Sven-Hanson Britt boards luxury Belmond train as executive head chef

Belmond has appointed Sven-Hanson Britt as executive head chef of its forthcoming luxury train, the Britannic Explorer.

Britt’s career so far has spanned the Ritz London and Blue Hill Farm in New York, as well as his own restaurant, Oxeye, in London.

Latterly he was head chef at Monica and David Galetti’s Mere restaurant in London’s Fitzrovia until its closure in April 2024.

On the Britannic Explorer, Britt will lead a culinary team delivering a dining experience curated by Simon Rogan. He will use his experience in the farming industry and regenerative agriculture to bring Rogan’s farm-to-fork philosophy to life within the train’s two dining cars.

The menu will showcase seasonal, sustainable ingredients, sourced locally to each of the three train routes across Cornwall, Wales and the Lakes.

Afternoon tea, lunch and dinner menus will include dishes such as fermented barley crumpets topped with roasted ox marrow and cave-aged Cheddar, Lincolnshire smoked eel on toasted rye bread, savoury crop-rotation porridge with wild mushrooms and seasonal brassicas, and a reimagined Corra Linn waffle served with birch sap-cured Tamworth pork chop.

Britt said: “I feel very privileged to be the bridge between the UK’s best independent restaurant group working closely with chef Simon Rogan, managing director Sam Ward and their team of world-class talents – and the world’s finest luxury hotel and travel group. It feels new and avant garde while also feeling embedded in heritage and traditional opulence. Most excitingly of all though, is that the Britannic Explorer sits in a category of its own. It is completely unique.”

Rogan added: “We’re in the final phase of refining our dishes for the Britannic Explorer menu and it’s been a hugely enjoyable process. Sven is a highly accomplished chef who shares our ethos and knowledge for produce, so his appointment as exec chef was the perfect solution. Guests will be in the best possible hands as they enjoy their dining experience on the train.”

The Britannic Explorer will debut in July.