Hardings
British
0.5 miles
Aylesbury College, Oxford Road, Aylesbury, HP21 8PD
What do you get when you cross a Michelin-starred chef with a training restaurant? A restaurant like no other you have visited before. Dine at Hardings at the progressive Aylesbury College, and leave your preconceptions at the door.
Four years ago, when the college's forward-thinking CEO decided a change was in order at the restaurant, she enlisted the help of former student Toby Hill - a chef with experience in some of the world's very best kitchens, and the passion and enthusiasm to undertake a challenge. Together they have revolutionised the idea of a training restaurant, creating a first-class eatery run by a professional kitchen.
Toby decided Hardings should be a place where students experience the real environment of a working kitchen, preparing them for life in the hospitality industry. In 2007 the new-look 60-cover restaurant opened its doors, and the business has gone from strength to strength ever since. Hardings is staffed by the catering students, who are given further opportunity to expand their skills on work placements organised by Toby, including at famed restaurants such as Raymond Blanc's Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons.
So what can you expect to eat at Hardings? The contemporary English and French menu offers delightful starters such as appetising tomato and basil consommé with rich truffle oil, to be followed by the likes of slow-roasted tender fillet of beef with braised oxtail and jus de braisage. Seafood fans might be tempted by pan-fried fillet of red mullet with sea scallops and squid-ink sauce. For the perfect end to your meal, spoil yourself with rhubarb and ginger soufflé with crystalised ginger ice cream.
Hardings also hosts an innovative cookery school, with an exciting assortment of one-day courses run by the expert team of qualified chefs - this includes the renowned Michelin Master Class, supervised by Toby himself. The restaurant can also cater for private and external functions, whatever the occasion
Four years ago, when the college's forward-thinking CEO decided a change was in order at the restaurant, she enlisted the help of former student Toby Hill - a chef with experience in some of the world's very best kitchens, and the passion and enthusiasm to undertake a challenge. Together they have revolutionised the idea of a training restaurant, creating a first-class eatery run by a professional kitchen.
Toby decided Hardings should be a place where students experience the real environment of a working kitchen, preparing them for life in the hospitality industry. In 2007 the new-look 60-cover restaurant opened its doors, and the business has gone from strength to strength ever since. Hardings is staffed by the catering students, who are given further opportunity to expand their skills on work placements organised by Toby, including at famed restaurants such as Raymond Blanc's Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons.
So what can you expect to eat at Hardings? The contemporary English and French menu offers delightful starters such as appetising tomato and basil consommé with rich truffle oil, to be followed by the likes of slow-roasted tender fillet of beef with braised oxtail and jus de braisage. Seafood fans might be tempted by pan-fried fillet of red mullet with sea scallops and squid-ink sauce. For the perfect end to your meal, spoil yourself with rhubarb and ginger soufflé with crystalised ginger ice cream.
Hardings also hosts an innovative cookery school, with an exciting assortment of one-day courses run by the expert team of qualified chefs - this includes the renowned Michelin Master Class, supervised by Toby himself. The restaurant can also cater for private and external functions, whatever the occasion
