The Pig near Bath is a boutique hotel nestled in a Georgian-era manor crafted from warm, honey-hued stone.
DO YOU HAVE WELLIES I can borrow to muck about in the garden?
I ask The Pig.
“Yes, plenty of Wellies for you to borrow!” The Pig replies. This was a happy exchange, because I do love a muck-about in a garden, especially one with The Pig. There’s a cornucopia of surprise and delight – from funky purple broccoli and curly kale a zillion ways to funkier fungi sprouting like glistening stalagmites behind secret greenhouse doors.
Wellies are always at the ready for guests to borrow at the Pig hotels. Photo: Vivian Vassos
The English spring weather is calling for rubber boots and layers, so I pick a pair of Hunters from the bright lineup tucked under a bench to ward off the chill – but head chef Alex Proudman at The Pig in New Forest is smokin’ hot. He has emerged from a hut, bearing a tray of freshly smoked salt – a whoosh of white, from the puff cloud of steam that enshrouds him, to his chef ’s smock, like a magician revealed as the salt-smoker hut door swings wide.
Head chef Alex Proudman at The Pig in New Forest emerging from a hut, bearing a tray of freshly smoked salt. Photo: Vivian Vassos
Proudman, along with kitchen gardener Alex Sultan, is taking us for a guided muck-about of Sultan’s domain – the bounty of which feeds the majority of Proudman’s menu. The chef ’s having fun, especially when he invites us back to his kitchen, and pours us all a shot of damson liquor derived from one of Sultan’s fruit trees. But not before he reminds Sultan he’ll need fresh inspiration (of the garden variety) for tonight’s menu. Perhaps a few nasturtium blossoms for tonight’s grilled mackerel; or a head or two of cauliflower, to give it a romanesco twist with gallybagger cheese and a side of pickled shallots.
The chefs, and their brigades work hand in hand with the Kitchen Gardeners to create a truly tasting farm-to-table menu.
The Pig in New Forest is the original, the concept being “Rooms and Kitchen Garden Food.” A restaurant with rooms that sounds approachable and not precious (hence the name); a culinary-led hospitality offering that’s spread throughout England from New Forest in Brockenhurst to Bath to the Beach and beyond. Since it was launched by English hotelier Robin Hutson and his wife Judy, The Pig’s creative director, in 2011 with The Pig in New Forest, the company has been on a roll. “We’ve opened eight hotels over eight years since…” Pig chief executive officer Tom Ross says, while we sit by a crackling fire at The Pig near Bath, “…almost every year. It’s not unusual for us to do more than one property at a time.” Over those years, says Ross, the company has looked at about 40 possible locations.
The Pig founders Robin and Judy Hutson
The Pig – New Forest; CEO Tom Ross.
And nothing should be too perfect. They try to leave the chips and cracks that keep these places authentic, says Ross. It’s a mishmash of shabby chic meets English Grandmama’s sitting room; prints of the fabric and the artwork varieties cover nearly all the available space, from overstuffed comfy couches to walls lined with themed art – flowers, horses, portraits – while floors are wonderfully mismatched tiles, dark hardwood beams in the rooms, while marble is a material of choice in the modern spacious baths. And what a bath; I’m partial to a soaker that helps my body fight the jet lag. A soothing massage in one of the property’s wee rustic potting sheds set back in the gardens among the wildflowers allows me to breathe.
Photo: The Pig
Photo: The Pig
IN 2023, the hospitality private equity KSL Capital Partners invested in a share of The Pig, and cash infusion has allowed the Hutsons to broaden their reach and as of 2024, pull back as the chairman and creative director respectively. Ross will take the reins.
Next up, the newly minted Pig and the Village Pub at Barnsley House in the Cotswolds opened in the autumn of 2024. (“It’s an absolutely sensationally beautiful building,” says Ross. “Everytime I see it, even now, I think it’s a perfect Pig hotel.”) And it is. More spectacular are the gardens, designed by the late-great English garden designer and writer, Rosemary Verey, which remain true to her aesthetic. Another unique aspect is The Pig’s pub takeover, as the Village Pub is a cosy snug that also features rooms above the establishment. Book a room here for an old school English experience. This year sees The Pig meeting the set-jetting trend, with the opening of Groombridge Place in Kent, spotted in the film Pride & Prejudice – and in time for the author Jane Austen’s 250th anniversary of her birth. The Pig on the farm, in Stratford-upon- Avon, will also make its debut.
Photo: The Pig
Apropos then that we start this food and foraging journey at the Pig near Bath, a city known as one of Austen’s haunts. There we find a kindred spirit. The Pig near Bath’s head chef is Sophie Fenlon, born in England, but raised in British Columbia. She’s surveying the bounty of head gardener Zack Jones. As she walks, she runs her hands through herbs, releasing heady aromas, and clips the top of a frilly golden stalk of rhubarb and absent-mindedly tucks it into her smock’s sleeve pocket. I ask her if the strict ethos of The Pig – serving only a 25 mile menu, from where more than two-thirds of its ingredients must come and the rest not too much further – is a challenge. “I actually like the challenge,” she says. “It gives me a chance to be creative and to have fun.” Speaking of fun, Fenlon attempted a bit of mischief when she added a dollop of Maple Syrup to her menu. She was busted, but you can’t blame a True North gal for trying. She makes up for it with her namesake roasted tomato soup. All is forgiven.
Head Chef Sophie Fenlon was born in England, but raised in British Columbia. Photo: The Pig
Sample menu: Guinea Fowl Terrine, Crowborough Estate Venison Sausages and Date & Walnut Sponge. Photo: The Pig
Fenlon depends on constant communication with Jones; they try to meet on a daily basis, sometimes Jones will tell Fenlon they’ve got a surplus of something, “say Jerusalem or sunchoke artichokes,” she says, “and that will be on the next day’s menu. We have a very good relationship.” Fenlon worked in a lot of big cities as a chef, “so you kind of lose touch with the food that you’re getting,” she says. “You don’t really know, necessarily, where it’s all coming from. A big part of me wanting to join The Pig hotels was because I wanted to reconnect with the food, really use the seasonal products and stay within that 25 miles.” The main menu is divided into columns, with veg/vegan dishes first, then meats and poultry, and then fish and seafood. Fenlon’s pork and venison dishes are both outstanding (and don’t miss anything that contains Jones’s peppery greens or sweet forced rhubarb either).
At The Pig on the Beach, we’re invited to a sunset sparkling wine tasting, some of it English, which takes place in the enclosed gazebo on the lawn. It’s romantic, strolling along the path to the illuminated folly. So English. The room is lined with overstuffed banquettes and anchored in the middle by a circular settee that could be from the set of Downton Abbey. We’re greeted by Connar Baird, the property’s director of beverage, with a glass of Hugo, and the bubbles are flowing. We’re doing a comparison – is it French Champagne? Is it English sparkling? Is it terrible of me to say I like them all and, even with my semi-educated palate, can’t really tell a huge difference. I think, now quite rosy-cheeked, I’ve got a crush on Hugo.
Photo: The Pig
I’ve come too early to try The Pig’s new launch, its own house wines, Alpaca Block Chardonnay and Alpaca Block Field Blend Rosé, out autumn 2024, made from grapes grown at The Pig in the South Downs, where the climate is increasingly allowing for the planting of vines. Where Eagles Fly (not when pigs fly) is a blend made from grapes on 40-year-old Pinot Meunier vines planted among some of the oldest surviving Seyval Blanc vines in Kent, at The Pig at Groombridge.
I do get to meet an actual pig, here at the beach, with a few egg-laying hens as well. But how to pick a Pig? “The property has got to appeal,” says Ross. “As you drive up the driveway, you have to be drawn in by it. There’s got to be something about it; it’s got to have character and a sense of place; it’s got to have people and an energy in the area that will also support it. We give it the ‘Darling Test:’ It’s got to sound exciting and fun to your partner: ‘Darling, we’re going to The Pig on the Beach.’ ‘Well,’ replies Darling, ‘that sounds fun!’” And it is. That’ll do, Pig. thepighotel.com
