Shane Hughes opens Salutation hotel restaurant

The Salutation hotel in Sandwich, Kent has opened its new restaurant with head chef Shane Hughes at the helm.

Hughes joined the 17-bedroom boutique hotel as head chef earlier this year after John and Dorothy Fothergill took over the property from Channel 4 Gogglebox cast members Dom and Steph Parker in December 2016.

The hotel also has a new management team and has seen extensive investment in the refurbishment of the main house bedrooms and the reconfiguration of the ground floor.

The hotel now has a 36-cover restaurant overlooking the hotel gardens offering a European a la carte menu including dishes such as roast scallops with heritage beetroot and Parmesan bon bons; quail and bacon sausage with summer truffle and creamed potatoes; and sweet ravioli with ricotta, lemon jelly and hazelnut parfait.

A lunchtime small plate menu is priced £2-16 and offers marinated heritage beetroots with apple and sherry reduction; partridge roasted in bacon with Brussels sprout leaves; and shallow-fried, salted cod with citrus preserve and mustard mayonnaise.

The hotel also has a 16-cover ‘tasting room' offering a seven-course tasting menu and a bespoke market menu; a 20-cover ‘parlour' private dining room with a terrace; a ‘drawing room and bar' for coffee, drinks and afternoon tea; and a ‘faint room' lounge.

Hughes spent seven years at Ynyshir Hall in Machynlleth, Powys, where he achieved a Michelin star as head chef, and was also head chef at Thackeray's in Tunbridge Wells, Kent.

Sir Edwin Lutyens designed and built the Salutation in 1912 as a country retreat for the Farrer brothers, and in 1950 it became the first 20th century building to be granted a Grade I-listing by English Heritage.

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