TA S T E I T • I CO N I C D I S H E S
TA S T E I T
TOP TABLES Our Group Executive Chef James Haywood selects the 10 dishes that make his mouth water… all of which you can find on the menus of Center Parcs restaurants
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WORDS: Laura Shack
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here’s something about breathing in the fresh forest air that really works up an appetite. And if you’re feeling hungry there are some truly outstanding dishes you should try during your stay at Center Parcs, from the Fallin'-offthe-bone Pork Ribs at Huck’s American Bar & Grill to the Flaked Ham Hock Hash at Sports Café or The New Yorker stack at The Pancake House. And who better to ask for a recommendation than the man who dreamed them all up, Group Executive Chef James Haywood. Whether he’s scouring smokehouses in the deep south of America or cooking up innovative recipes at home, James never stops thinking of new ideas for crowd-pleasing dishes. Working in the Center Parcs development kitchen, he creates menus for restaurants across the six villages. As a child, James always dreamt of becoming a chef – he started washing up in a hotel kitchen just three days after his sixteenth birthday. Since then he’s developed his skills as a high-flying chef, working at Michelin-star restaurants in London, a six-star resort on Hayman Island in Australia and in pretigious establishments across the UK. On his first visit to Elveden Forest 14 years ago, dad-of-two James “fell in love” with Center Parcs and decided to put down roots. Now, he says he has a story to tell about every dish on his menus. We caught up with James by the giant redwoods at Longleat Forest
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“We’re smoking our own meats and baking our own breads. I’m so proud of the teams and the standards of food we’re producing” to find out which meals he thinks are not to be missed. How many can you tick off?
James Haywood’s top 10 Center Parcs dishes TA L L S T O RY James Haywood holds the Guinness World Record for the tallest stack of pancakes. He placed 213 pancakes on top of each other to create a 101.8cmtall stack on Pancake Day in 2016.
Chicken Wings 1 Finger-Lickin’ at Huck’s American Bar & Grill
“My favourite dish in the whole of Center Parcs is the chicken wings at Huck’s,” says James. “I’m very particular about the way the wings are steamed and coated with seasoning, and the amount of butter that goes into the sauce. They’re just superb.”
C E N T E R PA R C S.CO.U K
