During my last years in Ireland, I went to Co. Monaghan to stay in and Photographed a property called Hilton Park House. It is located in the remote and unspoilt drumlins of County Monaghan.
On arrival, I was bowled over by how stunning and impressive the property was, set amidst 400 acres of undisturbed natural beauty.
Inside the house, I was met by the utterly gorgeous Joanna.
One of the most excellent, courteous and warmest women I have met in recent years. Apart from the house's beauty, I was incredibly impressed and taken aback by the standard of the food Joanna and her husband Fred serve.
My sister accompanied me for the weekend, and we both agreed - no jokes - our meals over the entire weekend were probably some, if not the best, the food we had eaten for years in Ireland.
Fred grows all the produce served in Hilton Park in his vast kitchen garden. He makes all the food for the guests, along with Joanna's help. I was fortunate to spend a few hours in their kitchen on Saturday afternoon chatting with them, along with their gorgeous daughters: Bee and Jules, and Fred's parents, Lucy and Johnny.
It was a wonderful experience to see Fred in action prepping all the food for the evening's guests and seeing the passion in what he does food-wise. They emphasise sustainability, restoring and maintaining a historic home and conserving rare and diverse natural habitats. Hilton is a vast property, but Joanna and Fred choose to keep things small and intimate; a welcoming family-run country house, biodynamic farm and
kitchen garden with an emphasis on traditional ecological principles.
Hilton has long been associated with culinary expertise and the much-chronicled produce of the kitchen garden. Fred's mum, Lucy Madden
is acclaimed as one of Ireland's best cooks and food writers and has written "the potato year, 365 ways of cooking potatoes", a labour of
love and homage to the humble spud. She now spends much of her time growing ingredients for the Hilton kitchen. Fred took over the reins
in 2009, training in London under Rowley Leigh at Kensington Place and, more recently at The Carpenter's arms, famously awarded that rare thing,
a five-star review by A.A Gill.
Hilton Park's dishes are inspired by the fruit, vegetables and herbs
grown in the four-acre walled garden. Great emphasis is placed on developing and sourcing seasonal produce. Spring lamb, pork, venison, trout, and freshwater fish are also sourced from the estate and regularly feature on the menu.
HILTON PARK
BEDROOM PICS FROM HILTON PARK BELOW.
