Food Pub of the Year 2009: The Somerset Arms, Maiden Bradley, Wiltshire
The Somerset Arms is a food-led Wadworth pub with a main bar, a dining room, a larger dining area and several letting bedrooms.
The pub grows its own vegetables in its extensive garden, which acts as the backdrop for barbecues and al fresco dining. Tenant Lisa Richards is a former food critic.
It's extremely rare for critics to abandon their sometimes poisonous pens to take up the art or skill they have spent much time reviewing. Former victims of the journalists' invective will be looking gleefully for every mistake - which may be why there is an air of perfectionism about Richards' approach to food.
Nothing is pre-prepared; all food is cooked fresh to order using carefully sourced local ingredients, and menus change regularly with seasonal influences. Dishes are frequently prepared from ingredients provided by customers, and this can include locally-caught sea bass from Weymouth, mackerel, crab, or game shot nearby in the winter.
The pub also has a large garden, part of which is used to grow herbs and vegetables, which help to add to its independent character.
Many of the pub's customers take advantage of the high quality accommodation to be found at the Somerset Arms.
A combination of value and luxury offer guests from distant locations the chance to enjoy their dinner to the full and stay over afterwards. They might be lucky enough to bump into some of the celebrity guests who occasionally frequent this establishment.
Richards says her priorities are quality and provenance. She strives to strike a balance between hitting target GPs without ever sacrificing quality. Chicken, for example, is always free range and corn-fed, even for sandwiches.
Customers are advised of a 20-minute wait time for main courses due to the nature of the ingredients involved.
Suppliers are found through word of mouth and by scouring the local consumer and food press. A staff outing was organised recently to a local wild boar farm, which develops their connection to the pub and the ideas behind local food. Food accounts for 70 per cent of sales.
Staff are encouraged to interact with customers, who have described the enthusiasm of table staff as 'infectious'. The pub has a comments book and an online database of several hundred customers, which acts as a marketing tool for events. And Richards doesn't intend to stop here - ideas for next year include an outdoor pizza-making facility.
