Meals at Candlelight Inn on Blackdowns now cooked by celebrity chef Charlotte Vincent

CELEBRITY chef Charlotte Vincent has joined a public house on the Blackdown Hills above Wellington as head chef while the property remains up for sale at nearly £1 million.

Devon-born Charlotte has brought with her ‘a passion for sourcing local produce’ to the award-winning Candlelight Inn, in Bishopswood.

She succeeds Aaron Ashworth, whose culinary efforts last year saw the Candlelight awarded a prestigious AA rosette and who has been hired to work on a super yacht.

Charlotte, who has made two appearances on the popular BBC cooking show Great British Menu, began her career with the Army and went on to work alongside star chef Michael Caines.

The 17th century Candlelight was put up for sale late last year by owners Mike and Simon Rose‑Macleod following a refurbishment of the property.

The former bankers have owned it for seven years and have seen it win Taste of the West Gold awards for each of the past five years and become listed by The Guardian newspaper as one of the top 10 best pubs in Somerset.

The Candlelight’s sale is being handled by leisure property specialists Fleurets, which originally marketed it for £1.1 million but has since reduced the guide price to £975,000.

Charlotte’s food has been described as ‘modern British with influence from Scandinavian and French cuisines’.

However, her passion for local produce is something which owner Mike Rose was proud to promote at the Candlelight. 

Mr Rose said: “It has been said that food is the way to the heart and we have always believed in good food from professional, passionate chefs with forward thinking, new ideas.

“Having Charlotte join the team is a chance to bring beautiful, high quality new dishes to our menu.

“We are very excited about this next chapter in the Candlelight Inn story and we welcome Charlotte with open arms.”

Charlotte was brought up in Exeter and completed a masters degree in psychology and human biology at the University of Plymouth before joining the Royal Logistics Corp of the British Army.

She then worked as a pastry chef with another celebrity chef, Michael Caines, in luxury Devon hotel and restaurant Gidleigh Park, before moving to The Royal Clarence Hotel, Exeter. 

Charlotte said: “I am so happy to be part of the Candlelight team.

“I have admired them over the years, and this is now a chance for me to put my stamp on the Candlelight experience.

“I am excited to make the most of their beautiful home grown herbs and vegetables.

“The team are a talented bunch who I am looking forward to producing incredible food with.”

Charlotte said it was her mission to create a fully-inclusive and calm kitchen where everybody was treated equally and taught professionally.

She is one of only a few women head chefs in the region and wants to set a strong example to others who were interested in joining the profession.