Meeting Our Food & Beverage Controller Mark Roberts

Having been at Carden Park for 19 years and working in various positions ranging from a waiter to a supervisor, Mark Roberts is the ideal person to interview about life at Cheshire’s Country Estate.

“I’ve always wanted to work in food and drink. I’ve worked up from the floor to my current role as F&B Controller. I’m in charge of stock control, setting prices, finding new products and working closely with our suppliers. It’s a lot of responsibility but it’s something I enjoy. I’ve made a lot of good friends through the years at Carden Park and these firm friendships and strong teamwork certainly make the day go quicker and easier.”

Mark is extremely knowledgeable about all things food and drink and often combines them both, in order to achieve pure perfection.

“I particularly enjoy a classic Cuba Libre or a glass of Spanish Godello from Galicia in Northern Spain. It’s clean, fresh, smooth like silk and great with seafood. Away from wine, I enjoy my craft beers like Goose Island IPA and our current craft beer of the month Brooklyn East IPA. You get so many different varieties, flavours and styles and a lot of them are fantastic with cheeses, grilled meats or a juicy burger. In The Vines Restaurant, just one of our three restaurants here at Carden, we are currently doing a superb Brooklyn Beer & Burger offer for £18 which gives our guests the opportunity to try this taste sensation.”

By working at Carden for so long, Mark has made some fantastic memories in his time here.

“Ah, there’s far too many to talk about! I’ve just loved every minute I’ve had with #teamcarden. What stands out though is our recent award for ‘Best & Brightest Idea’ at The Cheshire Hotelier’s Association Ball which was a great personal achievement and wide recognition for lots of hours put in by myself, the team and our suppliers. As a Liverpool FC fanatic, I also enjoyed running the bar for a golf function for former players I’d grown up watching, as well as meeting Brian Johnson from one of my favourite bands AC/DC at a charity golf day here.”

And what does the future hold for Morgan’s Bar? Mark tells us all about some upcoming developments.

“The market and its trends are constantly changing and we will always be trying to match them where we can. It’s certainly onwards and upwards for me and the team! Personally, it’s my job to look for different products and innovations like a new piece of technology from our suppliers at Carlsberg which strives to create the perfect pint. Drinks wise, we are forever pushing our seasonal cocktails, as well as our craft beer, rums and gins of the month.”

See Mark and the rest of the award winning team at Morgan’s Bar this November. Why not get yourself in the pre-Christmas spirit and order a Festive Afternoon Tea with a choice of a traditional cup of tea, refreshing glass of Carden Old Gold, festive favourite mulled wine or Hendrick’s Gin & Tonic served in its very own Hendrick’s tea set?