Bagden Hall Hotel appoints new Head Chef

Chef Steve Phillips has been promoted to the role of Head Chef at Bagden Hall, the Classic Lodges country house hotel in Denby Dale, West Yorkshire, after four years working in the kitchens of its a la carte restaurant The Glendale.

Steve joined the team at Bagden Hall in January 2008 as a sous chef, having previously trained at Thomas Danby College and worked as a lecturer on catering at Wakefield College, and following his promotion will now head up a team of four other members of staff – the sous chef, the chef de partie, the commis chef and the breakfast chef.

Steve says that he is delighted to have been appointed Head Chef: “It is something that, at my time of life, I wouldn’t have thought possible, but I was asked if I would take the role on and, with the support of my manager Caroline, I was very pleased to accept the opportunity.”

He takes on responsibility for planning the menus, both for the restaurant and for events held at the hotel, as he explains: “We change the menus at Bagden Hall every three months, to reflect seasonal changes and to enable us to cater with locally sourced food. In planning the menu choices, our guiding priorities are the quality of the ingredients and offering good value for money,” he says.

One of his ambitions as Head Chef at the hotel is to maintain its strong reputation for hosting events: “We take pride in catering for a large number of weddings and conferences at the hotel, and it is one of my ambitions as Head Chef that we will continue to generate the same amount of wedding business and other event bookings through our coordinators.

“My other hope is that, ultimately, I would love for us to be awarded a Rosette rating,” he says. “That would be a real mark of achievement for Bagden Hall and The Glendale.”

Richard Smith, Director of Marketing and Associates at Classic Lodges, says that Steve is playing a vital role in the experience of visitors to the hotel: “The dining experience is a hugely important element of any hotel but particularly at Bagden Hall where The Glendale sets such high standards in fine dining. It is fantastic to have someone as capable and hardworking as Steve on board as Head Chef.”

Steve’s promotion follows on from the annual Classic Lodges chefs competition, held at Bagden Hall last month, to highlight the budding talent of chefs working in the kitchens of 12 Classic Lodges hotels nationwide.

http://www.classiclodges.co.uk/Bagden_Hall_Hotel_West_Yorkshire