ROCK STAR

PAUL HENDERSON ENJOYS A FOODIE ADVENTURE IN CORNWALL AT A VERY SPECIAL BOUTIQUE HOTEL

“YOU can check out any time you like, but you can never leave,” go the lyrics to the famous Eagles song Hotel California.

Well, the moment we set foot in this boutique family-owned hotel in Cornwall, we knew it would be very hard to leave here too.

Walking into the St Enodoc Hotel reception the uplifting decor of blues and creams and paintings of seaside scenes by local artists promote a soothing air of calm and peacefulness.

Its 21 chic rooms are in a commanding spot overlooking the Camel Estuary in Rock, where chef Gordon Ramsay is a close neighbour and ex-PM David Cameron is just up the road at Daymer Bay.

Our room has two large windows with views of the estuary flowing through a huge expanse of golden beaches.

We head out to those very sands to stretch our legs before dinner, strolling through dunes to the

St Enodoc golf course and along public paths skirting the immaculate fairways.

At the 10th fairway we stop to admire the quaint little St Enodoc church, dating back to the 12th century, and it’s where we find John Betjeman’s grave. The poet laureate chose well for his last resting place, With stunning scenes of countryside and sea all around, it’s poetry in motion.

Leaving the golf course, we stride along the sands and back up the cliffs towards Polzeath. The small fishing village with its wide sand and stone beach and rolling white water waves is a popular spot with surfers.

Having worked up an appetite we were ready to do justice to our dinner in the Brasserie, served by manager Matilde from the Loire Valley in France, who tells us we’ve made a good choice with oysters as a starter, and they do go down well with the house white wine. There’s plenty more to choose from including wreckfish cake with poached egg, teriyaki mackerel and hake fish tacos (starters from £10).

For mains the fish stew with coley and shellfish, landed at nearby Port Isaac, is amazingly fresh. Hearty classics such as braised shoulder of lamb make use of produce from its family farm, Made-Well, a community project in Devon providing support for people with learning disabilities.

This feel-good message of community spirit radiates through the hotel and into the gardens, a stunning showcase of shrubs, bushes and flowers from such far-flung places as the Himalayas, South Africa, Argentina, New Zealand and Australia.

Gardens feature a lot in Cornwall so we go in search of the Lost Gardens of Heligan, near the narrow cobblestone streets of Mevagissey.

Lost to brambles and ivy since the outbreak of the First World War, this “Sleeping Beauty was re-awakened in 1990”, rescued by Europe’s largest restoration project – and it’s no exaggeration.

Several hours are easily spent following winding paths through 200 flourishing acres ranging from a Victorian kitchen garden to an Italian garden where classical musicians sometimes serenade the visitors. Our favourite, the Jungle, with sub-tropical plants around a Burmese rope bridge is where we finish up, enjoying salads straight from the garden.

The garden comes into play again that evening as we dine in the Karrek (meaning Rock in Cornish) restaurant.

Throughout the six intricately made courses our waiter Florien points out the ingredients that have been foraged that day, along with those picked from the kitchen garden we can see through the window.

Highlights were the cured mackerel in a seaweed taco with oyster chantilly, topped with caviar; Cornish crab in a Japanese fish stock; head chef Guy Owen’s mum’s favourite bouillabaisse and boneless chicken breast with asparagus and alliums (six-course tasting menu £65 per person).

It was a glorious foodie adventure that hit all the right culinary notes.

As the Eagles’ song goes: “Such a lovely place, (such a lovely place)…”