West Lexham oven, PE32- pizza oven set in a stunning retreat
West Lexham oven, PE32
In early 2021, during the full COVID lockdown, we were contacted by the then Head Chef Adam Bernstein, who was developing a new kitchen building in the grounds of West Lexham Manor a beautiful retreat set in 20 odd acres of Norfolk countryside in the small village of West Lexham, just a few miles north of Swaffham. The building would house a large pizza oven but as is often the case, had to fit into a smallish footprint of 200x150cm. We specified our Four Grand-Mere lateral 1500 brick oven with raised dome that would fit the space perfectly.
By the time we arrived on site in late April, Adam had left and new Head Chef Lucy Cheney had taken over with much excitement about cooking in a real commercial pizza oven! Our transverse or lateral ovens are particularly useful in narrow spaces as they are wider than deep and maximise the work space in front while keeping a good surface area for cooking, click here for more details on our commercial oven page. The T1500 has a surface area of 1.23m2 making it comparable to a round oven between 120 and 140cm diameter, so can cook up to 6-8 pizzas if the fire is placed at one end, ideal for busy restaurants with lots of covers.
The oven went together quickly and with rooms on site for us to sleep it meant we could work late if necessary and enjoy the grounds and trips to the seaside in the evenings. The oven is a fantastic addition to the Retreat and set in a stunning oak framed kitchen and large dining area so after classes have finished you can go and eat hearty organic locally sourced food and stroll round the lake and grounds.
The West Lexham oven is a great example of how sites can be made self sufficient by the simple addition of a wood fired component-if all else fails, wood is freely available and enables the user to keep cooking without recourse to gas or electricity. It is an incredibly popular place to stay for the many courses they have running throughout the year and we were especially honoured to get the contract to build there. The staff, who at the time, featured at least 4 Georges , women included, were very supportive of our presence and helped move the oven sections around and site them close to where we were working. The oven had been installed but didn’t quite line up precisely with the flue position so one of the Georges got a forklift in through the doors and shuffled the oven over a few inches for a perfect fit.
West Lexham oven, PE32 In early 2021, during the full COVID lockdown, we were contacted by the then Head Chef Adam Bernstein, who was developing a new kitchen building in the grounds of West Lexham Manor a beautiful retreat set in 20 odd acres of Norfolk countryside in the small village of West Lexham, just a […]