New pubs on the block
Mark Taylor looks at some of this year's hottest new openings
The Narrow Limehouse, London, E14
?gordonramsay.com
When Gordon Ramsay announced his move into the world of gastropubs, there were murmurs about yet another celebrity chef jumping on the bandwagon. Of course, the three Michelin-starred chef has pulled it off with aplomb. The Narrow in London's Limehouse has quickly become one of the hottest tables in London and is one of 10 pubs planned by Ramsay.
The menus were created by Mark Sargeant from Claridge's and head chef John Collins. The food is very British, and a bar menu featuring a half pint of prawns and sausage rolls is complemented by a dining menu that takes in potted Morecambe Bay shrimps and braised Gloucester Old Spot pig cheeks with bashed neeps.
A second pub, the Devonshire, in Chiswick, opened in October and a third, the Warrington, in Maida Vale, is due to open in the new year.
The Rosendale West Dulwich, London, SE21
?therosendale.co.uk
July saw the opening of the Rosendale in the heart of West Dulwich. The second pub and restaurant from the team behind the excellent Greyhound in Battersea, the Rosendale pipped Gordon Ramsay's the Narrow to scoop the Gastropub of the Year in the Time Out awards and is already doing 1,000 covers a week.
Owner Mark van der Goot brought in South African-born head chef Matthew Foxon from
the Greyhound and there is a South African influence in dishes such as dukka-spiced Kezie Farm ostrich fillet with beef bobotie and sautéed sweet potato. Everything is made in-house, including the bread and butter, while their
meat comes from Upper Wilting Farm in East Sussex.
Feathers Inn
Stocksfield,Northumberland
?thefeathers.net
Rhian Craddock and Helen Greer took over the freehold of this pub in April. Rhian has worked in Michelin-starred kitchens and has been a head chef since the age of 20. On the menu are simple, well-made, traditional north-eastern British dishes using local ingredients.
Best-selling dishes include Rhian's home-made black pudding (£5.50); wild Holy Island mussels cooked in perry with thyme and parsley (£6); jugged hare with forcemeat balls, fried bread and redcurrant jelly (£12); venison pie with heritage potato mash and braised red cabbage (£9); and Northumbrian cream, apple suet pudding and custard. The pub adapts recipes from the ideas of Hannah Glasse, who came from Hexham and was the first British person to write a cookery book.
The Carpenter's Arms Hammersmith, London, W6
The Carpenter's Arms opened without fanfare during the summer, but it soon went from being London's best-kept secret to one of the hardest places to get a table, thanks to a five-star AA Gill review in The Sunday Times.
Head chef Paul Adams used to work at Chelsea's Pig's Ear gastropub and his menu is packed with bold dishes. AA Gill said the mutton and butter bean broth left him "speechless with admiration" and he also singled out the steamed razor clams with parsley, garlic and cream and the braised bacon with chicory and mustard.
The Kingham Plough Kingham, Chipping Norton, Oxon
Since it opened its doors in August, the Kingham Plough has been one of the most talked about new pubs outside London. Head chef and co-owner Emily Watkins previously worked at the Fat Duck, as Heston Blumenthal's sous chef.
She has adopted similar cutting-edge cooking techniques to her mentor, but uses them to recreate classic and long-lost English dishes. Emily has a strict local-sourcing policy and 85% of her suppliers are within 10 miles of the pub, including pop-star-turned-foodie Alex James, who makes the cheese.
The Only Running Footman Mayfair, London, W1
The latest venture from Barnaby Meredith (the House in Islington and the Bull in Highgate), the Only Running Footman is a Punch pub in the heart of Mayfair.
Although it retains its pubby feel, with a good range of cask ales, the dining room features a menu created by executive chef Jeremy Hollingsworth who worked for Marco Pierre White for several years.
The chef's table for 10 has proved a popular place to enjoy the enormous Running Footman mixed grill or scallop and crab sausage with baby spinach and Champagne sauce.
White Bull Ribchester, Lancashire
?whitebullrib.co.uk
Former head chef of Paul Heathcote's Michelin-starred Longridge restaurant, Chris Bell took over the White Bull, in Ribchester, in January with his wife, Kath, and local farmer and butcher Martin Carefoot.
Bell serves unpretentious British classics cooked from locally-sourced ingredients, including vegetables from the allotments around the corner and pork from down the road.
The blackboard menu changes daily, but
typical dishes include grilled Bury black pudding with soft-boiled duck egg and wholegrain mustard, and braised shin of beef with dumplings, roast vegetables and Guinness sauce, followed by chocolate pot, spiced plums and crème fraiche.
The Highwayman Burrow, Kirkby Lonsdale, Lancashire ?highwaymaninn.co.uk
The second pub from Nigel Haworth's Ribble Valley Inns (in partnership with Thwaites brewery), the Highwayman opened in March 2007 after a £1.2m refurbishment. Head chef Michael Ward's menu majors on seasonal, traditional dishes from Lancashire, Cumbria and Yorkshire.
As with Nigel's first pub, the Three Fishes, the Highwayman's kitchen uses superb local producers, all of whom get a name-check on a map of regional heroes.
Expect the likes of Peter Gott's potted wild boar, Farmer Sharp's Herdwick mutton pudding with forager's mash, and Lancashire curd tart with organic lemon cream to fly out the door.
A third pub is planned for next year.
Duke of Sussex Chiswick, London, W4
West London isn't short of a gastropub or 10 but the Duke of Sussex is a bit special. Chris Payne, previously head chef at St John's in Archway, is running the kitchen.
The elaborately-decorated Duke of Sussex, built in 1898, was designed by acclaimed architects Shoebridge and Rising, and the pub has been restored to its original glory.
The menu features a mixture of British and Spanish dishes that are not split into starters and mains - there are no rules in this eating house. Dishes range from potted rabbit, to slow-roasted Old Spot pork belly, fabada and monkfish with black rice and aioli.
