Simon Hulstone's The Elephant closes The Room restaurant

The Staff Canteen
Simon Hulstone's Michelin-starred restaurant, the Elephant in Torquay is to revert back to a single ground floor restaurant as it closes The Room restaurant in a bid to move with the times and relieve some of the pressure on its staff. the elephant1The decision to return to a single storey restaurant is all part of giving the diners a new eating space to reflect today's modern trends of eating as well as improving working conditions for the team without the pressure of running two restaurants during busier periods. Chef proprietor Simon Hulstone said: “With dining becoming less formal, even at the highest standards, we felt the time was right to create a dining space that reflects modern eating out trends and gives our guests a wider food offering throughout the year but maintaining our ethos for quality ingredients and fantastic service." He added: “Working at this level is always hard work so moving back to one restaurant will also provide welcome relief to the team during the busy summer months.“ The 55 cover ground floor was refurbished earlier this year, bringing in lighter decor that reflects the local surroundings and showcases the provenance of the ingredients used in the kitchen. Many of the ingredients come from the restaurant’s dedicated farm in Brixham. The Elephant, which has held a Michelin star for 11 years and remains the only Michelin starred restaurant in Torbay since, opened The Room on the first floor in 2008, to enable a more casual service to continue in the original restaurant. The ground floor became a brasserie serving a range of freshly prepared, simple dishes whilst The Room served only the tasting menus. Following the recent change, the tasting menu will be offered alongside a seasonally changing à la carte menu in the ground floor restaurant.
In these challenging times…

The Staff Canteen team are taking a different approach to keeping our website independent and delivering content free from commercial influence. Our Editorial team have a critical role to play in informing and supporting our audience in a balanced way. We would never put up a paywall  – The Staff Canteen is open to all and we want to keep bringing you the content you want; more from younger chefs, more on mental health, more tips and industry knowledge, more recipes and more videos. We need your support right now, more than ever, to keep The Staff Canteen active. Without your financial contributions this would not be possible.

Over the last 16 years, The Staff Canteen has built what has become the go-to platform for chefs and hospitality professionals. As members and visitors, your daily support has made The Staff Canteen what it is today. Our features and videos from the world’s biggest name chefs are something we are proud of. We have over 560,000 followers across Facebook, X, Instagram, YouTube and other social channels, each connecting with chefs across the world. Our editorial and social media team are creating and delivering engaging content every day, to support you and the whole sector - we want to do more for you.

A single coffee is more than £2, a beer is £4.50 and a large glass of wine can be £6 or more.

Support The Staff Canteen from as little as £1 today. Thank you.

The Staff Canteen

The Staff Canteen

Editor 26th April 2016

Simon Hulstone's The Elephant closes The Room restaurant