Meet the Executive Chef....Phil Yeomans

Hello there,

Welcome back to another meet the chef article from Tea With Me and Friends!

Last weekend Lorna and I went to the Marwell hotel in Hampshire, to try the new afternoon tea on offer from their new Executive Chef Phil Yeomans. Phil had joined Marwell only in August this year and we were keen to sample his afternoon tea.

Afternoon Tea - Marwell Hotel

We were really impressed with the quality of the food on offer - not a crust in sight on those sandwiches and the cakes and pastries were divine. We were all delighted when Chef Phil came out to meet us at the end of tea, we thoroughly enjoyed chatting to him and finding out what his plans are for the hotel.

For Phil it's important that his dishes are seasonal and local, he sources his ingredients from the local area and is keen to support local producers. This was reflected in the serving staff who were able to tell us where all the different ingredients came from.

Phil Yeomans
Executive Chef Marwell Hotel

Phil was also kind enough to answer our afternoon tea questions, so let's find out whether he's a cream or jam first kinda guy......

Q How long does it usually take you to create new afternoon teas?

Not long, with great local produce in Hampshire we look at what’s in season and around us and build from there. Usually we spend a week to put it together and perfect it before we go live.

Q. Where does your inspiration for new teas come from?

I think the inspiration is to develop treats that are different food combinations that work well together and have a wow factor. Making sure we use the best local in season food available -but I also believe there is place for the traditional cakes done amazing well

Q. What is your favourite part of your latest afternoon tea?

I love the salted caramel, chocolate pave with honeycomb, it eats so well and we get to show case our own honey, it’s a big crowd pleaser 

Afternoon tea treats - Marwell Hotel

Q. Do you enjoy a spot of afternoon tea yourself and have you tried tea anywhere else?

I do enjoy it, really loved having tea at the Lanesborough in London 

Q. What is your favourite filling in an afternoon tea sandwich?

I enjoy the classic smoked salmon with a good kick of lemon crème fraiche and malt bread 

Q. The all important question - do you put cream or jam on your scone first?

I go jam, the jam sticks to the bottom and then load the cream high on top 

Q. If you could invite any guest to enjoy afternoon tea with you, who would it be and why?

Would have to be mum- she loves a good afternoon tea and is well over due a treat 

 Well, would you believe - jam first! I have to agree with Phil about the salted caramel, chocolate pave with honeycomb though - so scrummy!

It was really interesting to listen to Phil, he is very passionated about using local produce and providing high quality, seasonal dishes. I can't wait to see how the afternoon tea at Marwell evolves.

Thank you to Phil and the team at the Marwell Hotel for their time.

Thanks for popping by today,

Rachel

Time for Tea....at Marwell Hotel

Hello there,

Welcome back to another afternoon tea post from Tea With Me and Friends, and this time we are sharing with you a recent visit to Marwell Hotel in Hampshire.

Marwell Hotel has recently gained the talents of executive chef Phil Yeoman who is passionate about using local produce in all his cooking, and this includes the afternoon tea on offer. Lorna and I were lucky enough to be invited to try Phil's current afternoon tea, here's what we enjoyed.....

We were seated in the upstairs of the lounge area and were looked after very well by Holly. Holly not only offered great, friendly service but also a very good knowledge of the afternoon tea she was serving. After we had picked our tea selection from the Twinings teas on offer, the tea stands were brought out.....

Afternoon tea - Marwell Hotel

On the top tier was a selection of afternoon tea cakes and pastries, and nestled below them on the middle tier were the finger sandwiches. The scones were brought out after we had finished our sandwiches, which meant they were served perfectly warm.

The hotel supports local producers and this is reflected in all the food served at afternoon tea. 

The sandwiches were freshly cut and generously filled....

Afternoon tea sandwiches - Marwell Hotel

The filling variety included:

Smoked salmon and cream cheese

Cream cheese and cucumber 

Honey roast ham, and grain mustard

The bread was fresh and I'm pleased to report crustless. The sandwiches were a good size, cut into fingers and filled from end to end - there was no scrimping here! I really enjoyed the cucumber sandwiches.

Once we had finished the sandwiches the plates of scones were brought out.....

Afternoon tea scones - Marwell Hotel

Now...these scones were quite amazing....firstly...they were huge! We were served one plain and one fruit scone each, accompanied by locally produced strawberry jam and clotted cream. As mentioned before, as the scones were brought out after we'd finished our sandwiches they were lovely and warm when we cut into them.

The fruit scones had fruit all the way through, and both the fruit and plain ones had a lovely flavour and texture to them. They had a nice bite, were light inside and not at all claggy. I really liked the strawberry jam, which was a good consistency (perfectly for dolloping on top of the cream!) and flavoursome.

Finally we moved onto the top tier of the cake stand....those wonderful looking pastries and cakes.....

Afternoon tea pastries - Marwell Hotel

There were three different sweets to enjoy:

Chocolate marquise salted caramel

Glazed strawberry tartlet chantilly cream

Carrot cake coriander cress

I started with the carrot cake, which was light and delicious. I'm not normally a fan of carrot cake, but this I really enjoyed. I followed this up with the strawberry tartlet, which again was light and delicate...and those strawberries tasted amazing! Finally I enjoyed the salted caramel and chocolate piece of heaven, which was topped with homemade honeycomb. It was rich, but light and I loved the salted caramel running through it. 

This was a really lovely selection of sweets, and all were a good size.

All in all this was a wonderful afternoon tea, we were well fed and watered and all for £15.50 per person. If you are in Hampshire I would definitely recommend trying this afternoon tea - it's great value, especially considering the quality of the ingredients.

We also had the pleasure of meeting executive chef Phil at the end of our experience who told us about some of his plans for the hotel (we also asked him our afternoon tea questions). We'll feature all this in a future blog post, so watch this space!

I'd like to thank Marwell Hotel and Phil for inviting us to try their afternoon tea. Please note that although we were guests at the hotel, this has not influenced our thoughts on the tea and all opinions expressed are our own.

If you would like to find out more about the afternoon tea, please visit the Marwell Hotel website.

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel