Pub chef heads up Pentillie pop-up restaurant

A gastropub chef will be running the kitchen at Pentillie Castle's Pop-Up Restaurant for one weekend only this July.

Philip Burgess of the acclaimed Dartmoor Inn at Lydford will be overseeing his former protege and runner-up of The Great British Menu 2010 John Hooker, who is currently head chef at Lewtrenchard Manor in Devon.

Pop-up bars and restaurants first appeared in 2008 when Pierre Koffmann, formerly of the fêted triple Michelin-starred La Tante Claire in London, popped up on Selfridges' roof to offer diners the opportunity to taste his cuisine.

Pop-up bars and restaurants are so named as they open in a unique and memorable location for a limited period and then disappear.

For the weekend of 15 and 16 July Pentillie Castle will become a small restaurant seating 56 guests.

Tables will be added throughout the castle's reception rooms and there will be an outdoor bar with canapés on the terrace, weather permitting.

The two chefs have devised a menu using local produce from the south-west. Dishes will use ingredients including crab, sea purslane and marsh samphire, Dexter beef, Creedy Carver duck from Crediton, and seasonal fruit and vegetables, including the Tamar Valley strawberries that was used last summer.

Pentillie's B&B accommodation will be available at a 15% reduction.