Guy Owen to relaunch fine dining restaurant in Cornwall's St Enodoc hotel next week

Guy Owen is to relaunch the fine dining restaurant the St Enodoc Hotel in Rock, Cornwall next week after joining the property as executive chef last month.

Karrek will be a 20-cover tasting menu only restaurant celebrating produce from Cornwall and Devon.

Owen, previously of the nearby Idle Rocks in St Mawes, said menus would be “super fluid” using the best of the day’s catch from his fish supplier in Port Isaac, shellfish from Padstow as well as meat and vegetables from the hotel’s owners 300-acre farm in Devon.

St Enodoc Hotel was bought by Robert and Carol Barkwell in January 2019. The couple had an emotional attachment to the property, which they had stayed at during their honeymoon, as well as visiting serval time sin the intervening years. Their daughter and son-in-law, James and Lucy Strachan have taken up positions as the hotel’s directors.

As well as Karrek restaurant, which opens in the site occupied by Restaurant Nathan Outlaw before its move to Port Isaac, Owen oversees the brasserie and the hotel’s room service offering. The brasserie will be led day-to-day by head chef Luke Hill – previously Owen’s sous chef at Idle Rocks.

Made-Well farm, which operates as a not-for-profit enterprise, gives adults with learning difficulties, physical disabilities or mental health problems the chance to learn about horticulture, cookery, animal care, countryside management and more. Owen said: “A lot of the conversations I had before coming here were about how we could utilise the farm, which is going to be a big part of how we go forward.

“It’s a big part of the romance of what we’re doing here, in both Karrek and the brasserie, and as well as using the livestock we’ll also have some venison and pheasant during the shooting season and the team of gardeners are growing a lot of vegetables and fruits including some vintage berries.

“The gardener at St Enodoc is also growing a lot for us including edible flowers, four types of strawberries, lots of herbs – it’s going to be a great way to connect the guests to the area.”

Karrek will offer four, six and nine course options at lunch from Thursday to Saturday and six and nine course menus at dinner from Tuesday to Saturday.

Marco Braz, previously of Gidleigh Park in Dartmoor and Whatley Manor in the Cotswolds has been appointed restaurant manager of Karrek, while Christina Janickova, formerly of Restaurant Gordon Ramsay and Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester in London and the Idle Rocks, joins as sommelier.

Both the brasserie and Karrek will be open to the public and Owen added: “We just want people to come in, have a great time and eat some really, really tasty food.”

Owen's CV includes stints at Gidleigh Park, under Michael Caines; the Driftwood hotel, Truro as well as Gordon Ramsay's Michelin-starred restaurant at Claridge's, London.

He announced his departure as head chef of the Idle Rocks in October 2019 after four and a half years in the role. During his tenure he won numerous awards including the Seafood Restaurant of the Year competition, run by The Caterer and Seafish in 2018.

The Idle Rocks named Dorian Janmaat as its new head chef in November 2019. Janmaat joined the Idle Rocks after eight years at Raymond Blanc’s two Michelin-starred Le Manoir aux Quat‘Saisons – the final three of which he spent as head chef.

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