The sweet taste of success

Chapters Hotel and Restaurant, in Stokesley, North Yorkshire, has been enjoying the sweet taste of success, thanks to their Head Chef Sean Wilkinson.

Chapters was taken over by Steven Bell in 2005, and is a wonderful and imposing 250 year old listed building, set in this historic market town, nestled in at the foot of the beautiful North York Moors National Park. Steven’s passion to create a stylish Hotel and Restaurant has been making quite an award winning mark for itself, and even more so since Sean came on board in 2008!

Sean won the title for ‘UK’s Best Dessert 2007’ Restaurant Magazine, so his first task was to apply his winning touch to the desserts, in his role as Pastry Chef at Chapters Restaurant. And later, as Head Chef he spent time training and developing his team - with award winning results.

The high standard of food, with its vibrant style and presentation paid off, and Chapters won The Flavours of Hambleton ‘ Restaurant of the Year’ Awards 2008, shortly followed by Sean becoming a finalist in Yorkshire Life’s ‘Chef of the Year 2009’ Awards.
“I work with the principle of surrounding myself with a strong team here at Chapters.” said Sean. “This reflects hugely in what we offer in our restaurant, and I so enjoy working with and supporting all the local food producers, and using their fantastic local and seasonal produce. We’ve got a great network going!” He added.

With over 20 years of experience on the Continent and across the UK, Sean has developed his own very distinctive style of cooking, which carries quite a few surprising results, that has gained attention from local radio, as well as being offered his own TV show. He has also become quite a media star, having appeared on UK TV Food for Tana Ramsey, and on the Paul O’ Grady Show, as well as having articles published in UK magazines and newspapers.

Sean is continually developing his approach to food ‘experiments’ by working with Senior Research Fellow Dr Iain Hutchings, in the Chemistry Department at Durham University, working on new ideas surrounding smells, tastes and texture, and how he can use these to further his studies in food technology.

Chapters Hotel & Restaurant is located at 27 High Street, Stokesley, North Yorkshire, TS9 5AD.

For more information, visit Chaptershotel.co.uk.