Wealden Times | WT214 | December 2019 | Guide to Christmas supplement inside

Chef’s
Table
What’s on the Christmas menu this year? WT speaks to the foodies to find out how local
eateries are gearing up for the festive season, and what they’ll be serving up at home
Hush Heath’s executive
chef, Fabio Vinciguerra
What is your favourite
part of Christmas day?
Opening the presents! And
spending time with my son
and wife, of course…
What would you choose for
your ultimate Christmas
menu? I like to start the
day as I mean to go on,
so begin with a Bloody
Mary and smoked salmon. Then, for the main event, it
would have to be a Beef Wellington as it is my absolute
favourite – which is one of the main reasons it is on the Hush
Heath pubs’ menus this year. I tend to have dauphinoise
potatoes with mine and it wouldn’t be Christmas without
sprouts, which I serve with pancetta and chestnuts.
What is the highlight of Hush Heath pubs’ festive menus
this year? It would have to be the Salmon Rillette and
Cucumber Carpaccio with Keta Caviar and Melba Toast. We
tend to have a lot of salmon throughout the festive period
as it makes me think of Christmases back home in Italy.
How are you going that extra mile to make customers
feel pampered when they dine in one of your pubs?
This is something which we strive to do every day as we
are passionate about reflecting the family values that run
throughout Hush Heath’s culture. The key area which I
believe we achieve this is through the staff. All of our staff
are hired for their personalities, as it is vital to have people
who truly care about what they are doing, and I believe our
guests can see and feel that when they visit any of our pubs.
What is your favourite Christmas dessert? Don’t judge me but
I love a Black Forest gateau! You can tell I’m a child of the 70s.
Find out more about the Hush Heath Estate and its collection
of six pubs across London, Kent and Sussex at hushheath.com
19 wealdentimes.co.uk