A few weeks back I was invited to attend a luncheon that combined two of my favourite loves - food and travel. I attended the first meeting, since prior to lockdown, of the Thames Valley Chaîne des Rôtisseurs at Brooklands Museum, home to the Concorde Experience.

What a wonderful day out accompanied by like minded foodies and a British Airways pilot!

With nearly 25,000 members, the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs is an International Association of Gastronomy now established in over 80 countries. It’s a premier international fine food and wine organisation and are unique in bringing together both professional and non-professional members worldwide, who appreciate and share a mutual interest in cuisine, wine and fine dining linked by a wonderful camaraderie.

They have branches across the globe, the UK and in Scotland. Should you wish to join, all the information is listed at the end.

LUNCH AT THE CONCORDE EXPERIENCE, BROOKLANDS MUSEUM, SURREY WITH CHAINE DES ROTISSEURS

Brooklands Museum is a fascinating place - the birthplace of British motorsport, aviation and the home of the Concorde. It is here you’ll find the Brooklands race track, the 'Ascot of Motorsport', the world’s first purpose built motor racing circuit built in 1907 although there are only sections of it remaining today; it was also a major centre for aircraft design, construction and flight testing for most of the 20th century and some of the very first flying schools in Britain formed here from 1910 onwards; and was also the principal centre for British flying training up to the start of World War One. Many an aircraft during WW1 and WW2 was built or assembled here and it is also here that the first preliminary design meeting for Concorde took place.

You’ll find barns, sheds and fields full of automobiles, racing cars, planes, bombers and hurricanes. A fascinating place to wander and step back in time.

Besides the wonderful array of transportation that you can climb aboard and view, Brooklands also have a delightful cafe, the Sunbeam, and function rooms in the Clubhouse. The Clubhouse, built in 1907, housed a weighbridge for the cars, changing rooms for the drivers and a large open viewing stand for the press facing south across the circuit. It had a bar and dining room exclusively for Brooklands Automobile Racing Club (BARC) members and their guests. In 1913 a luncheon room was added with stairs leading up from the Paddock, but it was not until 1930 that major alterations were made that included a Ladies’ Reading Room, Billiard Room, Members’ Lounge and Tea Room. Many rooms have since been transformed to suit todays activities but the feel and ambience of racing days past is still very evident.

The main function is bright and airy, with loads of windows beaming light into the space. There is a lovely adjacent lounge/bar area for drink and canapes pre dinner. Hiring of the function room here includes bar facilities, staffing, in-house banqueting furniture and table linen. I have to applaud the staff here, as the service was impeccable and the food superb! Canapes were faultless especially the Duck & Potato and the Quail Egg.

The menu was spot on too and for most, served up some of my favourite foods.

Starters : House-cured Beetroot Gravadlax with pea shoots, capers and rye bread. Loved, loved, loved this as a starter. Sunshine on a plate with gorgeous smoked salmon and sweet beetroot.

Mains : Slow Roast Pork Belly with potato rosti, garlic green beans and a cream cider sauce. Not sure what component was the best here, as with every bite I changed my mind. The pork crackling was outstanding and the garlic green beans, simply superb.

Cheese : British Cheese Board with chutneys and fruits served with bread and biscuits. The addition of soft apricots and figs was a lovely way to elevate a cheese board.

Dessert : Dark Chocolate and Raspberry Tart with pistachio praline crumb. Death by chocolate for me. This was rich, very chocolately and velvety smooth. Presentation was 10/10.

After lunch we were handed our British Airways Concorde Boarding Pass and made our way out to the Aircraft Park which houses the BAC 1-11 and the collection of Vickers aircraft built after 1945 as well as Concorde.

Concorde, an aircraft that is capable of carrying one hundred passengers at twice the speed of sound. Not only was Concorde an engineering marvel, she was an icon of beauty, style, and in her own way, a brand. Every aspect of the aircraft was designed for aerodynamic efficiency, and yet the outcome became something truly elegant; instantly recognisable all over the world.

Concorde was a cliché queen; flying on the edge of space, faster than a rifle bullet, and from her windows you could see the curvature of the Earth, these things usually only possible whilst wearing a G suit, oxygen mask, and sitting on an ejector seat! Concorde was able to overtake the sun, and in some months, one could arrive before they set off - you could literally 'buy back time'.

The supersonic airliner was a joint venture between Great Britain and France and the first UK meeting took place at Brooklands Museum. It took the resources of two nations to design, build and fly the supersonic passenger jet, and in her 27 years of passenger service, over 2.5 million people flew on Concorde.

Concorde made the world smaller, with a flight from London Heathrow to New York taking around 3 hours, compared to the usual 8 hours.

Would you liked to have flown on Concorde?

In 2003, Concorde took her last flights ever before retiring. Most remaining Concorde aircraft are now on public display and you can find them worldwide like at Grantley Adams Airport, Barbados; Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris, France; Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Chantilly, Virginia USA and of course here in Scotland at Museum of Flight, East Lothian.

Brooklands Museum in Surrey comes highly recommended for a fun day or activity for all the family and even for those that aren’t particularly into aviation or cars, it’s still fascinating with plenty to view and many of the exhibits interactive.

Brooklands Museum, Weybridge, Surrey, KT13 0SL. www.brooklandsmuseum.com

Chaîne des Rôtisseurs - www.chaine.co.uk

Thames Valley contact, Steve Eagle - www.chaine.co.uk/bailliages/thames-valley

Scotland Wide contact, Sheila Douglas - www.chaine.co.uk/bailliages/scotland