Auberge du Lac restaurant to reopen for first time in three years
The Auberge du Lac restaurant in Hertfordshire is to reopen for the first time in three years under a new head chef.
The venue, which launched in 1998 and held a Michelin star from 2009-2012, sits within the grounds of the Brocket Hall estate in Hertfordshire.
It closed in March 2020 but will reopen with a new menu under head chef John Barber (pictured below) on 4 May.
Barber, 32, was previously executive head chef at Bar Boulud in London and opened D&D London's 14 Hills restaurant in a London skyscraper in 2019.
A press release announcing the reopening said Barber planned to evolve Auberge du Lac's fine dining offer to make it "more relevant and accessible for a local audience and visitors".
He will work with the estate's kitchen gardener Lucy Hawkins to create dishes such as guinea fowl, roast breast, stuffed leg ballotine, baby leeks, wild mushroom and tarragon cream sauce; and crab ravioli with Cornish crab, scallop mousse, fennel charcoal pasta and bisque.
Supporting Barber in the kitchen will be pastry chef Ariana Machado, previously of the Wolseley, and Luke Watkins who trained at Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons. Scott Foster, who ran operations for the Galvin brothers' restaurants, will oversee the front of house.
Auberge du Lac has had a somewhat turbulent history with several high-profile chefs overseeing its kitchen during its 25 years of trading.
Jean-Christophe Novelli ran the restaurant from 2002 until 2005 when he quit following a dispute with the management over pay.
Auberge du Lac gained a Michelin star under chef Phil Thompson in 2009 but lost it in 2012, and former Hibiscus chef Marcus McGuinness took the reins in 2013.
The lease for the wider Brocket Hall estate has also changed hands several times in recent years. It fell into administration under the management of German leisure tycoon Dieter Klostermann in 2016 and was bought by a company backed by a Chinese investor.
Administrators were called in again in 2020 and the site was sold to new company Brocket Hall (Holding) Limited, controlled by Chinese director Meng Xu. The wider estate, including the golf course and events venues, continues to trade as normal.
