The Telegraph critic William Sitwell to launch Somerset hotel and restaurant

The Telegraph restaurant critic William Sitwell is looking for investors to help him launch a "chic hotel and fine Italian restaurant" in Somerset.

In an email to The Caterer, Sitwell confirmed plans to acquire the site of the White Hart hotel, restaurant and lounge in the town of Wiveliscombe, following its closure this week.

The former editor of Waitrose Food said he hoped to relaunch the historic 17th century coaching inn alongside Jon Coward and his wife Millie, who operate around six pubs in West Somerset, including the Carew Arms in Crowcombe.

Sitwell plans to reopen the White Hart as a “smart hotel” with 16 individually designed ensuite rooms and a ground-floor Italian restaurant, bar and co-working space. The hotel will also feature an on-site flat for a chef-couple or manager-couple.

The restaurant, called Casa Wivey, will serve classic Italian dishes such as cacio e pepe, pork chop Milanese, osso buco and tiramisu in the evenings, as well as lighter pastries and open ciabattas over lunch. It will also include a bar specialising in negronis and prosecco.

Sitwell wrote: “I believe there is a real need and a keen appetite for such an establishment, a convivial, comfortable place of great service, fabulous food and drink and one that can provide a much-needed aspect of hospitality to the area. Not to mention providing local employment and investment in the supply of local ingredients.”

The critic is aiming to raise a maximum of £250,000 from around 20 smaller investors and around a further £1m from medium-sized investors through an Enterprise Investment Scheme.

Sitwell said investors would receive dining and drinking discounts, priority invitations to events and access to free wine tastings.

He added: “With your investment I believe you can assist me in committing to this wonderful idea, to commit to use Casa Wivey, its workspace, its dining room and bar and to ensure that hospitality, a cornerstone of culture, is not lost to this part of the world in the heat of difficult economic circumstances.”

Sitwell said interest in the hotel restaurant was “already building rapidly”.

The critic launched the Sitwell Supper Club in late 2021 at his family farm in Exmoor, where he has invited chefs such as Richard Corrigan, Aldo Zilli and Anna Haugh to cook for guests.

Sitwell has worked in the world of food and drink for the past 25 years and is a regular judge on the television series MasterChef.

Photography: Daffodil PR