RESTAURANT critic and BBC MasterChef judge William Sitwell has unveiled ambitious plans to take over Wiveliscombe’s White Hart Hotel and re-open it as a ‘chic hotel and fine Italian restaurant’.

Mr Sitwell, who hosts fine dining suppers at his home jnear Wiveliscombe, is looking for people to invest between £10,000 and £20,000 each as he he seeks to raise £250,000 for the first step of the project.

He is partnering with Jon and Millie Coward, who own Wiveliscombe’s Bear Inn public house and micro-brewery and several other pubs across the area, their most recent acquisition being the Carew Arms, in Crowcombe.

Mr Sitwell said the couple shared his firm belief that a successful hospitality business needed to be open seven days a week, breakfast to closing time.

The White Hart was taken over by Rob Sawyer in the autumn of 2023, a close friend of Prince Harry who had owned more than 150 hospitality venues, including one in Switzerland where the prince held his stag party.

The now closed White Hart Hotel, Wiveliscombe, for which food critic William Sitwell has ambitious plans.
The now closed White Hart Hotel, Wiveliscombe, for which food critic William Sitwell has ambitious plans. (Tindle News)

But it shut its doors last week, the third eating establishment to do so in Wiveliscombe after The Courthouse and Zekki.

Now, Mr Sitwell wants to buy and rebrand the White Hart as a smart hotel with 16 individually interior-designed en suite bedrooms and a ground floor re-imagined as a richly interior-designed Italian restaurant, bar, working, and meeting space branded ‘Casa Wivey’.

Mr Sitwell said: “You will have a place to recommend to friends, tourists will flock there, shooting parties will book rooms.

“I believe there is a real need and a keen appetite for such an establishment, a convivial, comfortable place of great service, fabulous food and drink, and one that can provide a much-needed aspect of hospitality to the area.

“Parents can use Casa Wivey for after school drop-off as a quiet working space, with high-backed stools and bar tables, with good coffee to hand as well as pastries and, at lunchtime, freshly-made open ciabattas and Italian-style sandwiches.

“Casa Wivey will provide a wide-ranging, accessible menu of classic Italian dishes, fresh pastas - think cacio e pepe - nonna’s lasagne, pizzas, to go also, meat dishes such as pork chop Milanese, osso buco, lamb chops, rosemary and thyme roasted potatoes, desserts of tiramisu and Italian gelato.

“We will have an Italian wine list of Pecorino and Gavi, Vermontino, Chianti, and Barolo.

Restaurant magnate Rob Sawyer is breathing fresh life into Wivey's White Hart
Rob Sawyer, friend to Prince Harry, who has now closed Wiveliscombe's White Hart Hotel. (Tindle )

“Our bar will specialise in negronis and refreshing prosecco.

“The restaurant will provide families with early evening suppers and more formal evening dinners, relaxed weekend meals, and classic family-style Sunday lunches.

“Shooting parties can spend a night at Casa Wivey and The White Hart, enjoying a long table groaning with Italian delicacies and great wines, and be fresh for their pegs, after a good breakfast, in the morning.”

Mr Sitwell said Mr and Mrs Coward were ‘seasoned operators, with keen eyes on the numbers’, while he would bring his wide knowledge and understanding of hospitality to the concept and aesthetics.

He said: “As regulars of Sitwell Supper Club know, I am dedicated to providing great value and memorable hospitality.”