A couple of weeks back I phoned a celebrated Hampshire restaurant to book Sunday lunch for a group of adults and kids. To my surprise and annoyance I was told that kids were welcome, but not catered for. At all. I’m not talking about the absence of a kids’ menu - I hate them anyway - but the restaurant in question refuses to serve portions suitable for kid-size stomachs as a matter of policy. ”So a 4-year-old pays full price for a large plate of food, most of which will end up in your bin?” I asked. “Yes,” the person sighed, “it’s a management decision. I wish it was different.”
Maybe management should pop down to the Lime Wood hotel in the New Forest to check out the newly opened, all-ages-welcome Hartnett Holder & Co, a new collaboration between Michelin-starred Angela Hartnett and executive chef Luke Holder.
The Lime Wood is a chichi New Forest country-house hotel - a honey-coloured Regency pile set in completely gorgeous countryside. This is a luxe retreat - we love parking our Skoda among the Bentleys and Ferraris when we come to eat here - and a beautiful place to have lunch and pretend you live a life far more elegant than it actually is. It’s not a family hotel per se - the kind with nursery teas and in-house kids club - but the breeches-and-cloth-capped staff are always very welcoming to pint-sized guests. From my assessment, the place is always buzzing and the car park full of people who look like they can afford to have a have a very nice time indeed, so the child-friendly policy seems to serve them very well. Child catchers at the aforementioned Hampshire eatery take note.
Hartnett Holder & Co is the result of the Lime Wood merging two restaurants into one: the Dining Room (fine-dining and thought to have been a bit fusty) and the Scullery (posh nursery-style food). The new arrangement is lovely and the refurbished dining room relaxed and clubby. Today the sun is shining through the floor-to-ceiling French doors and we look out over very lovely grounds. The space is so light and airy we want to sink back into the squishy egg-yolk leather armchairs and just bask in Farrow & Ball tastefulness. Tables are filled with other smiling families, couples and older folk so if the purpose was to create a dining room that encourages all comers, it seems to be succeeding.
Hartnett and Holder both trained in Italy (and Hartnett has an Italian pedigree) so the menu resonates Italiano without being strictly so. There’s no kids menu but all mains come in half-serves for under-10s. More importantly, the kitchen is flexible. We’d all like to taste the gammon broth - is this possible? Of course! Out comes a (very generous) single serving of broth that the kitchen has thoughtfully divided among four bowls, each with its own delicious boat of oozy cheese on toast. Service doesn’t get better than that. It almost - but not quite - makes up for the broth being tragically salty. But other starters are terrific. Purple folds of home-cured bresaola, coppa and brisket are full of flavour and delicious served with pickled onions and crisp baby veggies. Garlic prawns, prepared the traditional Italian way, taste soft, sweet and fresh in their pond of garlicky, parsley-speckled butter. I shamelessly sip this with my soup spoon once we have gobbled up the crustaceans due to the sad (and distinctly un-Italian) absence of crusty bread to mop it up.
For mains, the slow-cooked pig’s cheeks are richly-flavoured and tender pillows, and the kids love their lobster pasta with spicy fresh tomato sauce. I pull a bit of short straw on the mains. My agnoletti is - there’s no mistaking it - a bit dried out and there’s not much sign of the rich and creamy burrata that’s supposed to plump the little pasta pillows. Plus, it’s been dealt the same heavy-handed seasoning blow as the gammon broth. Happily, chocolate and hazelnut torta for pudding restores the spirits.
Hartnett Holder & Co had only been open a week when we visited so I’m hoping that the crinkles in the food get ironed out quickly. Customers will expect a lot from a chef that boasts a Michelin star. This is a fabulous venue for a special lunch followed by a country walk (or maybe just a post-prandial waddle around the grounds). Our waitress was keen to tell us that Hartnett intends to spend 40% of her time here, and if that’s true, I’m sure she’ll be keen to get everything right for everyone - no matter what their age.
Lunch for 4 people including wine at Hartnett Holder & Co came to £145
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