Ex-Gordon Ramsay and Star Inn chef to open new gastropub

Steven Ellis, who cut his teeth at Jamie Oliver's restaurant 15 before working in the two high-end eateries, bought the freehold of the Oxford Blue, Berkshire, last year.

He told the Publican’s Morning Advertiser​: "Working at the Star Inn with Andrew Pern was where I fell in love with the pub – I'd never been to a Michelin-starred pub before and never realised what it was all about."

Imagine​

He added: "I want to try and recreate something similar to [the Star Inn] but in my own way. Imagine a mixture of the Star and Restaurant Gordon Ramsay."

Ellis added he was eager to take advantage of local game and was in the process of cementing relationships with gamekeepers and local suppliers.

However, while the food served at the Oxford Blue would be of high quality, it was fundamental the establishment remained a pub and accessible to everyone, he said.

The pub is set to open in May, following the completion of a "massive" refurbishment, said Ellis.

Sample dishes include wood pigeon and foie gras pithivier with Waldorf salad; confit leg and hazelnut vinaigrette; red deer Wellington Rossini – braised leg, mustard mash, glazed baby carrots and chickweed; and apple parfait with elderflower gel and apple salad.

Nose-to-tail​

Game-based 'nose-to-tail' style feasting menus will also be available for private dining parties.

Andrew Pern, writing on Oxford Blue's website, said: "Coming from the fine-dining lifestyle of three Michelin-star plush restaurants to our wayward inn on the edge of the moors couldn't be a bigger change.

"But the fact that we have a fabulous pantry of food literally on our doorstep and we allow the seasons to write our menus, I think somehow this helped him [Ellis] feed his ambition to eventually open his own establishment and to combine the two, so diverse, experiences to become a reality."