Tom Kerridge’s The Hand and Flowers Marlow offers a new Michelin-starred travel package – I tried it out
Tom Kerridge’s Hand and Flowers in Marlow is the only pub in the world with two Michelin stars. That prestige is reflected in eye watering pricing. One newspaper wrote an entire article about the £33 omelette, and the steak leaves you with a fiver’s change from one hundred pounds.
I visit the river after dark to walk off my meal and think about what I’ve done. Should I be having this much fun on a Wednesday?
Thankfully for us all, the warm-smiled TV chef noticed that a visit can cost the same as an international holiday, and so has thrown together the package of a lifetime – so long as you’re prepared to take a few days off work. Visit Kerridge’s Berkshire establishments on a midweek break from Tuesday to Thursday and pay £600 per person for meals at all three of his Marlow restaurants. That’s three Michelin stars in 48 hours.
If £600 still sounds steep, crunching the numbers proves it’s a package worth booking fast – before someone notices and calls you back to pay more. Included is a three course à la carte meal at The Hand and Flowers, four dishes per person at Kerridge’s other Marlow eatery The Coach, a £50 voucher to spend at Kerridge’s new opening The Butcher’s Tap, a signed Hand and Flowers cookbook and a bottle of Harrow & Hope sparkling wine.
Oh, throw in a two-night stay in one of 15 impossibly cute guest rooms and you’ve landed the gastronomic bargain of the century.
I bunked off work one week to go to Marlow to hoover up Michelin stars before falling into a deep slumber in a room next to the pub recently. While I was there I bumped into Kerridge to chat about why he’s offering so much for so little. “Obviously The Hand is really well booked on weekends in advance for a really long time,” says Kerridge. “Quite often when people come they try and visit the three places in one trip. So we thought, how can we put together a package of something that can work that wasn’t on a weekend?”
The Angus Room where I stayed is a thirty second walk from The Hand, helpful after gorging on a meal that was richer than Rishi Sunak’s collection of Prada footwear. The room is the ground floor of a historic terraced house which retains its original chunky wooden beams. They threatened to attack me as – a bottle of wine deep – I attempted to make my way towards a bed taking up almost a quarter of the room. It was as deep as it was wide: a dense pillowy expanse of softness especially designed to fit snugly into the space.
“It was one of the first,” says Kerridge fondly of my room. “Angus is one of the closest rooms to our hearts.” In the garden a secluded jacuzzi could fit three or four and sun loungers lay opposite. The room next door has a freestanding copper bath. “Rooms are embracing of the characteristics of the house or the space,” he adds. It’s tempting to spend the day traversing between the sun lounger, bed and jacuzzi, and that is exactly how I spend my Wednesday morning.
Later I take the ten minute walk into town, thinking I’d have all the time in the world for a river stroll after popping in for lunch at The Butcher’s Tap. There, builders were drinking pints and eating burgers, but I opted for a portion of strip steak from the titular butchers counter. It was cooked the best way: paired with a chat with head chef Jamie May, formerly of The Hand and Flowers, who prepped garnishes and cut meat while recounting stories of Kerridge and how much better Marlow was than London.
A second pint down and it was hard to argue with Jamie. Perhaps I should ditch London and move to the countryside to permanently eat strips of steak next to the river. I’d lost track of time so the riverside walk was hastily scrapped for a visit to local brewery Rebellion, where pints are a few pounds each and a sun trap seating area is open all year round. Rebellion supplies Kerridge’s restaurants and other eateries close by but they don’t deliver further than Marlow to anyone except for Kerridge’s Bar & Grill at The Corinthia in London. They have all the business they need right here in the countryside.
That night, The Coach’s head chef Sarah Hayward welcomed me from the restaurant’s pass where she stands most nights. Kerridge’s eateries work in synchronicity: Hayward asked what I’d had at The Hand the night before so she could pair dishes to contrast. At The Hand I’d had the richest and most flavourful steak I can remember tasting with a richly chewy glaze offsetting soft meat; that luxurious omelette which smacks with powerful haddock and a chocolate dessert. And so Hayward served me Venison and red wine “demi pie” with smoked Lincolnshire poacher and matson spiced sauce had a silken quality to the pastry and there were dense slabs of meat; the Coach Burger with raclette, pulled pork and dill pickle was generous like a dirty burger but somehow more refined than most steaks.
Kerridge fetishes rich ingredients and every meal you’ll have in Marlow is a culmination of all your hedonistic desires. Each dish is the culinary equivalent of the upside-down loop on a rollercoaster you’ve been waiting years to ride. I finally make it to the river after dark to walk off my meal and think about what I’ve done. Should anyone be having this much fun on a Wednesday? Later I do more of the same back in my private hot tub, as the cool rain starts to fall on my face, offering a contrast to the warmth of the tub.
Others were celebrating anniversaries but I wasn’t celebrating my romantic life – I’d jotted down my savings from across all three restaurants on my napkin.
I wonder whether Kerridge has had romantic nights or knees-ups with pals in this very tub. His knowledge of my room suggests he has. While his reputation as one of Britain’s most famous TV chefs lends the idea that he’s constantly in a television studio, the reality is he’s in the kitchen at The Hand at least once per week. Over 48 hours I see Kerridge three times. He waves from the window of his expensive but not ostentatious sports car as he pulls out of the pub one day and when I leave – begrudgingly – on Thursday morning, he’s leaning against the wall of The Hand chatting with the lady who served me the first evening.
Kerridge is truly part of this operation and not just a face hovering on marketing material. A couple celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary were on one side of me in The Hand and Flowers and on the other side, a newly-married couple. They were both toasting to their futures. I joined them in raising a glass, but I wasn’t celebrating my romantic life: I’d jotted down my savings from across all three restaurants on my napkin.
Visit The Hand and Flowers Marlow yourself
The Gastronomic Getaway package is £600 per person and includes a two-night stay at The Hand & Flowers with a three-course à la carte dinner. A selection of four dishes per person from Head Chef Sarah Hayward at The Coach is also included, as is a £50 voucher per person to spend on lunch at the Butcher’s Tap & Grill. To book please call 01628 482277 or email: [email protected]
Great Western Railway run regular trains to Marlow from London Paddington.