The Royal Oak, Whatcote - A Michelin Star Restaurant Built Around a Community
It’s not often that we (me and my wife) manage to go to a fancy pants Michelin star style restaurant. Having said that, we did manage 2 last year. One of which was a 3 star place in Spain and the other was a lovely country pub in a small, Cotswold village, Whatcote.
When you start cooking, everything seems to point towards getting a Michelin award. Whether its a Bib Gourmand (whatever that is), a plate or the elustrious stars, this is the dream that’s sold to you and everything you should shoot for. It can become a focus and it’s a dangerous obsession. First the drive to get there. Then the pressure doubles to retain what you’ve been awarded! It’s an endless spiral! I have never really known why Michelin seems more coveted than other award systems. That big rotund Michelin Man is far better at marketing than he looks. There I was thinking he was just totally bogged down with explaining that he wasn’t the Marshmallow Man in Ghostbusters and he’s never fought the Statue of Liberty.
There’s a bit of confusion around the Michelin award system. Chinese whispers have set in and there are some common misconceptions about what they are awarded for…..
Long story long, it was a guide made up to supplement road maps (hence the major awards being dished out by road and motor behemoths) to help suggest places that were worth stopping off on your journey. Originally, 1 star was worth a stop, 2 star was worth a detour and 3 star is worth a specific trip to that place. The stars are based entirely on the food. Nothing else apparently, not the decor, ambience, service - none of it. Hard to believe that they don’t play a part. Going for a 1 star dinner, being verbally abused by staff and having your dinner chucked all over you, in the middle of an old Woolworth’s that’s been derelict for 25 years with a bucket in the corner of the room for a toilet doesn’t really sound quite right. Although having just read that back, that could genuinely be a dining experience in East London.
Anyway, that feels like I’m off on one of my tangents……….
So, its just about the food……..so that means you could, in theory see Michelin star food in all sorts of different places. Note my excitement when I find out that this particular 1 star place is in a local pub…..and its got a pool table, dartboard, roaring fire, dominoes and board games!
Excitement level 5000!
It’s important to note that this is a LOVELY pub, in a LOVELY Cotswold village! One of those Midsomer Murder type villages. There didn’t seem to be the same level of murders as in Midsomer though. Although we didn’t investigate that. The turn over in that village must has been monumental when you think about it?! John Nettles the only survivor, but not sure he was dining out on Michelin star food every night?
We were staying in the really fancy hotel locally. A big Hogwart’s style place not far away. We decided to splash out and make it a fancy weekend all round to have a bit of a delayed anniversary celebration. I might write a blog about the hotel actually. I spent the first 10 years of my life hoteling along Weymouth sea front, when air travel became more readily available, as a family we realised the world was now our oyster and we embarked on some serious travel, branching out to explore the Channel Islands, gaining an indepth knowledge of middle class 4 star hotels, what I’m saying is that I feel like I know a thing or two about the middle class UK Hotel market……….
I always think that if you are out of your depth, just fake it til you make it. Pretend you’re confortable with what’s happening, your surroundings. You also have to sacrifice yourself to fate in certain ways. The perfect nod of approval from me when our taxi arrives at the hotel and it’s a brand new white, electric, Bentley London style cab. I made sure to look around to grab the attention of all other guests within our peripheral vision, making sure they see us get in the cab, make sure we slam the door shut so they look around. Then we let out a big sigh of relief that we parked our banged up Suzuki Vitara round the back of the hotel on arrival to prevent turning up looking a little like Onslow from Keeping Up Appearances. We drive past the numerous Porsches, BMWs and Mercedes of the other hotel guests, finally feeling like we’ve made it. We didn’t book this particular cab by the way, this is just the way they do it in the Cotswolds!
Even better to arrive at a restaurant and see the entire village outside, lined up like some sort of royalty is arriving. ‘
‘No, No, Mr Taxi Driver, please drop us off right outside everyone, so they can see’……
Imagine living in a village where any out of town visitor is such a large event that you all congregate to welcome them? It is almost a little Wicker Man but feels great nonetheless (just keep your eyes peeled for any large wooden structures and fire wielding locals).
Nervously walking along, saying hello, shaking hands, waving to the crowd you then realise that they are actually lined up to watch the Christmas Lights Tractor parade………
To be clear, the above didn’t exactly happen like that. We did arrive in a Bentley, there was a crowd, but my social anxiety would never allow me to interact with a crowd like that, even if I did think they were there for me! I mean, I couldn’t even shake hands with the Queen when I met her last year when she held her hand out to me!
You then realise that it was the Bentley that was actually the talk of the village, not us arriving. And you realise that this isn’t actually normal for the Cotswolds, or anywhere for that matter! A good feeling that fate was carrying us along to a memorable experience.
Having spent the afternoon making coat jokes……Don’t forget your coat! Which Coat? That Coat! What Coat?……etc etc it was lovely to be greeted in Whatcote by such a community feel. Something that might have been put together to welcome the Christmas tractors but was actually a feeling that never left through the entire evening. It is a proper little community of really lovely people. The village had a really warm and welcoming feel, something that oozes out of The Royal Oak. The local pub, the central location where the community pivots.
The welcoming warmth that comes from the pub isn’t just the actual roaring fire with the comfiest large sofas in front but it’s centred around the couple who run the place. A couple who have quite obviously set their lives to open a warm, welcoming pub in the centre of a community, that welcomes everyone and delivers exceptional service and proudly showcases all the wonderful produce around them.
Richard and Solanche are the most genuine of people. Laid back and seriously welcoming. Attentive and detailed but never overbearing - that’s the theme of what they offer. The food, the drink, even the locals - that’s just what they do. They draw you in with their warmth and authenticity.
People buy from people is a bit of a sales cliche but it’s so true. The older and (maybe not) wiser I’ve got the more I’ve appreciated this and the more I’ve adhered to it.
After meeting Solanche at the bar, we couldn’t resist the open fire and comfy sofas so we had a couple of glasses of lovely English fizz and played some dominoes. Never sure if we actually play by the correct rules, it was lovely to have some of the locals at the bar come over, chat to us and confirm that we are in fact playing the correct rules for 5’s n 3’s! There’s that magical community feel to the place again! A sort of feeling that you’re in everyone’s home, not just the local pub!
As I mentioned, we chose to make this weekend a little fancier than normal as a belated Anniversary dinner. When we got to our table, there was a hand written card from Richard & Solanche. The sort of unexpected, genuine touch that only makes you fall in love with these guys and their pub even more. This is hospitality!
The menu at The Royal Oak is set around local, sustainably sourced produce so there is naturally a focus on Game. We started with some seriously intense Amuse Bouche(‘s) - lovely nibbly bits of really powerful flavours. A rich combo of duck liver, prune and ginger, with a refreshing and light smoked eel, apple and dill tart really set the stall out but the star of the whole show and in my opinion, the whole meal, was the fallow buck (deer) consommé. Outrageously delicious. I would hate to think how long that had been simmering away on the stove for. Hours and hours of care and attention! The sort of flavour in a stock/consomme that I can only ever dream of achieving. Proper cooking! Served in a cup for you to drink, the ultimate, Michelin starred Bovril!
My issue with something this good is that there is never enough. I almost don’t want anything else! Just this and bread please! When Solanche cleared our table we joked that they should be selling that stuff on the bar. She said that she has locals who order flasks of it to take out on hikes and weekend walks! Sign me up to those walks! Dreamy!
You might know, we are a couple who have in the last 2 years become a little tricky with dietary requirements. My wife is lactose and gluten intolerant, I have a confusing relationship with gluten. Sometimes its ok, other times I have catastrophic gluten consequences. Solanche had asked for our dietary requirements and despite the menu stating they can’t cater for allergies, they went so far out of their way to welcome our requirements. They’d been out and sourced some local slow fermented sourdough for my wife and even constructed specific gluten free adaptations of dishes for her. I’d actually kept my gluten issues under wraps. I figured it would be worth the potential gluten consequences and I was absolutely right!
I always feel like there are two types of chef in the world. A chef that serves butter to compliment and showcase the bread or a chef who serves the bread to compliment and showcase the butter. Richard creates a third category. A chef who wants to serve bread and butter in equal measure. He brings out an entire wholemeal loaf made from flour milled just down the road. A sort of super soft, almost Japanese style whole meal milk loaf. He then places THREE small plates of butter down next to it. Churned in house, cows milk, goats milk and what I think should be a new standard butter……butter laced with pork scratchings! Thanks to my wife’s intolerances, I got this entire loaf to myself which filled my soul with so much joy.
If you want to experience pure ecstasy, I urge you to give up bread and butter for months. Then go and find the best bread and butter you can find. It’s orgasmic!
Richard serves every course at the table, which is such a lovely touch. He wants to serve you the food he has cared for, he wants you to enjoy it, he wants to talk to you about it. I admire this so much, especially as its done with absolutely zero pretence. It’s not because he thinks its what people should do. It’s not a stunt for those inspectors, its a genuine want from a genuine and generous cook. It’s also important to note that he is constantly impeccably clean. His whites look like he’s freshly changed and ironed between every course. I also have no idea how he remains so calm, serving each table, while the kitchen is also prepping the next course (and it’s a small team - I asked!). More aspiration for me and further confirmation that my kitchen technique is just chaos! Pure chaos!
The rest of the menu is a lovely journey of brilliant technique and cooking. It’s a masterclass in delicious subtly. Each course shines the light on it’s centrepiece, whether it’s lovingly made pheasant stuffed pasta or some perfectly cooked local partridge. He builds around that centrepiece using local produce. If you turn the menu over, you find a fascinating map of where all the local produce has come from. Although there isn’t much need for it, you can simply walk to the bar and meet the person who supplies the plums for the partridge dish. Then later a local interjects mid-course and asks how our meals going (in a totally genuine, non-invasive way), only to find he supplies to walnuts! That’s when you realise that you aren’t eating in a restaurant but you’re eating in a community! This is less Richard and Solanche’s pub and more Whatcote’s pub! A pub completely adored, supported and powered by its locals! You can tell the pride they have in having this restaurant in the village.
It gave me such a warm, fuzzy feeling inside, it took me right back to the feeling I had when we were sat in front of the fire when we arrived. This is what food should be and what food should be doing! It’s the locality that glues it all together.
Richard keeps the delicious courses flowing. Perfectly cooked Cornish cod, followed by some local Fallow Buck, the Buck that had helped create that incredible consommé we had. The story ties in so nicely. The loop is completed. Its about respect for the animal and the produce. It’s that care and attention that these two give to everything.
So you know, the sauce made for this course was just like an intense version of the consommé. Absolute heaven!
Bring me a saucepan full of that and another loaf of bread please!
The cheese course had a lovely story behind it. A Banbury Cake with some lovely crumbly local cheese and honey. I’d never heard of a Banbury Cake before. Like a sort of slightly more savoury Eccle’s Cake, it was a total joy. Equally as joyous to hear Richard’s story of trying to recreate/perfect a Victorian recipe and just how long it took him to get it right. Every ounce of effort totally worth it!
After the cheese, it’s all about the savoury-sweet train and into the realm of the dessert world. In my old age, I have gone so far off overly sweet desserts. Richard takes you from the semi sweet cheese course, through a really subtle, sweet/savoury quince, walnut and celery dish based loosely on a Waldorf Salad, into the main pudding. An expertly made mille-feuille with apples, hazelnuts and cider. The cider is a stroke of genius. It just gives you that little reminder that you’re in the middle of the Countryside, that sort of farm yard-y cider flavour that transports you into the Cotswold countryside while stopping anything from getting too sweet. By this point, I was half expecting the local cider maker to roll in a barrel ready for our dessert. But maybe they were driving one of the Christmas tractors?
Time just left us while we were in The Royal Oak. We were so immersed in everything that they offered us and more importantly, chatting to Solanche and Richard, that we had absolutely no idea how late it had got or whether our Bentley was now outside.
I could get used to that…..’Excuse me, do you know if our Bentley’s outside?…..’
It didn’t matter, this Bentley was talk of the village so the entire population soon let us know that a white Bentley was outside. We didn’t have time for a coffee, which was a shame but we did have time to throw the Chocolate & Birch syrup tart petit fours down our throats. A great, rich and bitter finish to the meal. A meal that in it’s entirety left you feeling a perfect level of ‘indulged’.
I haven’t had a chance to mention the wine yet. A great wine list! Everything you would expect. We actually left it in the hands of Solanche and her team and as you would expect. We wanted a light, easy drinking red throughout our meal, they suggested the most delicious Pinot Noir and it was utterly perfect!
My only regret from this entire experience was that we didn’t allow our selves enough time for a game of pool or darts. The thought of this sort of juxtaposed world where you can eat some of the best food, then follow it up with a pint and a few arrows is so appealing to me. It’s how fine dining should be. It’s really accessible! That is the real glory of this place. It’s about the community, its about the locality and that is all set around its accessibility to people. It’s about Richard and Solanche, two of the most lovely, real, honest and genuine people you’ll ever find wearing their hearts on their sleeves and doing things their way.
They proudly welcome you into their world with open arms. It’s a warm, generous and delicious world! A world that on the surface seems fairly simplistic but hides an incredibly detailed complexity underneath. Everything is thought out and it’s thought out to showcase the amazing local produce they have in the area, all with the guests experience at the heart of it. No egos, no pretentious nonsense. This is a Michelin Star restaurant just about anyone would feel comfortable in!
I can’t wait to come back for a pint of consommé, a loaf of bread and a game of pool! Maybe hustle a couple of bags of walnuts out of the locals!
