KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 16 — Housed in a fifteenth century manor house on a sprawling seven-acre estate, The Langford Fivehead in England can best be described as “a restaurant with rooms.”
The place, run by resident chef Olly Jackson together with his wife Rebecca, is the only venture for The BIG Group in England. As The BIG Group CEO Benjamin Yong explains, “The Langford Fivehead is The BIG Group’s idealistic idea of what life should be. We try to create more new differences, whether it’s through our restaurants down here or our supermarket and The Langford Fivehead is an extension of that.”
Part of The Langford Fivehead’s charm is their informal take on hospitality; guests are treated more like favoured guests in a family home. “We have seven rooms, which we encourage people to come in and out of like they are visiting somebody’s home or a friend’s house. It becomes less of a hotel transaction experience which is what we want to achieve,” said Yong.
This means there are none of the usual formalities like a check-in reception. Instead, guests are warmly greeted by Chef Olly or his wife who would take you up to your room. “We don’t have any television in the room as it’s all about relaxation; a good bed, good food and good wine. That is what we’re trying to promote,” said chef Olly.
Another pull factor of The Langford Fivehead is the culinary magic of Chef Olly where the highlight is fresh seasonal produce sourced from their own gardens and nearby producers. “One of the great things is we grow so much in our garden. We devise the menu around that. Our cuisine changes with the seasons,” said Chef Olly.
Being in Somerset, he also has access to the best produce from the region. Chef Olly definitely values the provenance of this produce. This includes an award-winning butter from Longman’s dairy in North Cadbury. That luscious butter, delicious with just freshly baked bread, took the Isigny Sainte Mere Trophy at the International Cheese Awards in 2013. “One of the things when I started in The Langford was I wanted to make our own butter but we came across this butter and it was so good. It changes with the seasons; in the summer it gets a little cheesier and during the winter, it becomes all buttery.”
Other produce, like their meats, comes from Bonners of Illminster, a family run butcher that supports local farms and you can even trace the origin of your meat down to the name of the animal. The seafood is sourced on a daily basis from Lyme Bay in Dorset and Cornwall.
The menu at The Langford Fivehead is a small one with just three starters, three mains and three puddings. For the main course, Chef Olly prefers to do two different cooking methods. What makes the difference is the care put into every dish served by Chef Olly who manages the kitchen himself with just an assistant cook.
“A sauce takes three days to make — we make the stock one day, reduce it the next day, then turn it into a sauce on the third day. So everything is that kind of slow. What I really enjoy about food is, for instance, what you have on your plate, you have your fast-cooked meat and your very slow-cooked meat. Everything takes planning and lots of love really.”
As the kitchen is central to The Langford Fivehead, guests are encouraged to wander inside to watch Chef Olly work. “The kitchen at The Langford is a very homely kitchen — you can sit down, have a cup of coffee and a chat. Sometimes we ask our customers if they want to eat in the kitchen,” said Chef Olly.
Originally from Northampton, he ventured into cooking at the age of 16, rather than take up plumbing, as suggested by his mother. Once he started working up from the lowest of ranks — washing dishes and peeling potatoes — he found he had a knack for cooking. He cut his teeth at various places including the Marriott Hotel and New Yard restaurant in Cornwall.
It was at The River Cafe that Ruth Rogers taught him about food provenance, which is all about knowing the food you are eating and where it comes from. The River Cafe is also notable for many of the successful chefs who have trained there, like Jamie Oliver and April Bloomfield.
Despite being two years under The BIG Group, Chef Olly believes there’s always room for improvement at The Langford Fivehead. “We’re slowly building the business as it’s two years into the project and we’re going to keep carrying on as we’re going to become a successful business and try to be the best in the area.”
The Langford Fivehead
Lower Swell
Somerset TA3 6PH
United Kingdom
Tel:+44 7963 281512
langfordfivehead.co.uk
