The ancient Trelowarren Estate on Cornwall's Lizard Peninsula has welcomed in brilliant new chef Jeffrey Robinson to head up the New Yard Restaurant in the old stable yard. Jeff built a fine reputation as chef and owner of The Loft in St Ives after working in London for a number of years and he is passionate about ethical sourcing of ingredients and animal welfare.
“Jeff is a fantastic 'fit' with all we hold dear at Trelowarren,” says Ferrers Vyvyan, whose family have been guardians of the 1000 year old estate for the past six centuries. “Together we've created an exceptional menu of simple dishes, beautifully prepared which celebrate the produce of the woodlands, fields, rivers and seas of this wonderful part of the world.”
Jeff's arrival is exciting news both for the visitors holidaying in Trelowarren's luxury self-catering cottages and for the local diners who frequent the New Yard Restaurant.
His new menu is full of treats including homemade sourdough bread with hand-whipped, flavoured butters, Cornish oysters served with crisp seaweed, mackerel and other catches of the day brought over by fisherman John Tonkin from neighbouring Cadgwith. Cornish beef fillet and home-grown pumpkin risotto are garnished with herbs, leaves and flowers foraged from the estate; beetroot is smoked over lavender stalks and oranges barbequed over the New Yard's open fires.
“This is an exciting new challenge for me and it's fantastic to be working alongside like-minded people,” says Jeff. “Wherever possible we're using the best small local suppliers in the area to show off just how good the local produce is. It's a great thing to go home to my family in Lelant each day feeling really proud of the things we're achieving at Trelowarren.”
Alongside the New Yard Restaurant and the wood fired pizza shop in the stable yard, guests and eco-timeshare owners enjoy fantastic facilities in and around the estate's 1000 acres including a 20 meter outdoor heated ozone pool and the Walled Garden Organic Spa.
Trelowarren was well ahead of the “green” curve and the Vyvyan family and their team have done everything to ensure the estate is run on “carbon neutral” lines. The present incumbents, Ferrers and Victoria (aka Sir Ferrers and Lady Vyvyan), have spent the last twenty five years on a sensitive and ecologically-sound restoration of the old cottages, barns and stables as well as building super-high-spec eco-houses, with log-burners, fine art and masses of space inside and out. A huge biomass boiler burning coppiced wood from the estate heats all the houses, the Spa, the gym and the pool.
Trelowarren Manor was Daphne du Maurier's inspiration for Navron House in her most romantic and swashbuckling novel Frenchman's Creek. She was a friend of the family, a regular visitor and described the old house in its landscape as “a jewel in the palm of your hand”.