Langley Castle Hotel has appointed Mark Greenaway as its first culinary director. The four-star castle hotel in Northumberland made the appointment in its 40th year as a hotel and restaurant.
Greenaway takes charge of food across the property. His remit covers Josephine's, the restaurant that holds two AA Rosettes, the Glass Pavilion and the Drawing Room.
What the role covers
The brief includes fine-dining tasting menus and à la carte menus. It also covers afternoon teas, Sunday lunches, weddings and private occasions.
The hotel said the menus will work on seasonal and local produce, with Northumberland ingredients alongside regional flavours.
Three revenue lines sit behind that list. The restaurants carry covers for residents and non-residents. Afternoon tea and Sunday lunch fill daytime demand. Weddings and private dining fill the calendar on the property's own package rates.
The property sells four wedding packages and a Christmas programme, and it markets meeting and conference space. Each of those draws on the kitchen.
Greenaway's record
Greenaway has run restaurants in Edinburgh and London. He holds three AA Rosettes for Culinary Excellence, awarded in 2012 and held since. He opened Grazing by Mark Greenaway in Edinburgh in 2019, and Pivot in Covent Garden in 2021.
He appears on The Great British Menu, Saturday Kitchen and Sunday Brunch, and he has published two cookbooks, Perceptions and Progression.
Why the property created the role
Mohamed Serag, general manager of Langley Castle, said the castle has never held the role. “The castle has never had a culinary director at the helm, which demonstrates our intention to make Langley Castle one of the key places to head for an experience that intertwines 676 years of history with extraordinarily delightful, fresh and seasonal food,” Serag said.
Serag said food will carry more weight in the offer. “Under Mark's direction, food will become a more integral part of our offering to the visiting guest and local diner than ever before,” he said. “Attracting Mark Greenaway to Langley Castle has been a real coup in what is our 40th anniversary year as a hotel and restaurant.”
The two audiences in that comment set two tickets against the same rooms and tables. Residents buy the room and the meal, and local diners buy the meal.
Greenaway's own reading
Greenaway called the appointment a brand-new challenge. “This is an exciting and brand-new challenge, with an opportunity for me to take a blank page and create a vision that brings Northumberland produce to the fore and puts seasonal fine dining centre stage,” he said.
He said the work runs across the whole kitchen brigade. “I have big ambitions for Langley Castle and want to take my entire culinary team on an exciting journey that will be challenging but extraordinarily rewarding,” Greenaway said.
The property dates its history to 1350, when the castle was built.