The Vyse Room launches at Stoke Place

On the 13th of June 2008 The Vyse Room launches at Stoke Place, a stunning country house offering eating and drinking in a number of different rooms, the grandest being The Vyse Room. After years of neglect Stoke Place, a grand Queen Anne manor house with 23 acres of Capability Brown designed grounds, has been sensitively refurbished. It now has 29 guest bedrooms and a dedicated wing for events and weddings. The jewel in the crown is the dramatic dining room, The Vyse Room, with its views of the gardens and the pike and perch-filled lake.

The Vyse Room is the brainchild of a talented team brought together by Operations Manager Richard Hamblin (Conran / D&D Restaurants). Hamblin’s team includes Will Beckett and Huw Gott from Underdog Consultancy, responsible for Hawksmoor, Green & Red and The Marquess Tavern, who have devised and helped implement Stoke Place’s new food and drink offering.

Underdog's cocktail supremo Nick Strangeway has created a stunning seasonal drinks list with punches and cocktails made using herbs and flowers grown in the grounds, alongside a diverse range of world wines. Head Chef Mark Bentley, formerly Head Chef at The Hinds Head in Bray, will be cooking simple, resolutely British food using fantastic seasonal produce.

The food menu draws its inspiration from Stoke Place's quintessentially English setting. Mark has been touring the local farms and has discovered a few gems: beef will come from Polly Conroy, also known as The Fine Beef Company, based just around the corner in Great Missenden. Polly traditionally rears a range of rare breed cattle such as White Parks, which produce richly marbled, almost Wagyu-like beef and the diminutive Dexters who stand 1m tall when fully grown.

Vegetables will come from market gardener Peter Clarke's Kingcup Farm five minutes away in Denham, which also supplies Le Manoir aux Quatre Saisons. Presently Mark is overseeing the replanting of Stoke Place's Victorian walled kitchen garden, which will soon be supplying the Vyse Room with a wide range herbs and salad leaves.

To start, choose from great British classics like Potted shrimps with watercress, Tea smoked salmon with crumpets and horseradish cream, Smoked beef, green beans and dandelion salad and an elegant Salmagundi, a Victorian salad dish that Mark will make with seasonal vegetables, herbs and wild leaves. For main course, Roast Berkshire pork with braised trotter and champ, Halibut with cockles and mussels or Pollock with battered oysters and samphire. For pudding, indulge in Cherry sherry trifle, Orange blossom blancmange with summer berries, Raspberry and Earl Grey jelly with raspberry ripple ice cream or a selection of local cheeses with port jelly and homemade oat biscuits.

The interior of The Vyse Room has been lovingly restored back to its former glory by the Stoke Place design team. Huge Queen Anne windows let the light flood through into the large, well-proportioned room and allow an unobstructed view of the grounds, where you will see swans, herons and, if you're lucky, small Muntjac deer. The room has been furnished with an eclectic mix of old and new, period and contemporary, creating a breathtaking space with just a hint of English eccentricity that goes hand in hand with Mark’s mouth-watering new menu.

With such a strong team and an original offering not normally seen in this kind of setting, The Vyse Room is sure to be a huge hit, both with the local market and the wealth of foodies and weekenders keen to escape to the country with the guarantee of some fine, unfussy British cooking on the menu during their stay.


The Vyse Room is located at Stoke Green, Stoke Poges, Buckinghamshire SL2 4HT. For more information, visit Stokeplace.co.uk.