The Silver Cup, Harpenden
The Silver Cup is a traditional British pub, restaurant and rooms serving high quality, contemporary dishes.
In 2020, The Silver Cup came under new management with an aim of maintaining the traditions of a classic British public house whilst bringing a contemporary twist to the food and drink offering.
Situated in Harpenden, Hertfordshire, The Silver Cup is the perfect spot for an afternoon drink, fabulous lunch or dinner. Upstairs there are 5 bedrooms.
Owned by two local lads, Matthew and Michael, with a shared love and experience of all things food, drink and hospitality.
The Silver Cup >
Fish & Forest, York
Fish&Forest is a forward-thinking sustainable fish and game restaurant, which sources the best ingredients and was recognised in the Michelin Guide within a few months of opening for its commitment to Sustainable Gastronomy.
Situated in the heart of York, on the top of Micklegate, Fish&Forest is an unpretentious sustainable fish and game bistro by Chef-Owner Stephen Andrews, supported by Yohan Barthelemy. The pair aim to bring the quality of fine-dining in the techniques we use to prepare and source the ingredients but are committed to maintaining a relaxed attitude on the restaurant floor, with a vibrant atmosphere and welcoming staff.
White Hart Inn, Mersea Island - new opening
The White Hart Inn, Mersea Island to reopen this spring after major refurbishment and under new management
Spring 2022 will see the relaunch of The White Hart Inn on Mersea Island as a pub with restaurant and rooms. It will be the third site operated by Piers Baker owner of the renowned local pub with rooms The Sun Inn, Dedham and bar & restaurant Church Street Tavern in Colchester.
The White Hart Inn, which has been closed since 2013, will benefit from a partial rebuild and major refurbishment to transform it into a tasteful, contemporary and eye-catching venue - somewhere for a casual pint, relaxed lunch or a special dinner with delicious, great value food. It will feel unique, tasteful and contemporary.
There will be light and welcoming bar and dining room with a vaulted ceiling and open kitchen, a cosy oak-panelled lounge with an open fire, plenty of outdoor seating in the terraced garden and six individually designed ensuite bedrooms, some with sea views.
Piers Baker says: “Mersea Island is a special place which deserves an independently owned pub with restaurant and rooms that welcomes locals as much as visitors. It has a great community many of whom are already friends and customers who have told us how much they look forward to us being there. I feel proud, grateful and excited to be opening in West Mersea and can’t wait to open our doors!”
The regularly changing menu will be a mix of casual bar food along with a restaurant menu using the best local ingredients. There will be roasts on Sunday and options for kids. On the bar, there’ll be real ale, craft lagers and cider, plenty of non-alcoholic options and a wine list similar to the award-winning lists at the sister venues.
Baker continues: “If someone told me back in March 2020 that I’d be opening a new, third venture in Spring 2022, I would never have believed them! The turmoil of the Covid-19 pandemic, with subsequent trials and tribulations of lockdowns, reopenings, restrictions and more lockdowns, made it impossible to look too far ahead. But when local businessman Lee Tyler, landlord of the White Hart Inn, approached me and was keen to work with Baker Hospitality on the basis of our reputation and local networks, I could immediately see the opportunity the site offered. The White Hart Inn has huge potential and ticks all the boxes we were looking for in a third site: a beautiful location close to the sea, a village feel on the high street opposite the church green, and a great island community.”
The exact opening date will be confirmed once work is underway but is expected around late May 2022.
White Hart Inn https://whitehartinnmersea.co.uk
About Baker Hospitality
Baker Hospitality has earned a reputation for warm and convivial inns and taverns with seriously delicious food and drinks. The Sun Inn, Dedham and Church Street Tavern, Colchester are seen as unique and consistently outstanding for every day as well as special occasions. They enjoy wide community support, have had continual national acclaim and awards.
The Sun Inn, Dedham opened in 2003, followed by Church Street Tavern, Colchester in 2014.
Catch at the Old Fish Market, Weymouth
Catch is an authentic sea-to-plate restaurant in Weymouth, Dorset which opened in June 2021.
Set amidst the colour and energy of Weymouth’s working quayside, Catch at the Old Fish Market offers an authentic sea-to-plate dining experience serving fish and shellfish with unequivocal local provenance and landed just a few feet from the restaurant kitchen.
Catch opened in June 2021 with upcoming chef Mike Naidoo leading the kitchen. Mike was formerly with Jason Atherton at Pollen Street Social and has moved to Dorset to take on his first Head Chef role with his partner Tija Klincov, who is the restaurant’s pastry chef.
Mike’s elegant, ingredient-led dishes celebrate the freshest sustainable seafood. Menus change regularly to reflect what the boats have brought in, and you may find scallop ceviche; lobster thermidor croquettes; roast brill roast salsify and Exmoor caviar; skate wing; pork belly seaweed and sage; sea bass with fennel almonds and crab potatoes.
With strong ties to the fishing community, not only can the staff tell you when and where your fish was caught, but usually on which boat, and by whom. The waters of the Dorset coast are home to over 40 fish and shellfish species, from Portland crab and lobster to line-caught sea bass and supplied to the restaurant by Weymouth’s small, inshore fishing fleet which include two boats owned by the business.
You’ll also find local game dishes for example: venison, parsnip, girolles, red cabbage and blackberries. Other ingredients are sourced from local growers and producers including with a micro bakery based a road away from the restaurant and Craigs Farm, a free-range dairy which overlooks Weymouth Bay.
Catch is also about its setting. The landmark Grade II listed Old Fish Market was built in 1855 using local Portland stone. The building has been painstakingly restored by local craftspeople. The striking restaurant has been carved out on the first floor with views over the harbour and light that floods in through the windows of the clerestory roof.
The team have curated an engaging wine list containing exceptional local wines from the Dorset area including Langham Wine Estate, Furleigh Estate and Bride Valley Vineyard amongst others. The list not only includes gems from local producers but exciting wines from smaller European wineries. Many are available by the glass to encourage diners to experiment throughout their meal. The list will change and evolve throughout the year to keep it as fresh and seasonal as the menu.
Weyfish
Catch is part of a group of businesses which include Weyfish, Weymouth’s traditional harbourside fishmonger, also based in the historic Old Fish Market (in fact, diners pass through the fishmongers on their way to the tables).The majority of their fish is sourced hyper-locally and sustainably with the majority of the town’s fleet using lines, nets, and pots only – producing very little in the way of by-catch or discards. Weyfish went on to spawn an e-commerce platform for national home deliveries, and has its own fish van that sells fresh fish in Dorchester twice weekly. Hatch on the Harbour is located in a downstairs corner of the Fish Market and serves fresh seafood-on-the-go. Specialising in street food dishes whose changing menu can include fish tacos, crispy grilled squid and BBQ lobster which can all to be enjoyed on the quayside.
About Mike Naidoo
The kitchen team at Catch are led by Chef Mike Naidoo who has moved to Dorset to take up his first Head Chef role at the restaurant. Formerly at Jason Atherton’s Michelin starred Pollen Street Social and a number of years career across number of other well-known restaurants Purefoy Arms at Preston Candover and The Chesil Rectory in Winchester. Mike grew up just across the border in the New Forest and after studying physiotherapy he was lured into kitchens of local restaurants and decided to follow a career in hospitality.
He says of Catch: “Here, the supply chain is right on our doorstep: the Weymouth fleet; the most amazing growers and micro-producers. People who really care about quality. Our menu shifts and changes throughout the calendar – just as it should do.”
Brassica Restaurant & Mercantile, Dorset
Brassica Restaurant is not what you might expect from a country restaurant in the small Dorset town of Beaminster, not far from the Jurassic Coast. It’s a confluence of good food and good design led by culinary and design double act, Cass Titcombe, and his wife Louise Chidgey. The couple describes the restaurant as an extension of their own home, where you can enjoy Cass’s skilled cooking showcasing amazing local produce in an intimate setting with a convivial atmosphere effortlessly created by Louise’s use of colour, pattern and lighting.
“It is a simple, deft cooking, with attention to detail” Jay Rayner, The Observer 2015
Brassica presents the very best food, beautifully cooked, with pride but without pretension.
The menu evolves daily and features seasonal produce cooked simply, with a strong Mediterranean influence, and with a refined edge. The majority of the ingredients are produced within 15 miles and much of it is organic - you’ll find Devon Ruby Beef from Haye Farm; organic dairy from Dorset’s Liberty Dairy’ fish, seafood from Lyme Bay and vegetables grown a few miles down the road. Typical main courses may be: Organic Devon Ruby steak frîtes with black garlic; Spaghettini with crab, lobster, chilli and basil; Asparagus with Jersey Royals, parmesan & pickled wild garlic’ or Cod fillet with chickpeas, cavolo nero and aioli.
Brassica won The Good Food Guide Award for Best Local Restaurant South West in 2020.
“All the signs of a chef slipping out of the constraints of a formula and just cooking what he fancies, using fine local produce.” Tracey Macleod, The Independent 2015
Cass, who co-founded Canteen in London in 2005, published the Canteen cookbook in 2010 and Louise, previously a buyer at The Conran Shop and manager/design manager for Tom Conran Restaurants, upped sticks from a hectic London life in 2014 to open their own restaurant in this beautiful corner of Dorset. A long search for the right site, led them to Beaminster Square to a Grade II listed building, which featured in Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles. The building manages to be both light and airy in summer, and warm and cosy in winter.
Nextdoor, Louise has opened Brassica Mercantile, an understated food & homes shop in the with a carefully curated collection of homewares sourced from her favourite designers across the world - there are textiles, tableware, ceramics & glassware and books. You’ll also find food from local farms and producers and cheese, charcuterie and more from Italy and Spain. There are handmade meals prepared by Cass which change daily but may include aubergine melazana, fish pies and soups. If you can’t make it to Dorset, the beautiful collection is available from their online shop.
Brassica is a true family business, with Louise’s father, Graham Chidgey, who led wine merchants Laytons Fine Wines for nearly 30 years, curating the wine list of mainly Old World Wines.
Brassica Restaurant & Mercantile
4-5 The Square, Beaminster, Dorset DT8 3AS
https://brassicarestaurant.co.uk/
Cass Titcombe - Chef Director
Cass is best known a co-founder of micro London chain Canteen in 2005 and as author of Canteen: Great British Food (Ebury Press 2010). After leaving Canteen he consulted with some leading hospitality brands before upping sticks from London to Dorset in 2014 to start a new life and open his own restaurant Brassica in 2014.
Cass began his career in the 1980s at the renowned Hole In The Wall, Circus and Woods restaurants in Bath. In 1994 he moved to London to the celebrated Daphne’s in South Kensington and went on to found The Collection and Pasha for Mogens Tholstrup.
Louise Chidgey - Co-founder/Director
Louise co-founded Brassica with her partner Cass Titcombe in 2014 fleeing a hectic life in London juggling being a mother with a career in interiors and lifestyle with plenty of intonational travel. Louise has not only established the restaurant but launched homes & food shop and online store Brassica Mercantile combining her love of good design and good food.
Louise is one of the UK’s leading design and retail creatives, with expertise in home, interiors and lifestyle. She has extensive experience in the retail sector as well as the influential global trend forecasting business.
After working as a senior buyer for The Conran Shop she became manager/design manager for Tom Conran Restaurants, Marks & Spencer and Selfridges. From 2005-2014 she gained an international reputation as global trend forecasting at WGSN.com and in product design at agency Stylus.com.
Graham Chidgey - Wine Consultant
Louise’s father Graham, held a long a prestigious career in the wine trade 1953. In 1965 Graham took over a small London merchant, Laytons Fine Wines, which he ran successfully until its sale in 1997. He’s also worked with Laytons Fine Wines, André Simon and Malmaison Wine Club. Following the sale of Laytons, Graham moved to Tuscany where he extended the sales potential for Montalcino, Chianti Classico and Piedmont. He also move do to West Dorset in 2014 with his wife, the painter Angela Chidgey
Walnut Tree Inn, Abergavenny
Michelin-star restaurant in Wales with Chef Shaun Hill
Michelin-starred restaurant led by legendary chef Shaun Hill
The Walnut Tree Inn is an iconic Michelin-starred restaurant with cottages led by legendary chef Shaun Hill set in the rolling Welsh hills near Abergavenny and close to the English border. The Walnut Tree has held a Michelin Star since 2010 and is renowned for its unpretentious food served in an elegant but informal setting. Hill’s food is rich in classical techniques and carefully sourced ingredients, yet feels simple and of the
moment.
The Walnut Tree has been known as a food-lovers destination since the early 1960s when it was owned and run by Franco Taruschio. Shaun Hill arrived in 2008 to start a new era for the restaurant. Shaun, was previously chef owner of The Merchant House which, with its Michelin Star and reputation as one of the best restaurants in the country during the 1990s, put Ludlow on the gastronomic map.
After nearly 50 years, Shaun Hill is still found in the kitchen every day. He creates menus featuring the kind of food he likes to eat himself, food that is designed to show off an ingredient and cooked the way it’s meant to be. Dishes are rooted in classical culinary tradition but feel simple and contemporary with a great understanding of flavours and balance. Shaun makes use of first class ingredients, including wonderful local beef and game, British fish and seafood and some fine French cheeses.
The Michelin Guide describes The Walnut Tree as “an iconic restaurant with an illustrious past. Its location in the rolling borderlands of Wales makes it a destination kind of a place and its loyal band of regulars is testament to the quality of the cooking. The owners run it with heart and soul and, with its cosy open-fired bar and dining room hung with colourful art, it’s hard not to love it too.”
Menus change daily but include the like of Scallops with lentil and coriander sauce; Rabbit fricassée; Cod with cauliflower and hazelnut dressing; Middle White pork loin with black pudding and cromesqui; Orange and almond cake with milk ice cream and fig tart with honey and ricotta ice cream. The wine list favours small and artisan makers, with house Champagnes from Billecart-Salmon.
The Walnut Tree Inn https://www.thewalnuttreeinn.com/
Llanddewi Skirrid, Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, NP7 8AW UK
Awards
Michelin Guide: 1 Star since 2010
3 AA Rosettes
Estrella Damm National Restaurant Awards - ranked in the Top 100
Shaun Hill:
The Caterer – Lifetime Achievement Award 2019
Observer Food Monthly Awards – Lifetime Achievement Aware in 2014
The Horsehoes, Witney
A country pub, serving modern British pub food, part of a small group of independent pub restaurants.
The Horseshoes is a country pub, serving modern British pub food, set in the beautiful Oxfordshire market town of Witney. Part of the same independent group as The Hollybusy, The Horseshoes is a stylish contemporary pub serving an eclectic menu of pub classics using as much local produce as possible.
Owners, local lads, Luke Champion and Alex Vaughan aim to offer a proper pub atmosphere with warm hospitality, good beer, an interesting wine list.
The Hollybush, Witney
A modern dining pub set in the beautiful Oxfordshire market town of Witney.
The Hollybush is a modern dining pub in the Oxfordshire town of Witney on the edge of the Cotswolds. Part of a small group of independent pubs with includes The Horseshoes, the pub is owned and run by a young local team Luke Champion and Alex Vaughan who have cut their teeth in hospitality in London and come back to their home town.
Set in an 18th-century building with low ceilings and original beams; you'll get a good welcome, excellent local food and thoughtful wines and local ales. New head chef, Simon Bradley, has joined recently and creates inventive menus which are big on local seasonal produce. Bread and ice cream are all made at the pub. You’ll find reliable pub classics as well as more ambitious dishes.
The large outside space has plenty of tables as well as four luxurious dining houses for small groups - all fully heated and decorated with bespoke furniture and original art.
The Sun Inn, Dedham
Fabulous food and rooms on the Essex/Suffolk border
“Polly has worked with me on The Sun Inn and Church Street Tavern since 2017. Her remit was to undertake PR on the back of The Sun Inn’s January 2018 refurbishment and increase occupancy in its guest rooms. At Church Street Tavern it was to seek opportunities to extend its reach to a wider audience. She has done all extremely successfully with a measurable increase in our room occupancy particularly. Polly is fast, diligent, keeps me informed of what she is focusing on and never fails to follow up. Her advice is valued on where/when/how to pitch ideas/events/offers. As an added bonus, she is meticulous on copy, a pedant on detail and captures the right tone for us. I thoroughly enjoy working with her, find her easy going and highly recommend her.”
In the heart of Constable Country on the Essex Suffolk border, The Sun Inn has been a watering hole for villagers and resting post for travellers for centuries. These days, it offers a convivial welcome to locals and visitors to Dedham Vale. The Sun Inn is an ideal spot to revive yourself with a pint of craft beer, an Italian-inspired meal, a tasty bar snack, or a good night’s sleep. Independently owned and run since 2003 by Piers Baker, this year The Sun Inn celebrated its 15th anniversary in 2018.
The Sun Inn is a proper coaching inn with an elm bar, an open beamed dining room, oak floors, a snug oak-panelled lounge. You will find open fires to keep warm by in the winter, and a peaceful garden and terrace to enjoy in the summer. After a major refurbishment in January 2018, there are bold colours, rich fabrics and bespoke furniture. The mood is congenial, relaxed and family-friendly, with jazz and Latin American background music adding to the appeal. There are newspapers to read, board games to play, and the panelled lounge has deep sofas to sink into.
The Sun Inn is renowned for fabulous seasonal food, inspired by Italy. Head Chef Jack Levine creates robust dishes that are big on flavour. The menu changes monthly and features classic pasta and risotto dishes: crab ravioli; squid with chilli and garlic; as well as more hearty main courses including game in season, rare-breed meat and day-boat landed fish. The menu always offers three cuts of British rare-breed steaks to suit every wallet – skirt, sirloin and prime bone-in-rib and on Sunday’s there’s a generous roast with seasonal changing accompaniments.
Puddings also have an Italian twist such as Espresso Semifreddo, Burnt Meringue, Caramel, Hazelnuts and feature seasonal fruit like Blood Orange Chocolate Mousse.
A new bar menu launched in January for this seeking something more casual to snack on in the characterful bar or the comfortable and cosy lounge. Enjoy a Coronation Sutton Hoo Chicken Sandwich, steamed mussels with Aspall cider or a charcuterie platter to share with friends or indulge in Jack’s Snack based on chef Jack’s midnight fridge raid.
Head Chef, Jack Levine says ‘Cooking with the seasons is very important to us - everything tastes better in its natural season and gets to us quicker so it’s fresher. Our area has a long tradition and perfect climate for growing fruit like apples and raspberries which arrive in our kitchen on the day they are picked. It almost goes without saying that we source produce locally when we can, but first and foremost ingredients have to taste great, if it doesn’t we look further afield.”
Drinks are just as important as the food and are sourced from producers who are as passionate about what they do - ales from Crouch Vale Brewery or Adnams and an eclectic award winning wine list brimming with rare treats.
Seven beautiful en-suite bedrooms, all individually decorated with sumptuous beds and luxurious linen retain their centuries-old character and are a perfect place to unwind. Rooms at the front overlook the beautiful church while those at the back enjoy views over the garden. Breakfast (which is also available to non-residents) includes the classics smoked salmon and scrambled eggs and a fry-up with local sausages and bacon as well as more unusual spinach and mushroom omelette with smoked cheese.
The village of Dedham and the countryside around it has changed little since it was immortalised by John Constable in the 18th century, yet it’s under two hours drive from London. Opposite the striking St Mary’s Church, visitors can explore the pretty village with its patchwork of colourful houses, or borrow bikes, hire a boat to explore the Stour Valley or take a gentle stroll to Flatford Mill.
Fox & Hounds, Hunsdon
Independent gastro-pub and events venue, Hertfordshire
The Fox & Hounds, Hunsdon is a modern European restaurant and pub set in the Hertfordshire countryside. It is the only Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant in the county.
Head chef and owner, James Rix, serves imaginative food with rustic Italian and French influences. James previously worked alongside chefs Gary Rhodes and Alastair Little, and was head chef at Tom Conran’s The Cow in Notting Hill. Driven by a desire to open their own restaurant outside London, In 2004 James and and his wife, Bianca who runs the front of house, fell in love with and opened the striking Fox & Hounds, lovingly restoring it to create the stylish restaurant and pub you see today.
The simple but sophisticated menu features creative seasonal food with seasonal ingredients including light dishes like Crab Taco with mango salsa and hand-made spaghetti with clams to Swaledale Lamb Rump and Old Spot Pork Loin. Ingredients are carefully sourced including rare-breed meat, native Cornish lobsters and local game.
The Fox & Hounds is stylishly decorated with eclectic furniture, quirky art and shelves full of James’ favourite recipe books. The light and spacious dining room is perfect for private parties from weddings to family gatherings or business events, while the terrace and garden are a peaceful spot to relax in the summer.
Gareth Ward at Ynyshir
Michelin-star restaurant and rooms in Wales
Ynyshir is a Michelin star, 5 AA* rosette restaurant and rooms in Wales. Chef Owner, Gareth Ward, is the Good Food Guide’s Chef of the Year 2019 and regularly cited as one of the most exciting chefs in the country.
Gareth Ward’s philosophy is ‘Ingredient Led, Flavour Driven, Fat Fuelled, Meat Obsessed’. Ynyshir is all about great food, great music and amazing drinks. Ward describes it as: ‘fun dine’ rather than ‘fine dine’.Ward is passionate about using the best British ingredients to create dining experiences rather than just a meal. He doesn’t adhere to traditional culinary rules with every small dish taking you on a journey of flavours, textures and ingredients.
Chef Gareth Ward is passionate about using the best ingredients including local meat, foraged herbs and berries - for example tapping all the birch in their grounds to make syrup or the whole team taking a day out to harvest and preserve wild garlic for the year ahead. He is also known for his use of Japanese techniques and ingredients like miso, dashi, mirin and soy which enable him to get as much flavour as possible out of the other ingredients while keeping the dishes light. Ward is renowned for his dedication to ageing meat to improve its flavour and texture and Ynyshir is the first restaurant in the UK to have a fully-wrap around Himalayan Salt Chamber.
Tucked away between the golden sands of Borth Beach and the rugged mountains of Snowdonia National Park in Wales, Ynyshir’s location makes it the perfect remote escape for food lovers looking for a completely unique culinary experience. The dining experience takes guests on a creative journey through Wales and the British Isles, surprising and delighting their taste buds with every dish.
Bia Rebel Ramen
Ramen shop and take-away in Belfast
Bia Rebel Ramen is a small casual restaurant and take-away in Belfast which fuses the best Irish produce with Japanese cuisine to create addictive bowls of “authentic Irish ramen”. With plans to open a second site in the city in 2020, founders Brian Donnelly and Jenny Holland have brought us in to help raise their profile in the UK media, to grow the Bia Rebel brand and tell Brian’s inspiring story.
‘Bia’ means food in Irish and founders chef Brian Donnelly and his partner Jenny Holland are true their name rebelling against formal fine dining and cheap fast food. They aim to create “food that touches your soul” at affordable prices in an informal setting. It’s their passion for delivery and ability to execute it that sets Bia Rebel apart. “We want to create an eating experience that is comforting, nourishing and at the same time exciting and totally unique.”
Winners of the Observer Food Monthly Cheap Eats Award in 2018, Bia Rebel opened only a few months earlier in March 2018. With just 12 seats and take-away, Bia Rebel locals, students and even Japanese families come in for fast nourishing bowl of ramen.
Brian started working in kitchens aged just 13 spending most of his career in Michelin-star restaurants led by the likes of Gary Rhodes, Gordon Ramsey and Kevin Thornton and the creator of Irish cuisine Myrtle Allen at Ballymaloe. By 2017 he needed to step away from the stress of working in fine dining restaurants and Jenny convinced him that the time was right to open their own place. After a year of trialling concepts at Belfast’s St George’s Market, they hit on ramen.
Brian says: “We decided to focus on just one product and hit upon the iconic Japanese noodle which is loved across the world. We’re not trying to be Japanese. We’re an Irish restaurant. It just so happens this wonderful, perfect dish we’re making is considered Japanese. Provided you adhere to basic building blocks you can make it what you want.”
Brian quickly found out that it was impossible to source fresh noodles here so set his mind to perfecting his own recipe. He says “Our noodles are made by hand from just a few ingredients - it’s a pure process that takes huge commitment and dedication.”
Jenny says: “We see Ireland and Japan as two island nations with so much wonderful produce to choose from. We chose our suppliers carefully, and use small farmers and independent producers as much as possible. You won’t find produce of this quality and this price anywhere else.”
Church Street Tavern, Essex
Restaurant and bar in Colchester
Church Street Tavern is a chic and contemporary bar and restaurant in the centre of Colchester that prides itself on being a local hub - a place to chat over an afterwork cocktail or a morning coffee to celebrate with friends over dinner or gather wit family for Sunday roast. Church Street Tavern is consistently rated one of the best places to eat in Colchester and is the only restaurant in town with a Michelin Plate, and two AA Rosettes.
“A handsome, big-boned townhouse just off the main shopping drag which combines the warmth and hospitality of the traditional tavern with serious cooking..” Tracey MacLeod, The Independent
Refreshingly when high streets are dominated by chains, Church Street Tavern is independently owned by Piers Baker, who also owns The Sun Inn, Dedham. Baker has lovingly restored in grand Victorian savings bank, bringing it up-to-date without losing any of its delightful character. Step inside and you'll discover an elegant interior, rustic oak wooden flooring and an assortment of comfortable upholstered seating as well as wonderful artwork from Essex artist, Philippa Dow.
Baker says: “Taverns are a rich part of our heritage - a place to meet and do business. We wanted to create a Tavern for the 21st century - a place to meet, have fun, enjoy good food and drink and be well looked after.”
The downstairs bar is a casual affair with sofas and stools, café tables and counters. The bar menu, served downstairs and upstairs on weekday lunchtimes, stars rare-breed burgers, a seasonal salad and a regular pasta dish.
Upstairs the light-filled dining room is a perfect place for a business lunch or gathering with family and friends. The lunch and dinner menu features an unusual selection of lighter including steamed mussels, Caeser salad and more substantial dishes like Highfield’s Farm Duck Breast and steak aged for a minimum of 45 days and from rare breed animals. Vegetarians will enjoy dishes like Roast Crown Squash, Mushroom Orzo, Kale andChestnut Pesto - a vegan menu is available. Jannsson’s Temptation, a classic Swedish potato dish, is a popular alternative to fries. Sunday roasts are flavourful and generous.
Menus change monthly with the seasons and where possible meat, fish and vegetables are all sourced locally, including Sutton Hoo Chicken, rare-breed beef and fish from Mersea day boats.
To wash it down, there is a cracking selection of beers and ciders (both bottled and draft) and premium spirits. There is an exceptional and extensive wine list chosen for their distinct flavour, and made with respect for the vine as well as the environment. The eclectic cocktails list features classics, created and mixed with care.
Le Café du Marché, London
Renowned as an atmospheric and convivial French restaurant, Le Café du Marché has been open for three decades and is still family-run. Tucked away down a cobbled mews in historic Smithfield, it is one of the oldest restaurants in the area. Downstairs a characterful restaurant serves authentic French cuisine, while upstairs is a unique private dining room - perfect for parties, dinners, corporate events and wedding celebrations.
The regularly changing à la carte menu uses the best fresh and seasonal ingredients, features daily specials and ever popular dishes such as la cote de boeuf with sauce béarnaise; braised beef bourguignon and celeriac puree; mousse au chocolat and classic French cheese and wine.
The ground floor restaurant saw extensive renovation during 2017 to open up the previously separate café. The space retains the bare brick walls and beams of this former warehouse and coach house for neighbouring Charterhouse. The atmosphere is that of a traditional French brasserie, with live jazz in the evenings. In the summer tables spill out onto the pavement.
The high-ceilinged first-floor private dining room, Le Grenier “the attic”, has large windows and characterful oak panelling, creating a light and rustic French atmosphere in the centre of London. The room is self-contained with its own entrance, bar, toilets, and kitchen. The light and airy space seats up to 62 people for lunch or dinner and up to 120 for canapés but is also cosy enough to suit smaller groups too.
Downstairs, Le Rendezvous seats up to 35 and benefits from the background live jazz that plays in the main restaurant. The whole restaurant can be hired for parties of 150 to 300 people.
Chef: Andrew Sheridan
Andrew Sheridan is an up and coming chef who represented Wales on Great British Menu in 2018 and was branded ‘the maverick chef’ for his unconventional approach. He scored a couple of 10s from Paul Ainsworth and the other judges.
Sosban is housed in striking Victorian Pumphouse close to the sea at Llanelli. Since he arrived in autumn last year, he’s transformed the food leading on tasting menus which play with intriguing flavours, textures and temperatures.
Sosban is one of the most exciting restaurants in Wales. Andrew and his team create menus that connect diners with each dish either through memories, taste or seasons. Andrew cooks with flair and imagination, combining bold flavours with intriguing textures and temperatures to create a memorable experience all served in a relaxed environment.
Andrew believes that each dish should tell a story - torched mackerel for example, is reminiscent of barbecuing fresh fish on the beach. He says “My philosophy is simple: I use the best possible ingredients to create dishes that emphasise seasonal flavours and excite the palate. Whether that is the freshest seafood, seasonal fruit and vegetables or the best quality meat, every item on the menu is meticulously sourced and each plate is designed to intrigue and excite our diners.”
Sosban is becoming renowned for its four- and seven-course tasting menus (with vegetarian versions). The menu features some of Andrew’s signature dishes such as Cod Five Ways, cabbage puree, salt and vinegar chips; and Pembrokeshire Goat, torched cucumber, caramelised goats cheese and wild garlic and his elevated apple rice-pudding made famous when it scored 10 points from judges on the Great British Menu.