Jake Storey named head chef of Foresters Hall on the Isle of Wight

Jake Storey has been appointed head chef of Foresters Hall on the Isle of Wight and will be starting his role on 18 October.

He is the third chef to be taking over the reins at the hotel restaurant, following Robert Thompson (chef patron between April – December 2022) and Lee Sanders (head chef between April 2023 – October 2023) of Smoking Lobster Group, who “could only commit to stay until mid-October” due to plans to work as a private chef.

Storey was most recently senior sous chef of Lympstone Manor in Devon, where he worked with Michael Caines.

He started his career in hospitality aged 15, having worked for the Royal Hotel in Ventnor on the Isle of Wight and the Smoking Lobster Group, which was founded by Giancarlo (“GC”) Giancovich and Cinz Reckitt.

The pair from Smoking Lobster remain partners of Foresters Hall since it launched a restaurant with the hotel owners Sara Curran and Peter Sussman in April 2023.

Smoking Lobster will continue to support Storey in his new role.

The husband-and-wife duo first opened the hotel as North House in May 2022 but rebranded itself as Foresters Hall in September of that year to avoid confusion with the English Heritage site Northwood House.

Commenting on his appointment, Storey said: “I feel very privileged, who wouldn’t want to work at Foresters Hall, it’s a stunning venue with a fantastic reputation associated with high standards of service and quality. I’m excited to challenge my creativity further whilst honouring Smoking Lobster Group’s reputation for serving great food.”

GC, chef patron of Smoking Lobster, added: “We are grateful to Lee for all he’s done for the launch. The feedback from our guests has been nothing short of fantastic. The terrific work by Lee and the team will allow Jake a great running start. Apart from the normal seasonal menu adjustments and a few changes to play into Jake’s particular skills and passions, the passing of the baton from Lee to Jake should be seamless.”