Winter approaches quickly, and with it comes frosty mornings, the act of scraping ice from your car in the morning, and increasingly scant hours of daylight. Fortunately, the above is recompensed by winter dining, with rich gamey flavours, winter vegetables and traditional hot puddings.

One of the our favourite venues for winter dining is the beautiful Stapleford Park which, as regular readers of Lincolnshire Pride will know, is a 500 acre country estate with a history dating back to King Arthur. Whilst the original building dates back to 1633, a later Georgian house was added by Lord Gratton.

Today the hotel provides 55 en-suite bedrooms, four dining rooms, as well as a Capability Brown landscaped grounds and Donald Steel golf course, corporate entertainment and health club with spa... but it’s Stapleford’s dining which we really must bring to readers’ attention this month.

Chef David Ellams is a Lancashire man with foody form following gastronomic sorties in the kitchens of Overton Grange in Ludlow and Cringletie House, Peebles, all of which are small luxurious hotels.

Despite his experience though, David concedes that his arrival at Stapleford Park left him more than a little impressed with the venue’s position and aura; “It was an incredible experience to see Stapleford Park for the first time.” he says.

“It’s a stunning property and has such warmth. There was a really strong food ethos under the head chef, and the kitchen really understood and valued locally sourced ingredients.”

David says that he and his brigade will continue to bring simple, strong flavours and an understated, well-implemented quality and style to Stapleford’s food, with Christmas menus available from 1st December.

The Grinling Gibbons dining room provides 50 covers and supplementing the additional 16 cover Billiard Room and 26 cover Harborough Room, the dining rooms offer à la carte dining with current menus comprising seven starters, from John Dory to Squab Pigeon, Terrine of Rabbit to Loin of Wild Boar and Scallops, and seven main courses, with three fish options, Loin of Lamb, Confit Duck, Fillet of Beef and Ravioli of Artichoke for vegetarians. Christmas menus are available from £18.50p/h for 2 courses and offer a choice of two starters, main courses and puddings.

An English and French cheese board, serves to tempt diners from one of five desserts, including Raspberry Mille Feuille, Strawberry Consommé and Panacotta, Rhubarb Cheesecake, Green Tea & Elderflower Soufflé and White Chocolate Parfait.

Stunning à la carte menus, luxurious surroundings and a talented brigade of 12 chefs assure an exceptional experience, but diners can also choose a more casual menu in the beautiful vaulted Old Kitchen. This rather more casual menu and dining room, available at both lunchtime and in the evening comprises steaks and the Stapleford Burger among others, and run concurrently with the fine dining room set lunch menu.

Also available is an afternoon tea, and Sunday lunch menu, as well as a Tasting Menu offering seven courses for £75p/h, and affording the brigade the opportunity to really show off their talents.

Stapleford Park also hosts monthly Gourmet Evenings on the final Friday of each month, hosted in the Harborough Room in strictly limited numbers. The next such evening on 26th November’s will  celebrate game, entitled The Taste of the Countryside, and will feature six courses plus coffee and home made petit fours. Wild Boar, Smoked Eel, Mallard and Venison are all celebrated with two pudding courses and specially wines discussed prior to each course.

Stapleford Park will also host a lavish seven course New Year’s Eve black-tie gourmet evening for £135/head including champagne reception and entertainment.

Produce across the menus include Rainbow Trout from Rutland Water, locally sourced fruit and veg and game shot by the estate’s keeper Malcolm Davidson.

Some of the restaurant’s fruit and vegetables including winter berries and herbs are now grown on the estate, and in 2008, when David arrived, the venue spent over £1.8m refurbishing the hotel and installing a brand new kitchen at a cost of nearly half a million pounds.

Meanwhile, the Grinling Gibbons dining room itself with its wood panelling, crisp white linen and polished silverware & glasses, is a luxurious, tasteful and comfortable dining environment with attentive service that complements perfectly the quality of the food provided by Stapleford Park.

For anyone seeking to celebrate the season in style and luxury, or for those seeking a tasteful venue for seasonal Christmas parties, there are few venues able to equal Stapleford Park, and fewer still that provide the ‘customer comes first’ warmth exhibited by the venue during our visits.

Awarded two rosettes by the AA’s restaurant award scheme, and with à la carte dining including amuse-bouches and home-made bread, the quality of Stapleford Park’s food is central to its appeal as one of the area’s best country estates.

“The house looks particularly superb at Christmas.” says David. “We all enjoy the atmosphere in the house and love the opportunity to provide luxurious dining over the festive season. I think if I had one message for Lincolnshire Pride’s readers it would be to encourage those who have yet to experience Stapleford Park’s hospitality to join us to really celebrate the season in style.”