THE Bildeston Crown, which has held three AA rosettes for its food since 2007, has launched a new dining offer to showcase the talents of head chef Chris Lee.

A newly refurbished 30-seater dining room has reopened as “Ingrams at The Bildeston Crown”, Ingrams being a family name of the Bildeston Crown’s local owners.

Ingrams has its owner entrace, private lounge and courtyard, and will feature a seasonally changing “Select” menu and the increasingly popular eight-course Crown Tasting menu.

“When we opened in 2004 the main restaurant seated 40 and we were proud to be able to offer our guests a full range of dining options wherever they sat,” said Mr Lee.

“Three years later we had expanded into the adjacent property adding effectively another dining room and doubling capacity.

“These two distinct eating areas lend themselves to being able to offer two separate styles of dining and that is now what we aim to do. We recognise that new customers, in particular, like to have their options a little more defined and that our menu presentation was not achieving this.

“We are very excited to launch Ingrams to feature dishes to impress, especially the eight-course Tasting, whilst keeping our Classics menu for more everyday eating.”

He added: “Although Ingrams may be where I can experiment a little more, I want to reassure those clients who regularly enjoy the rib of beef, red poll burger, eggs benedict or just a cheese and pickle sandwich with a pint, that they need not worry. We are very much committed to also providing the very best of Suffolk produce under the “Classics” brand throughout the main restaurant and bar.

“We also want to stress that the client will always come first and so if someone wants to sit by the fire with a dish from the Ingrams menu and a glass of wine or similarly share rib of beef in Ingram’s more formal surroundings, then it will continue to be our pleasure to serve them.”