OUR VERDICT:
★★★★★
Hotel restaurants can be tricky to master; they’re often transient places, where bland interiors and uninspired menus are designed to please all who pass through. Earlier this year, Ascot’s 71-room luxury country house hotel, Coworth Park, made the brave decision to close its popular, flagship dining destination and open a brand-new restaurant in its place - but would Woven by Adam Smith break the mould?
We passed through the elegant hotel foyer, rounded the corner and there was Woven. After an incredibly warm welcome, we stepped through the doorway and into an epicurean’s dream. To the left, a small pantry, brimming with an array of spectacular cheeses, fat figs, giant quince, golden loaves of bread, piles of tennis ball-sized truffles, glass jars of glistening pickled treats, and shelves carefully lined with bespoke ceramics.
This was framed by not one, but two temperature-controlled wine rooms, both encased in floor-to-ceiling glass, with slick tiled floors and wooden ladders to reach the magnums of vintage Dom Perignon up top. Taking centre stage, a vast kitchen island adorned with plants and fragrant herbs, where an aproned chef wielded a pair of extra-long tweezers, carefully placing micro petals and flecks of fresh truffle on to flower-shaped canapés. Had I died and gone to heaven? Quite possibly…
Mark Bolton Photography
Coworth Park Hotel, summer 2022
The restaurant space is one of the most beautiful I have been in recently; Martin Hulbert Design have crafted a sleek and deeply impressive contemporary look that feels totally separate from the rest of the hotel, whilst blending seamlessly into the Georgian manor house setting.
Quality, craft and natural materials are all around, with a striking light installation that stretches across the entire ceiling and curved black statement lamps that add an intimate glow. The uncluttered black tables (made from compressed paper) are topped simply with intricate ceramic conkers, which were quickly squirrelled away to make space for the show that was about to begin...
At the helm of the kitchen is Adam Smith, who rose through the ranks of The Ritz and The Devonshire Arms before joining Coworth Park as Executive Chef in 2016. Hailing from Birmingham and having started out as a pot washer at his local pub at the age of 13, Smith is now considered one of the UK’s most talented chefs and has a reputation for accomplished, classically based cooking with modern presentation. Woven represents the culmination of his career to date, with a menu that promises ‘a tapestry of familiar flavours reimagined in unexpected ways, combining the classics with modern touches and layers of personal experience’.
It’s not a tasting menu as such, but there are some unexpected surprises along the way. The first came from the aforementioned Pantry of dreams; a selection of exquisite ‘snacks’ made with such care and finesse that I could have just eaten them and gone home happy. Small flowers of Ragstone goat’s cheese with hazelnut and truffle arrived carefully balanced on a ceramic branch, a beautiful brown crab salad layered in a small glass bowl topped with fermented mooli and punchy little drops of yuzu; a wonderfully fragrant celeriac tea poured at the table, topped with a salty lovage oil. Each thoughtful, beautiful element an utterly delicious delight.
Then came another surprise, this one even better than the last - the bread course. A wooden bowl brimming with carb-heavy hedonism that included spongy sourdough, feather-light seeded crackers, a shiny lavender and honey brioche, and – the pièce de résistance - a warm Old Winchester croissant. To go with; pumpkin butter with pumpkin oil; a rich, deep orange lobster oil with a dollop of tart black cherry in it; a smooth onion and miso gel (heaven with the cheesy croissant), and a walnut whip-shaped tower of the most delicious, sweet, salty, creamy brown butter I have ever tasted. All this with a glass of chilled Veuve Clicquot, as recommended by the efficient sommelier.
Still in a state of what can only be described as ecstasy, the starters arrived, ‘From the Larder’. I had beautifully cooked Hen of the Woods, with more Old Winchester, smooth cauliflower puree and punchy little cubes of pickled turnip, topped with leaf- and mushroom-shaped cheese biscuits and fresh leaves. The depth of flavour was phenomenal – meaty, salty, deeply satisfying comfort food at it’s finest. The delicate, buttery hand-dived scallop was incredibly delicious too – cured and topped with celery and a milk and bergamot liquid nitrogen – its cool, aromatic freshness beautifully balanced with the huge dollop of rich, creamy Golden Oscietra. Talk about decadent.
The main courses ‘From the Stove’ were stunning too – two soft, thick chunks of Dover sole, with juicy cucumber and dollops of silky cauliflower puree, fresh romanesco florets and crunchy radish, all slathered in a creamy caviar and smoked cod’s roe sauce, topped with seaweed powder. So many wonderful flavours and textures that all worked so beautifully together. The Cornish turbot was also an indulgent delight, topped with a hunk of lobster tail and yet more caviar, all sitting in a rich and velvety salsify and truffle foam.
Despite definitely not having enough room for it, we opted for the cheese course, mostly because it involved returning to *that* lavish larder. Here, we were taken through a selection of around 15 British cheeses and encouraged to taste each one before making our final choices, which were then delivered to the table with an assortment of beautiful fruit breads, biscotti, truffle vinegar, fruity chutney and more.
As you can probably imagine, having read this far, puddings were also incredibly good and absolutely stunning too. I had the almost sculptural ‘signature chocolate’, which was just as deliciously dark as I had hoped it would be, served with a tangy crème fraiche sorbet.
The black fig and honey compote was super sweet and utterly scrumptious, made using honey and pollen from the Coworth estate, served with an earthy walnut ice cream and an almost sticky fig purée.
Yet more sweet treats then arrived – a selection of exquisitely precise petit fours, beautifully presented; cherry and tonka bean ‘sandwiches’ carefully placed on a black wooden platter; Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee and vanilla fudge balanced on a white ceramic pebble; all completely delicious, but at this stage, I declared – quite possibly for the first time ever – that it was just too much food. I blame the bread course…
What Woven offers are rare – there is none of the lacklustre or soullessness often found in big hotel restaurants, instead, it is an utterly beautiful space with a well-defined and genuinely exciting identity all of its own.
It’s modern but classic, formal but friendly, innovative but authentic, with an enthusiastic and efficient team who seem incredibly proud of it all, and so they should be.
I don’t know why the restaurant is called Woven exactly, but after visiting, I like to think that it refers to all the thoughtful strands that Adam Smith and co. have created and carefully intermingled; the stunning food, fabulous flavours, sophisticated design, and the many meaningful details, all woven together to create one very special experience indeed.
Woven by Adam Smith is open for dinner Wednesday to Saturday and lunch Saturday to Sunday. There is a set-priced menu at £80pp for lunch and £130pp for dinner. A plant-based menu is also available. Wine pairing £80pp.
Coworth Park, Blacknest Road, Ascot, Berkshire SL5 7SE
Book at www.dorchestercollection.com/en/ascot/coworth-park/restaurants-bars/woven-by- adam-smith/
