Adam Spicer appointed Head Chef at Retreat East, Suffolk

Adam Spicer has been appointed Head Chef at Retreat East, the luxurious rural escape in the heart of Suffolk.

Adam has built a career working at several top establishments around East Anglia, from his role as sous chef at The Tackroom and The Jockey Club Rooms in Newmarket, to becoming head chef at All Saints Hotel where he was awarded two rosettes by the AA food guide. He was also the proud winner of Cambridge Chef of the Year in 2017 and reached the final 16 on MasterChef: The Professionals in 2019.
Adam brings his creativity, innovation and passion for local, seasonal produce to Retreat East’s restaurant, The Great Barn. His sustainably minded approach to food is reflected in his menus which take advantage of the retreat’s organic bounty. Drawing on homegrown produce picked straight from the retreat’s organic kitchen garden, he teams this with top-quality meat and fish sourced from trusted suppliers in the surrounding area.

Standout dishes for meat-eaters include Spring Suffolk Chicken with potato terrine, chicken butter sauce, sorrel and BBQ spring onions and Pressed Dingley Dell Pork Belly with Kohlrabi, sweet cicely and homemade black pudding and nashi pear. Those opting for a plant-based diet can enjoy ample plant-based options on the menu such as Summer Squash with miso and maple, BBQ peach, courgette and fried pumpkin seeds. As well as sweet treats like Fig Leaf and Woodruff Set Cream Caramel and Gooseberry Compote, a diverse wine menu has been carefully curated to include a mixture of natural and English sparkling wines to match the seasonally changing menus.
Adam is passionate about fermenting and preserving food, not just because of the many health benefits and interesting flavours they bring after extraction, but also because they are a means to ensuring as little food waste as possible, which supports one of Retreat East’s core values. Pickling, fermenting, lacto-fermenting, dehydrating, drying, or ageing are just some of the ways Adam playfully uses the retreat’s leftover homegrown produce so that it can be enjoyed all year-round.

Of his appointment, Adam Spicer says, ‘Myself and the team are excited to get started. Having grown up in the area, I share the same ethos surrounding Retreat East. My aim is to produce local and sustainable food focusing on seasonal produce that works with local farmers, producers, and suppliers. As a team, we plan to focus our efforts primarily around the incredible kitchen garden. We are inspired by Mother Nature and the seasonal bounty available to us, so naturally we will offer a selection of delicious plant-based dishes using cultivated organic produce from the kitchen garden and foraging within the Retreat East grounds.’’

Craig Jameson, General Manager at Retreat East adds, “We are incredibly excited to have Adam and his team joining us here at Retreat East. We believe with Adam and his team there is a natural fit between the style of cuisine that they are passionate about, and the wider ethos of the business. I am looking forward to working with them to take the restaurant experience at The Great Barn to the next level.”

For more information visit www.retreateast.co.uk.