CELTIC MANOR APPOINTS MICHELIN-STARRED CHEF & THE CHEFS’ FORUM COMMITTEE MEMBER, RICHARD DAVIES
South Wales resort launches new fine dining restaurant, Epicure by Richard Davies
The Celtic Manor Resort has appointed Michelin-starred chef Richard Davies to take charge of its new fine dining restaurant.
Epicure by Richard Davies will open on Saturday 13th February and promises a memorable and exciting, modern restaurant experience for diners.
Davies returns to Celtic Manor having worked in the kitchens of the original Celtic Manor Hotel at the age of 18, before leaving the South Wales venue shortly after the Resort Hotel opened in 1999.
He climbed the culinary ladder in celebrated restaurants including three years at the 3 Michelin-starred Gordon Ramsay in London and then won coveted Michelin stars of his own in his first head chef posts at Sawyards in West Sussex and the Manor House at Castle Combe, near Bath.
Davies said: “It feels like coming home and I’m exciting about the challenge of creating and developing a new fine dining experience for Celtic Manor.
“I like to choose the best quality ingredients –local where possible – and use modern techniques to create a memorable and exciting dining experience for guests.”
The word epicure means a person with refined taste who takes particular pleasure in fine food and drink, and that is exactly the experience the resort wants to create at the new restaurant.
Epicure by Richard Davies will occupy the same restaurant space previously occupied by the resort’s former fine dining option, Terry M.
“It’s a beautiful dining room and Celtic Manor is a stunning hotel,” added Davies. “I know I’m coming back to the best hotel in Wales and now I want to give it the best restaurant in Wales.
“When I first worked here, Celtic Manor was the closest thing you could find to a London restaurant kitchen in South Wales and I learnt a lot very quickly.
“It’s great to be back here and back in Wales with this fantastic opportunity. We hope to attain as many of the highest accolades for the restaurant as we possibly can.”
Davies has represented Wales three times on BBC’s popular culinary show ‘Great British Menu’ and made it all the way to the banquet in 2013 with his winning dessert ‘strawberries and cream’, which was served at the Royal Albert Hall in aid of Comic Relief. The dish has been adapted for his brand new menu at Epicure by Richard Davies.
The appointment of Davies, who is originally from Bridgend, is another exciting development as Celtic Manor continues to reinvigorate its culinary offering to hotel residents and local diners.
This week, 2013 MasterChef finalist Larkin Cen launches his first restaurant, Cen at Celtic Manor, serving a menu of pan-Asian flavours and creativity. In December it opened the doors to Steak on Six, establishing a seventh restaurant at the resort.
