The 2015 Michelin Eating Out In Pubs Guide recommends 590 pubs throughout the UK and Ireland, primarily on the quality of their food offer.
The Wild Rabbit, in Kingham, Oxfordshire, was voted overall pub of the year. The site is owned by Lady Carole Bamford, who also owns the Daylesford organic café, deli, cookery school and spa complex. Owned by a consortium of villagers who saved it from closure, the Three Horseshoes in Thursley, Surrey, joins the elite band of pubs in the guide.
Innovations at the pub include meal gift vouchers sold behind the bar, and a pizza-only menu on Mondays. It was voted Surrey’s Country Dining Pub of the Year in the Good Pub Guide 2015.
GBPA honour
The Packhorse Inn, in Moulton, Suffolk, can add the Michelin guide to its list of accolades since opening in October 2013, including Best Food Pub for the East Anglia and East Midlands region at the 2014 GBPAs. The site is owned by former banker Philip Turner, who bought the freehold with additional funding from an Enterprise Investment Scheme.
Investors include David Minchin, husband of BBC News presenter Louise Minchin. Having also picked up an AA Rosette and a new entry in the Good Food Guide 2015 for the Packhorse, Turner recently opened a second site, the Rupert Brook, in Grantchester, Cambridgeshire, under his company name Chestnut Inns.
Smoking hot
The Smokehouse, in Islington, north London, was the fourth pub to be opened by owners Scott Hunter and Maria Larson when it began trading in July 2013. In its short history, it has picked up two AA Rosettes and was listed 49th in the Good Food Guide 2015. In a recent interview with PubFood, Michelin-starred chef Tom Kerridge praised Smokehouse head chef Neil Rankin for being at the “forefront” of the dining scene.
Nigel Haworth, another Michelin-starred chef, has managed to get his latest venture into the guide.
The Nag’s Head, in Haughton Moss – which opened in June – is Ribble Valley Inns’ sixth site and first in Cheshire. Head chef is Michael Eminson, who has worked closely with Haworth as development chef across all Ribble Valley Inns’ sites.
Chef spotlight
A number of other high-profile chefs who have recently taken on pubs have also made the guide.
These include:
- the Kentish Hare, in Bidborough, Devon – opened by TV chef James Tanner, along with his brother Chris, in May;
- the White Post, in Rimpton, Somerset – opened by restaurant chef Brett Sutton in February;
- and the Charlton Arms, in Ludlow, Shropshire – bought by French chef Cedric Bosi, also in February.
Bosi’s brother Claude owns Mayfair restaurant Hibiscus, which holds two Michelin stars.
The Cross at Kenilworth, Warwickshire – awarded its first Michelin star in September – somewhat unsurprisingly makes the list. Chef director Adam Bennett, who opened the site 12 months ago, recently came fourth in the European finals of the Bocuse D’Or culinary Olympics.
Other notable newcomers
- Staith House, North Shields, Northumberland – 2014 GBPA Best Turnaround Pub for Yorkshire, North East & Scotland
- The Duncombe Arms, Ellastone, Staffordshire – 26th in Top 50 Gastropub Awards 2014
- The Truscott Arms, Westminster, London – 2014 Best British Roast Winner, 2015 Good Food Guide new entry
- The Anchor, Ripley, Staffordshire – double 2014 AA Rosette first-time winner
- The Muddy Duck, Monkton Farleigh, Wiltshire – 2014 AA Rosette first-time winner
- Earl Spencer, Wandsworth, London – Bib Gourmand 2014 first-time winner
- The Crown Inn, Maidenhead, Berkshire – Bib Gourmand 2014 first-time winner
- The Five Bells Inn, Clyst Hydon, Devon – Bib Gourmand 2014 first-time winner
- The Mells Talbot Inn, Somerset – Bib Gourmand 2014 first-time winner
- The Inn at Welland, Worcestershire – Good Food Guide 2015 Country Dining Pub of the Year (shortlisted)
- The Newbury, Newbury, Berkshire – Good Food Guide 2015 Country Dining Pub of the Year (shortlisted)
- The Camberwell Arms, Southwark, London – ranked 47th in Good Food Guide 2015
- The Duck Inn, Stanhoe, Norfolk – Good Food Guide 2015 new entry
- The Malt Shovel, Barston, West Midlands – Good Pub Guide 2015 Beer pub of the Year (shortlisted)
- The White Hart, Somerton, Somerset – Alastair Sawday’s Special Places: Pubs and Inns of England & Wales Guide 2014 Newcomer of the Year (one of three)