ANDY Hilton has been head chef at The Green House Hotel in Bournemouth since 2011. Here he looks back over the past ten years in the restaurant industry and answers questions about the future of the business.

The biggest change has been that people are very conscious of what they are eating and where it has come from. From the gluten free, vegan guest to the guest that wants to know where each of the items on the plate has come from. Luckily, we have a policy to source locally as we are an eco-restaurant. so this plays to our strengths.

Are we seeing a renaissance of the hotel restaurant?

The “restaurant with rooms” concept is certainly taking off and people are starting to return to the small independent hotels that operate like this to get a better local dining experience. It also helps that you can indulge without worrying about driving home afterwards. Creating a destination restaurant in these times isn’t easy as there is so much competition around and people want to stick with the brands they know. As education of our customers increases, their expectations do as well.

Successful hotel restaurants need to push the boundaries to exceed these expectations both in food delivery and hospitality. Gaining a customer’s trust is not as easy as it was 10 years ago!

The industry is suffering difficulties at the moment with Brexit looming and the much talked about skills shortage. How has this affected you?

I am aware of other kitchens that are struggling with finding skilled chefs at mid-range. I am fortunate enough to have a good team around me that are keen to learn and progress. We always try to hire chefs with basic skills and train them up, so they can progress up the ranks, which allows me to hang onto them a little longer before they are biting at my ankles to move on.

Locally, so many new restaurants opened in Bournemouth over the last year or two that it is less of a skills shortage and more to do with a sudden growth in restaurants and demand for chefs.

What is the bestselling dish on your new spring menu, “the-must-try-dish”?

The Tandoori Lamb Shank, Lamb Biryani and Apricot Chutney is proving a firm favourite amongst our customers already at Arbor, lamb being very popular at this time of year combined with an Indian twist is a winner.

Customers are reacting well to our retro classic, Jelly and Ice Cream. The jelly is set with elderflower, Conker gin and fresh berries teamed with an indulgent scoop of honeycomb ice cream. made by our pastry chef Beth’s fair hands.

What can we look forward to at Arbor this year?

We are just completing our new terrace at the front of the hotel which is part of our new eco-garden and we are currently doing tastings of our terrace cocktail menu which will include our homemade raspberry sorbet. We also added our outdoor wood fired pizza oven last year.