Kingsclere pub chef with the X Factor

As well as the stint providing meals for the X Factor judges, crew and audience during the initial ITV series at Wembley studios, Cass Stanton’s 27 years’ experience in the restaurant and hotel industry also includes time spent working at the prestigious Savoy Hotel in London.
Ms Stanton said: “Sharon Osbourne’s pomeranian, which she took everywhere with her, had a special diet – her assistant brought in chicken, which I then steamed for her dog.
“Simon Cowell didn’t eat that much. He smokes a lot and drinks Diet Coke, like me.”
She added that she had met all the X Factor judges briefly.
Ms Stanton, who arrived in Kingsclere about a week ago, and lives-in at the pub, opposite St Mary’s Church, said that she was impressed with life in the village.
She said that she had lived in villages in Oxfordshire where there were no facilities, “but this is a busy village, with buses and shops.”
While seeking a second chef for the busy pub, which has 30 covers in the bar and a further 30 in the restaurant, she has already launched a new lunchtime menu.
The Crown reopened with an official launch party last month, thrown by new landlords David Mitchell and Dan Wilkinson, which was attended by some 520 people, including 100 children. Providing a day of fun for all the family, there was a bouncy castle and a clown for the children, while the adults could enjoy an evening cabaret, with jazz singer.
Forthcoming events include two charity fundraising cabaret nights.
The first, on Saturday, November 9, a Mama Mia! Abba tribute evening, only has £10 bar-standing room tickets left (£5 from each ticket goes to the PKU Foundation, in aid of children with protein deficiencies).
Then, on Saturday, November 16, tickets for a Grease-themed show including a three-course dinner, and disco, cost £29.95 per person (with £5 from each ticket in aid of Kingsclere charity The Rodney Lawrence Trust).