Former Le Champignon Sauvage chef to head Worcester pub

Chris Monk, a former chef at the two-Michelin-starred Le Champignon Sauvage in Cheltenham, has been appointed head chef of the Crown Inn pub in Hallow, Worcester, which has recently undergone a refurbishment and rebrand.

The pub has been run by husband and wife team Will and Sacha Donaldson for almost a decade.

Monk has worked at the two-AA-rosette restaurant within the Corse Lawn House hotel, Gloucestershire; Hotel TerraVina in the New Forest; and the four-silver-star Montagu Arms hotel in Brockenhurst, as sous chef; as well as spending one year in the kitchen at Le Champignon Sauvage.

He has created a new seasonal a la carte menu at the Crown Inn showcasing ingredients sourced as fresh and locally as possible.

The pub has also appointed pastry chef Sheree McGowen Higgins, who has enjoyed working stints at the Four Seasons hotel in San Francisco and the Ritz- Carlton hotel in the Virgin Islands.

Following the pub's refurbishment, the Crown Inn has launched a series of events such as cookery and bakery masterclasses, chef demonstrations and wine tastings.

Sacha Donaldson said: "It's our ninth year in the business and we felt the time was right to evolve the offer. Our aim is to elevate the culinary experience and we're hoping that Chris' appointment alongside our schedule of events will help us achieve this. We're proud to invest in the Crown Inn as we enter our tenth year in business next year and we would like to extend a huge thank you to our customers for their support. We're really excited about what the next chapter in our story will bring."

Chef eats out at Cheltenham's Le Champignon Sauvage >>

David Everitt-Matthias of Le Champignon Sauvage awarded Chef of the Year in the 2014 Waitrose Good Food Guide >>

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