INVITED: VIP Tasting Experience & Meet The Chef Event at Cofton Holidays

The award-winning Amelia’s restaurant at Cofton Holidays in Starcross has welcomed an exciting new Executive Chef who promises to bring his experience working at Michelin-starred restaurants and with Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall to this hidden gem loved by foodies.

Amelia’s Restaurant sits within the green surroundings of Cofton Holiday Park. Diners can visit the restaurant whether they are staying on-site or locals visiting for the day. It is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Guests can enjoy a glass of wine, choose from a specially curated range of local gins or sample a Devon cider outside on the balcony on a sunny evening or opt for a cosy night in the Swan Pub next door. 

I was lucky enough to be invited to a VIP Tasting Experience & Meet The Chef Event at Cofton Holidays to meet the man himself, and sample some of his new menu!

Renowned chef Richard King has represented the UK at an international level multiple times at the “Restaurant of The Future” competition in Lausanne, Switzerland and at a Tapas competition in Spain. It was whilst living and working in La Rioja that he worked at a two Michelin-starred restaurant, learning how to create gourmet dishes of the highest quality. Upon moving back to the UK, Richard joined the kitchen at River Cottage in Axminster, creating phenomenal seasonal private banquets and teaching at the cookery school there.

A whole host of foodies, bloggers and journalists attended the fabulous evening, where we got a real insight to the delicious new menu.

The thing that stood out the most was Chef Richard's outstanding passion for local produce, and desire to celebrate the best that the South West has to offer.

The new Field To Fork menu launched at Amelia’s in January, where diners can enjoy signature dishes such as crispy pork belly cooked in Devon Red cider, Forest Fungi and truffle risotto, the seafood linguine with king prawns, smoked salmon and sea samphire or the Cofton Smash Burger which is a fresh spin on the Cofton classic.

Dishes at Amelia’s are created using produce from local suppliers, getting the very freshest and finest ingredients with the lowest food miles possible. These local food heroes include;

Some of the suppliers were at the evening and spoke to us about the freshest mushrooms, from just down the road from Forest Fungi. 

We had the pleasure of sampling some of the dishes on offer, and each one was absolutely devine!

 

Crispy Pork Belly Cooked in Devon Red cider, served with seasonal greens, buttery mashed potato and honey roasted carrots with a wholegrain mustard sauce.

I must admit, I've never been the biggest fan of pork belly, but this was cooked to perfection, and just melted in the mouth. The rich cider flavour ran throughout and the sauce was the perfect compliment. I would gladly eat this dish all over again.

Spiced Cauliflower & Labneh Spiced cauliflower, toasted almonds and baby leaf salad on a bed of yoghurt and ground sumac.

A tasty vegan option on the menu, packed full of flavour. 

Cofton Fish & Chips Gluten free cider battered fish from Brixham, with chips, minted crushed garden peas and served with homemade tartare sauce

You can't beat a classic fish and chips! The batter was crispy and light, with fluffy fish in the middle. There are more chips than it looks in my photograph too!

Forest Fungi & Truffle Risotto Wild mushroom and truffle risotto topped with homemade parsnip crisps.

I absolutely love mushrooms, and was desperate to try the risotto, as Richard explained they use a mixed bag of different mushrooms for depth of flavour, with added truffle oil.

This was the star of the show for me. The flavour was so beautiful, I haven't stopped thinking about it since the evening we attended! I couldn't stop going back in for more.

 

So light but also so rich, and a deeper mushroom flavour with every bite.

Chocolate Brownies Gooey, soft in the middle and so heavenly and chocolatey.

Everything we tasted was absolutely fantastic, and there are so many other delicious options on the new Field to Fork menu.

It was a really enjoyable evening, and an honour to be amongst the foodies who attended.

 

I can't wait to go back there and try even more of the menu. I didn't actually realise that you could attend the restaurant regardless of whether you're staying on site or not, so really recommended giving it a go if you're in the area.