Stu Deeley’s vision to restore Mallory Court to former glories
Stuart Deeley has outlined his vision to restore Mallory Court to its former glories.
The Warwickshire hotel and spa is well-known to 2019 MasterChef: The Professionals winner Stu, having previously worked there a decade ago, as a junior sous chef.
Now he goes back as executive chef, revamping the main dining offering as 'The Warwick' later this month, set to open on June 18.
Built over 100 years ago, Mallory Court has a Michelin-starred background, previously holding one under Tony Wright and then Simon Haigh.
Stu’s background has seen him work under the likes of Steve Love, Luke Tipping, Alex Claridge and Adam Brown, before opening Smoke at Hampton Manor in Solihull in 2021.
He left Smoke at the end of 2024, taking a break and waiting for the right opportunity as he became a father again, before opting to return this summer at Mallory Court.
“I’ve been trying to spend as much time at home as possible. Esme was born in February, so that obviously kept me busy for a couple of weeks,” Stu told The Staff Canteen.
“Then it has been just sorting out things here.
“I do the easy bit. I leave (my wife) Tash at home with the kids and I just go to work, and then just pick it all back up on the weekends!”
He continued: “Mallory's always been a gastronomic hotspot of the Midlands, and through no-one's fault really it just lost its sparkle a little bit, so it's time to try and get it back.
“It's going to be a tight transition. We close the normal restaurant on the Sunday night, the week prior and then we open on the Wednesday.”
third spell with Eden Hotel Collection
Discussing his decision to join Mallory Court, part of the Eden Hotel Collection, again, Stu explained: “I've worked for Eden twice before. I worked for Eden initially at Brockencote Hall and then worked for Eden in 2016 at Mallory.
“Both of those times, it was under the tutorage of Simon Haigh, who'd been the exec for the group for about 20 years.
“So obviously that kind of position would never have come available, but he's retired and a couple of people took the reins since, but no-one that really saw the potential I guess that I see.
“I think it's tricky because having worked somewhere when it was in its glory days, you see what potential it has.”
why stu deeley left Smoke
Reflecting on his decision to leave Smoke, Stu said: “To be honest, I took the job at Mallory after leaving Smoke anyway, so it wasn't a move here instead of Smoke, it was just my time at Smoke had come to an end. I wanted to leave while I still enjoyed it.
“We started Smoke with the intention of almost like a pop-up mentality. And three years later, it was still a pop-up!
“We would fetch ice from the manor house at Hampton. We had little to no storage. We had no facilities for the kind of size that we got to in terms of the business.
“It was just quite taxing. Also it become a bit of an obsession. Like a lot of chefs in this industry, you become obsessed with the product, with the restaurant. I needed to focus on home life, family life. I didn't feel like I could do that, whilst still giving 100 per cent.
“Whereas Mallory, it’s a bigger role, I'm still here every day. I'm still getting in when the lads get in, I leave when the lads leave, if not after. But there is scope to have a bigger team, therefore when everything is a bit smoother, a bit further down the line I can come in a bit later, do service, then leave a bit earlier, so there's the scope to have a bit more of a work-life balance.”
By its nature, Smoke was well-known for its dishes cooked over an open fire.
Asked how different the food offering will be at The Warwick compared to what he has been producing at Smoke, Stu said: “I guess the food isn't too dissimilar. Similar flavour profiles, slightly more refined, slightly more mature in terms of the ethos and the procurement methods.
“So with Smoke, it was about just finding delicious produce and cooking it over fire and having fun with it. This is a little bit more thought out.
“The garden is a bit more mature, we are able to source a lot of the bits from the garden, which is really nice. We're putting on a petit four that solely uses figs from the garden. The fig leaf, the green figs, also using elderflower, which grows on the estate as well. All the petits fours will come from the estate, which is quite cool.
“When I initially came and had the chat with Mark (Chambers), who's the MD of Eden, he was an open book, he said to me: ‘What do you see for the food at Mallory?’
“He took my lead, which is obviously really nice. I said it's about taking Mallory back to its roots. It's a country house hotel, with a stunning garden and with an oak-panelled restaurant. So you can't really be doing anything too outrageous.
“It's got to suit the surroundings. So that's exactly what we've done. We've created dishes that are classical combinations and classical cooking techniques, but we’ve still got little hints of Smoke in there. We've got a barbecue in the kitchen. It does enhance the proteins and some of the fish that we cook on there as well.
“But equally it’s things like the poussin with jamon sauce and white asparagus. They're not flavour combinations that you've never seen before. A lot of my cooking, whether it be Smoke, or whether it be here, it’s familiar.”
Life is all about challenges
The kitchen team will be made up of some existing Mallory Court staff, some from Smoke and some chefs from the surrounding area, culminating in having a full team in time for opening, something Stu says he has not experienced before.
Asked how he feels about the prospect of having to convince a new audience to come and try his cuisine, Stu said: “I think that's what life's all about, isn't it? It's about challenging yourself a little bit.
“There are some scenarios where I thought to myself, I might be at Smoke for the next five to 10 years. I never really thought about it too much. So when I'd made my decision, it was quite quick that I decided I was going to move on. I didn't even discuss it with the wife!
“Coming here, you always run a risk of alienating the regulars that you've built up or the people that followed your journey. You run the risk of them not understanding the move.
“But, to be honest, we've already had a couple of people come over since the announcement. Already people are really complimentary about it, which is great.”
Goals for the future
Asked if he has big goals he hopes to achieve at Mallory Court, Stu added: “Yes, totally. There's no denying that it is a Michelin-star venue. It's had a star twice before, in the late 80s with Tony Wright and then with Simon for many years.
“But in my opinion, and I know it's a very boring answer, but all I want to see is bums on seats. I just want us to be busy.
“What I'm trying to do at this point in my career, and not that I'm that experienced and that far down the road myself, but it's about educating the people underneath me or alongside me around the finances, around the staff cost. When you look at how much we pay a chef de partie now compared to how much I was on when I was here as a junior sous, the difference is crazy.
“So now, regardless of accolades or anything else, you’ve got to watch your pennies.
“The main thing for me is about creating something that's interesting. It's about creating something where people feel special, because it's completely different to Smoke, in the fact that Smoke was an outhouse, with a very attractive fit out. But it was meant to be quite casual and the food was probably a little bit more fine dining-esque than it probably should have been for the space.
“This space is a little bit more formal and therefore allows us to be a little bit more extra with the food.”
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