with the paperwork – invoices and getting ready for the 10am meeting. The heads of departments meet every morning and discuss anything that has happened at Chilston the day before, tells us about any V.I.P’s or celebrations booked. After the meeting I go in the kitchen and grab the team and go over the points from the meeting and then make sure everything has been delivered that is needed and make sure everyone knows what to do. I work on making the sauces then start prepping up. I have to answer the phone numerous times and go through the prep list that has been left from the night before in a meticulous, methodical way”
Zoe has been working at Chilston for three years, starting three days before Christmas. She was thrown in at the deep end but obviously thrived. Her love of food comes from her background: “My mother is a really bad cook” Zoe starts, “…but my grandmother cooked for the Lord and Lady of Dorset. I’ve always been interested in cooking and she made great puddings – she was amazing at baking cakes, they were always light and fluffy. She had an old house with a pantry. I had a part time job in a restaurant kitchen and when it got busy I got an adrenaline rush that I’m sure is addictive! The team camaraderie is completely different to an office.”
“I started at Beefeater – when I tell people that I get a lot of stick but it was the best company to start with because they drill you about temperatures and I had a great head chef. I moved onto Haven Hotel at Sand Banks (two rosettes restaurant) and Harbour Heights and worked with some amazing chefs. Here under head chef Andy Williams, the kitchen works really well.”
“I transferred to Chilston for a new opportunity and also to be nearer to my partner. Here it’s the people that make it. It’s a great team under a great Head Chef. I like to think we are looked upon as part of a big support team”
“In the past I have had pans thrown around by Head chefs but also head chefs who work 18 hour shifts they are always the first in and the last to leave and you can’t help but respect that!"
Zoe gave me some insider information. First of all she assures me the venison dish on the menu is the best, or at least her favourite to make “it looks great and has a lot of components of the dish – everything goes together. It tastes great. From start to finish it takes most of the morning to prepare and the Pomme Annes and red cabbage take the longest. They are served with Venison Pavé, Venison loin and a Venison jus which is reduced from the bones”
Zoe also tells me that they buy everything locally whenever possible and that is that they are flexible when it comes to requests for the wedding breakfasts “As long as we get enough notice we can accommodate most things” and she assures me they are used to many varied dietary requests. The last snippet of insider knowledge she gives me is golden “If you try our afternoon tea I promise the fruit cake is to die for!”
As I suspected, the reason for such success at Chilston Park Hotel lies in the team of staff. It is wonderful to find more champions of the Maidstone area who maintain such high standards because they simply love their jobs.