Hotel Restaurant Team of the Year Sponsored by Matthew Clark
Hotel Restaurant Team of the Year
WINNER Woven by Adam Smith, Coworth Park 2023
THE SHORTLIST The Bridge, Prestbury
Stanwell House Woven by Adam
Smith, Coworth Park
It’s not easy to win a Michelin star within six months of opening, but the team at Woven by Adam Smith were able to pull it off. Our judges were highly impressed by their group effort to launch a new destination restaurant at a country house hotel. As well as wowing the Michelin inspectors, the team impressed our judges with a forward-thinking approach to training that can serve as an inspiration for other hotel restaurants. Woven by Adam Smith opened at the five-AA-star Coworth Park in Ascot, Berk- shire, in September 2022. It replaced Restau- rant Coworth Park, which previously held a Michelin star, so expectations were high. The team for Woven by Adam Smith was
built from scratch. After the closure of Res- taurant Coworth Park, the original team either took new positions within the hotel or moved on. This meant there was a blank canvas from which to build a new restaurant. Many of those hired were food and beverage graduates and interns who had only just begun their careers at the hotel, or colleagues from other inter- nal departments, some of whom had never worked in hospitality before. However, they all shared the same excitement and drive to bring a new restaurant to life. The restaurant, which seats 42 guests in the main dining room and 12 in a conservatory space, serves a seasonal, multi-course menu. After just four months of opening, it closed for a few weeks to help the team train and adapt based on guest feedback. All members of the team contributed ideas on how to improve ser- vice and were encouraged to bring their own personality to the guest experience. Increasing collaboration between front
and back of house team members has been a major factor in the restaurant’s ongoing suc- cess. In May 2023, an ‘Inside Out’ scheme
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“We had a real sense that training and investing in the team was of high
importance” Jennifer McCabe
was launched that sees a front of house team member and a chef swap positions for a day. This has fostered mutual understanding and respect between the team and has proved so useful that it is now done on a weekly basis. Staff also have the weekly opportunity to dine
at Woven as a guest, providing a reward for their hard work as well as an insight into the diner experience and how it can be improved. The wider focus on development has seen
five front of house team members promoted in the first 10 months of the restaurant open- ing, while there were four kitchen promotions and four chefs who completed their appren- ticeships from Bournemouth College. The success achieved by the Woven by Adam
Smith team in such a short time has ensured this restaurant is certainly one to watch.
WHAT THE JUDGES SAID “I was impressed by their ‘inside out’ project and I found it commendable that staff are encouraged to dine in, offering them the invaluable experience of seeing things from the guest perspective.” Leni Miras
“We had a real sense that training and investing in the team was of high importance.” Jennifer McCabe
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