Keeping the children amused on a rainy day was no problem for the Thompson family, Victorian mine owners who built the beautiful Farlam Hall in a remote corner of Cumbria. One of the gardeners was charged with the task of bringing Phoebe the donkey into the house and the little darlings were allowed to ride her around the billiards table.
Indoor donkey rides are not among the 30 or so activities available at what is now one of the north’s outstanding hotels but, otherwise, the level of service is just as exemplary. Forget the weather - from the waitress at breakfast to the chap bringing you an after-dinner snifter, these people are rays of sunshine.
Four legs were not the only means of transport associated with Farlam Hall. The prototype Rocket was given a test run here in the 1820s and a legacy of the link with the inventive Stephenson clan can be found in one of the sumptuous lounges. This is a museum-piece of a clock inscribed by Robert Stephenson, still ticking and said to be worth £250,000.
While Farlam’s history is all around you – there has been a building here since the 1400s – it’s the modern era that has seen a remarkable transformation. Two Americans liked the place so much they bought it and proceeded to spend what must have been an awful lot of cash creating a luxurious blend of the old and the new.
The final piece of this expensive jigsaw was introducing Michelin-starred Hrishikesh Desai as chef-patron and Karen Baybutt, who comes from a farming background in Tarleton, financial director. Both had been at the Gilpin Hotel, Windermere, where Hrishikesh and his team gained a coveted star.
It caused quite a stir in the business when he repeated the feat with a star for Farlam Hall after little more than a year. A testament to how special the achievement was can be found on the staff notice board which is covered with congratulatory messages from top chefs around Europe.
The elegant light-filled dining room spends Sunday to Tuesday as Bistro Enkel – an Old Nordic word meaning ‘Simple’. This provides guests with a more casual dining experience but Hrishikesh’s influence remains on show.
A delicate starter of sharp rhubarb jelly coating duck liver pate is as smooth as David Cameron’s chin while tandoori paneer and veg skewers, pot roast pork belly, braised feather blade of beef and even good old fish and chips will be a just reward for a day spent in the hills around Brampton, exploring nearby Hadrian’s Wall.
For the rest of the week this room turns into the Cedar Tree Restaurant, named after the specimen that has been growing just outside for the last 150 years. This is where Hrishikesh gives full vent to the culinary flights of fancy that brought a Michelin star.
The £130 tasting menu does handstands, backflips and pirouettes but never forgets it’s all about the taste. A custard of turnip may not have been in your granny’s repertoire but that doesn’t stop it from being gorgeous, especially paired with cured sea bream.
Cod poached in duck fat and then wrapped in pumpkin with a little white crabmeat also displays outstanding skill. Another standout is the Cumbrian longhorn beef wellington marinated in tandoori spices and then charcoal roasted.
But for me, a dish of beetroot - some roasted, some pickled, and what’s left turned into an unctuous, lip-reddening spiced soup - was the star of the show. You wouldn’t believe what Hrishikesh and the gang can do with a humble beetroot.
French cooking has always been his gold standard but the menu at Farlam has taken him in a new direction. Many of the principles remain, but the heavy-handed use of cream and butter is not his style. The richness remains but the calorie count is now more in tune with modern cholesterol levels.
The depth comes from intensive, time-consuming cooking methods that concentrate flavours and then there is his expert use of spices – something that is part of his heritage and always at the heart of his cooking.
While the vast majority of what’s on offer at Farlam is sourced nearby, many of the vegetables come from a substantial, walled kitchen garden run by the redoubtable Penny, who works away on a dauntingly exposed plot using polytunnels to grow veg and edible flowers. Bees and their keeper are due to arrive soon.
Hrishikesh and Karen are on board with the wellness movement and have big plans for treatment and yoga rooms along with therapy sessions. A chef’s table is also planned. Their aim is to juggle ‘sustainability, wellness and indulgence’ – a good trick if you can do it.
They also want to be part of the community so they are working with several partners to put on events and also to raise the profile of this neglected part of northern England, where Cumbria shakes hands with Northumberland.
Hrishikesh regards The Ritz in London’s Mayfair as the pinnacle of his trade with its combination of luxury and simplicity and that’s why he and Karen paid the hotel a visit to understand more what makes a hotel great. They now send members of their team to spend time at other top-grade establishments to develop skills and see innovative ways of working.
The combined effect of all this all seems to be having the desired effect with 60pc of visitors booking for a return visit even before they’ve left for home. It’s not just the food and service that makes people reluctant to leave – it’s also the standard of rooms.
Rooms in the main house are individually styled with the aim of creating a calm environment complemented by some tasteful local works of art.
The Tack Room is a suite with a huge, comfortable bed, high quality furnishings and an expensive, well-equipped kitchen. Who cares about the weather? Meanwhile, bigger groups can be accommodated at the Coach House, which has three bedrooms.
Hrishikesh fell in love with hotels as a four-year-old in India and always wanted to run one. His meteoric rise as a chef has given him a high profile in the culinary world but the job now has given him the opportunity to embrace all aspects of the hotelier’s art.
‘To be successful in hotels is not easy,’ he said. ‘It requires passion but it also requires patience.’ Karen added: ‘In the rush to do the next thing, we sometimes forget to look back and appreciate just what we have already achieved.’ That’s a lot in a short space of time.
Roger Borrell was a guest of Farlam Hall, Hallbankgate, Brampton, Cumbria, CA8 2NG. Web: farlamhall.com. Telephone: 016977 46234.
