Ones to Watch
In the past year, we have seen some major new openings all over the country and it's likely that new candidates for next year's PubChef gastro-pub poll will emerge throughout 2006.
One of the most exciting things about spotting future stars of the gastro-pub galaxy is that so many of them are opening outside of London.
One of the best chefs in Britain today is Claude Bosi, and although he has two Michelin stars at his Ludlow restaurant, Hibiscus, he has always wanted to open a village pub offering great food.
He has succeeded in doing just that at his new pub, the Bell Inn at Yarpole in Herefordshire, which is serving some of the best pub food outside of London.
The reason for his success is simple. He hasn't tried to turn it into a restaurant, just a local pub selling classic British pub food done well. He knows that pub-goers don't necessarily want some sort of food he cooks at his restaurant and this means a menu with scampi and chips, sausages and mash, and sherry trifle: the point of difference being that they're all made from the best ingredients to create arguably the most exceptional versions of those dishes you're likely to eat.
In Cornwall, chef Lucy Crabb and her brother, Harry, are making waves at the Boot Inn in Calstock. Lucy started her career at the Walnut Tree in Abergavenny and then she worked for Simon Hopkinson at Bibendum before becoming head chef at Terence Conran's Blueprint Cafe.
Lucy is a prime example of a top drawer London chef giving up the pressures of the capital and setting up her own place in the country. With just 28 covers, it comes as no surprise the the Boot Inn is full most days. Lucy's menu changes every week and is governed by seasonality and local produce.
"It's all fresh, it's all local - provenance of the food is very important," she says. With a menu that includes the freshest dressed Cornish crab with lemon mayonnaise, South Devon sirloin steaks and monkfish with Serrano ham and minted pea puree, it's no wonder that the Boot Inn is one of the West Country gastro pubs to watch in 2006.
Similarly, all eyes are on the Pipe & Glass in Beverley, East Yorkshire, where James MacKensie has just launched his first solo venture.
The fact that James was head chef at the Star at Harome, North Yorkshire (placed at number two in our Top 30 list) should attract plenty of interest. Using many of the same local producers, the Pipe & Glass promises to be one of the most interesting new openings of the year.
There are also interesting developments in Devon, where John Steven has opened a sister pub to the award-winning Dartmoor Union. The Rose & Crown at Yealmpton, Devon, opened in December 2005 as a pub with a seafood restaurant attached. Early reports are very encouraging and it's quite likely that the Rose & Crown will be picking up awards in the near future.
It's not just the independent operators that have caught the eye so far this year - many of the small pubcos around the country are increasing their portfolios.
One of the big success stories of the gastro-pub world has been Buckinghamshire-based Salisbury Pubs, which owns the Swan Inn at Denham, Buckinghamshire, the Alford Arms at Frithsden, Hertfordshire and the Royal Oak at Marlow, Buckinghamshire.
This rapidly-expanding company has just opened its fourth pub: the Old Queens Head at Penn, Buckinghamshire.
At 100 covers, the Old Queens Head is much bigger than the group's other sites, but it is already proving a big success.
Co-director of Salisbury Pubs, Becky Salisbury says: "We are of the shrinking opinion that a gastro pub should be just that: a pub first and foremost, but one that also does a great job on the food side. We have found that sticking to our roots and what we know best is most appealing for our customers.
"We don't stick a restaurant in an old pub, we just add layers of genuinely good service, fabulous food and wine on top of traditional country pub hospitality."
Another fast-growing small pub company is Merchant Inns, owned by Frederic and Julia Dubois. They plan to build on the success of the Carnarvon Arms in Burghclere, Hampshire, with three more openings in the next year, including sites in Oxfordshire and Wiltshire. There are also plans to extend the Carnarvon Arms to provide a further 12 bedrooms.
The Plough at Bolnhurst, Bedfordshire, is another new gastro pub to watch this year. Chef Martin Lee trained with Raymond Blanc and Paul Heathcote and he hopes to replicate his success at the Old Bridge at Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, and the Pheasant at Keyston, also in Cambridgeshire.
Finally, the team behind the Cherry Tree at Stoke Row, Henleyon- Thames, Oxfordshire, have recently taken over the Sugar Loaf at Little Chalfont, Buckinghamshire. Business is already brisk and it could soon follow its award-winning sister business into the guidebooks.
