Celebrating Fifteen Fantastic Years

Many congratulations to our Executive Chef Chris Wheeler, who is celebrating his fifteenth anniversary at Stoke Park! We caught up with Chef, who shared his top fifteen memories at Stoke Park…

1. I will never forget my first memory of Stoke Park – the sheer ‘wow factor’ of driving up for my interview and seeing the Stoke Park Mansion for the first time. It was breathtaking!

2. One of my proudest memories was being awarded the prestigious 3 AA Rosettes in our fine-dining restaurant Humphry’s, for five years running!

3. Over the years, I’ve had the chance to be involved in lots of exciting events at Stoke Park. This includes having the opportunity to be involved in the Elton John and Katherine Jenkins concerts, which was a lot of fun!

4. Another incredible event that I’ve been involved in is The Boodles, which is held each summer at Stoke Park. I particularly enjoyed designing the chocolate tennis ball, which proved extremely popular with guests!

5. You never know who you might meet at Stoke Park! Over the years I’ve met some incredible people, including some of the original cast of the Bond films.

6. I have also been really fortunate to travel with my role. This includes an incredible trip to Sardinia, where I was invited to appear as a guest chef.

7. A particularly special memory was winning ‘Hotel Chef of the Year’ at the prestigious Hotel Cateys, which are considered the Oscars of the hotel industry, in 2016. This was a huge honour.

8. I love to be creative with my cooking and I have had the opportunity to design a variety of themed afternoon teas over the years. My favourite is the Easter Afternoon Tea. It involves lots of chocolate and was really fun to create!

9. One of the greatest things about Stoke Park has been the amazing team that I work with. Everyone at Stoke Park is really supportive and it has made my job really enjoyable.

10. Over the years I’ve run the London Marathon twice, dressed as a chef: first flipping a pancake, the second with a giant stockpot - after just six weeks of training! This was an amazing experience and I’m very grateful to the Stoke Park Members for their incredible support.

11. Another exciting moment was having the opportunity to appear on BBC’s Great British Menu. This was a fantastic experience and one I’ll never forget!

12. One of the fantastic things about working at Stoke Park is that there’s always so much going on! From cooking for our junior summer camps to preparing gourmet dishes for VIPs, no two days are ever the same.

13. I love having the opportunity to interact with our guests. I’ve particularly enjoyed holding cookery demonstrations and our fun cookery masterclasses.

14. Another great memory was when I transformed the Beach Bar into our new restaurant, San Marco. This includes introducing homemade pizzas and an incredible new menu!

15. Last, but by no means least, I love that after fifteen years at Stoke Park; I still wake-up each morning looking forward going to work!

Try our Executive Chef’s incredible food for yourself, with his special 2 for 1 anniversary menu in Humphry’s! Click here to view the anniversary menu and to book.