the handbook 2016€¦ · chosen: we visit each restaurant, pub, food shop or cookery school before...

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DISCOVER THE VERY BEST PLACES

The Handbook 2016

A GUIDE TO THE MIDLANDS’ BEST LOCAL FOOD & DRINK INDEPENDENTS

www.greatfoodclub.co.uk2 Great Food Club Handbook 2016

Welcome to the Great Food Club Handbook 2016. If you’re looking for the best independent food and drink businesses in the Midlands, you’ve found the right guide. In this handbook are some of the region’s best, most characterful and passionate restaurants, pubs, food shops and producers. Each has been chosen on merit and the aim is

to showcase our finest local food and drink businesses. The page opposite shows you how Great Food Club

works and if you haven’t already joined... well, why not?! It’s free and the membership card we’ll post to you will get you more than 200 amazing deals, from a free round of cocktails at one of Britain’s best pubs, to 10% off at several award-winning farm shops. More importantly, Great Food Club will guide you to some superb places and make it easier for you to support our local independents.

Over the past year we’ve gone past the 7,000 member mark and launched the Great Food Club Awards (see p7 and p14). We’ve also recruited a team of local food writers with their ears to the ground. Their local knowledge allows us to find even more brilliant places to share with you.

You can join Great Food Club at greatfoodclub.co.uk. Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy – and use – this guide!

THE GREAT FOOD CLUB HANDBOOK 2017 – OUT AUTUMN 2016

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EDITOR IN CHIEF: Matt Wright

ENQUIRIES: 01664 500070 or 07970 384013

INFORMATION: This handbook was published in November 2015. All information has been checked carefully.

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Your map and index is on p4

www.greatfoodclub.co.uk Great Food Club Handbook 2016 3

HOW IT WORKS...1 Go to greatfoodclub.co.uk, click ‘join’

and fill in the short form (it’s free).

2Receive your membership

card in the post, free of charge.No. 0000

Clubwww.greatfoodclub.co.uk

DISCOVER THE VERY BEST PLACES

Enjoy great food and drink

NB The businesses we add to the Great Food Club network are carefully chosen: we visit each restaurant, pub, food shop or cookery school

before adding them to our recommended list. When we visit we’re looking for businesses that share Great Food Club’s ethos, which includes having a passion for superb food, drink and customer service.

3Explore this handbook and

greatfoodclub.co.uk to discover the best handpicked local independent restaurants, pubs, farm shops, producers, delis and cookery schools.

4 Use your card to claim the exclusive

member offers that many choose to run – all offers are on show at greatfoodclub.co.uk: type a postcode into the box on the home page to find recommendations and deals nearby.


Index@greatfoodmag

The champions revealed!

People’s ChoiceProducer: Chazwinkle’s, Elton, Cambs ..........p26Pub/restaurant: The Mad Turk, Stamford, Lincs ......................................................p59Shop: Harker’s Farm Shop, Clipston on the Wolds, Notts ........................................................... p46People Choice Award winners are the businesses that received the highest number of public votes across the entire Midlands in each category.

Leicestershire & Rutland Producer: Hambleton Bakery, Exton, Rutland .......................................................p44Pub/restaurant: The Olive Branch, Clipsham, Rutland ................................................ p68Shop: Thrussington’s Village Stores, Thrussington, Leics ............................................. p89

Lincolnshire Producer: Brewster’s Brewery, Grantham........p19Pub/restaurant: The Jews House, Lincoln ....p50Shop: Stamford Deli, Stamford .........................p87

Northamptonshire Producer: Warner Edwards Distillery, Harrington ............................................p92Pub/restaurant: The Swan, Braybrooke .........p88Shop: Beckworth Emporium, Mears Ashby .....p12

NottinghamshireProducer: Maxeys Farm Shop, Kirklington .....p62Pub/restaurant: The Clock House, Upton ......p29 and Hart’s, Nottingham (joint winners) ............p47 Shop: Welbeck Farm Shop, Welbeck .................p93

Derbyshire Producer: Lindsay’s Still Room, Turnditch.......p57Pub/restaurant: Calabria, Chesterfield ..........p24 Shop: Hackwood Farm Shop, Radbourne ........p44

West Midlands Producer: Talton Mill Farm Shop, Newbold on Stour .................................................p88Pub/restaurant: Purecraft Bar & Kitchen, Birmingham ............................................p73Shop: Loaf Bakery, Stirchley .............................p57

To cast your vote in the 2016 awards, visit greatfoodclub.co.uk/awards

How the awards were decidedFirst a shortlist was created by public vote, comprising the top three vote winners in each county for each category. All independent food and drink businesses in the Midlands were eligible (UK and global chains were excluded) and 1,750 votes were cast. Final winners from the shortlist were decided after a judging process involving GFC’s writing team.

The inaugural Great Food Club Awards took place in summer 2015. They comprised a public vote in three categories, followed by a judging process involving Great Food Club’s writing team. Here are the winners.

8 Great Food Club Handbook 2016 www.greatfoodclub.co.uk

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courses where you create your own unique gin using botanicals of your choice before bottling and sealing your own 70cl bottle and adding a personalised label.

CONTACT: 0116 278 8492 WEB: 45westdistillers.com

he 45 West Distillery is a craft gin distillery situated in the heart of Leicestershire’s Charnwood

Forest. It is the home of both Burleighs Dry London Gin and the ’45 Gin School Experience’, where students learn how to make their own gin in mini copper stills at weekly classes.

Burleighs Dry London Gin is made by world-renowned master distiller Jamie Baxter, who produces Burleighs gin in ‘Messy Bessy’, a 450-litre copper pot still. 45 Gin School runs weekly three-hour

45 West Distillery & Gin SchoolThe Collection Yard, Bawdon Lodge Farm, Nanpantan Road, Nanpantan, Leicestershire, LE12 9YE

BOOK ON: 01623 424824 WEB: 4woodstreet.co.uk

small and stylish restaurant situated in a restored 19th century maltings, No. 4 Wood St has since

August 2012 been driven by the passion and skill of chef-patron David Robbins, who previously worked under Gordon Ramsay. David is succeeding in his aim of giving Mansfield residents a first-rate dining destination, with his seven-course Tasting Menu offering dishes such as Taste of Local Beef, Horseradish, Marrow and Vegetable Textures.

Diners can choose to enjoy such delights in the comfort of the main dining

No. 4 Wood St4 Wood Street, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, NG18 1QA

area, or book the private 12-seater Laurent-Perrier Champagne Room.

Wine and spirits are also important to the No. 4 Wood St experience: the wine list is carefully chosen, and gin lovers will be in their element.

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With their Adopt-A-Vine scheme and vineyard tours, Amber Valley Wines want as many people as possible to join them on the journey of making Derbyshire wine.

CONTACT: 07970 666181 WEB: ambervalleywines.co.uk

nyone brave enough to plant their own vineyard in the middle of rural Derbyshire gets a nod of

respect from Great Food Club. That’s exactly what Duncan Mercer and Barry Lewis did in early 2011, when they toiled to dig their vines into a gentle south-west facing slope in the Amber Valley. The fruits of their labour have now arrived, with bottles of Lindway White and Pink available from the web address below.

“We believe the Amber Valley provides the best wine-producing conditions in the north of England,” says Duncan.

Amber Valley WinesBack Lane, Wessington, Derbyshire

BOOK ON: 01332 694890 WEB: amalfiwhite.com

malfi White describes itself as an Italian restaurant, cocktail and Prosecco bar.

Situated in Melbourne, the building was originally a 19th century bank, which has been dramatically and expensively modernised. The restaurant is on the ground floor, there is a function room upstairs with more chandeliers than Downton Abbey, and a brilliant garden.

After his visit, Great Food Club’s reviewer wrote: “The cod bites were presented beautifully and tasted light and flavoursome. The other seafood was

Amalfi White50 Derby Road, Melbourne, Derbyshire, DE73 8FE

excellent too and the staff were knowledgeable and helpful with gluten-free choices. Amalfi White feels more like a restaurant in London, Birmingham, Auckland or Rome. But that is the whole point and they are to be congratulated.”

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fact, many of the highlight ingredients, including the Tallington lamb and Lincolnshire red beef, come from Michael’s own farm.

BOOK ON: 01780 763136 WEB: kneadpubs.co.uk/our-pubs/the-crown-hotel

he Crown is several places in one: bustling bar, fabulous courtyard, characterful lounge, plus informal

restaurant and function rooms. Each area has its own character, introduced by Michael Thurlby when he took on the hotel in November 2014 and added it to his Knead Pubs group.

There is attention to detail and quirkiness: original Stamford stone has been uncovered in the restaurant, and old signs deck the walls.

The menus, created by executive chef Nick Buttress, are local and seasonal. In

The CrownAll Saints’ Place, Stamford, Lincolnshire, PE9 2AG

CONTACT: 01332 843032 WEB: croots.co.uk

roots Farm Shop opened in 2008 after Steve Croot decided to add a new string to his herb and

vegetable growing business. He also chose to attach a restaurant – Shires Eatery – which adds to the shop’s draw and means there is somewhere to sit, relax, eat, drink and enjoy the vista.

Inside the large shop you’ll find food and drink made by over 40 of the region’s producers. In addition, there’s a large butchery stocked with locally reared meat

Croots Farm ShopFarnah House Farm, Wirksworth Road, Duffield, Derbyshire, DE56 4AQ

and Croots’ own lamb. Many items here are produced in-house and in total have won more than 60 awards. Prize winners include the shop’s own Boozy Banger, and a variety of Croots’ pies, which won gongs at the British Pie Awards.

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These days Laurent enjoys a less stressful life making his own patés and gluten-free breads, as well as seeking out top quality food and drink.

CONTACT: 01509 210013 WEB: facebook.com/DeliceDeliCafe

elice is a deli and café on Baxter Gate in central Loughborough. It’s a good place to enjoy a relaxed

morning coffee before stocking up on fine cheeses, charcuterie, oils and breads, including homemade gluten-free varieties. On one side of Delice is a relatively large café seating area, while on the other is a deli counter selling carefully chosen produce, both local and continental.

In charge of selecting the stock are Laurent and Sharon Gerbet. Laurent comes from Dijon and was once head chef to the admiral on a French aircraft carrier.

Delice Deli & Cafe7-8 Baxter Gate, Loughborough, Leicestershire, LE11 1TG

CONTACT: 0116 270 0771 WEB: deliflavour.net

eli Flavour has two shop/cafes in Leicester – one in pretty Silver Arcade and another on Allandale

Road. Both are lovely places to stop for a bite to eat, or to pick up high quality food and drink that you won’t find in any supermarket. The produce here – much of it locally sourced – will satisfy even the most picky connoisseur.

The Allandale Road outlet has been named one of the 50 best delis in the country by The Independent. The larger shop/cafe in Silver Arcade is possibly even

Deli FlavourShop 1: 2nd Floor, Silver Arcade, Silver Street, Leicester, LE1 5FA. Shop 2: 2 Allandale Rd, Leicester, LE2 2DA

better. Inside you’ll find speciality produce and a fine array of ales and ciders. The seating area is stylish but feels completely relaxed, containing a pleasing jumble of furniture. It’s a great place to chill out with a freshly-ground coffee and cake.

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“T hanks for giving us a real pub again.” That’s the comment that Anthony

Hughes, licensee of the Robin Hood (AND) Little John pub in Arnold, Nottinghamshire (see p76), hears most regularly from his customers.

It’s thought-provoking feedback and lends support to the idea that beer-led pubs, far from being in their death throws, are actually making something of a comeback. A few years ago, news outlets were full of scare stories implying that Britain’s ale houses would soon be an endangered species. The argument

went that they’d all soon be replaced by coffee shops and restaurants, and that we’d all prefer to stay at home drinking supermarket wine and eating ready-meals.

Anthony, who is the founder of Lincoln Green Brewing Co and runs the Robin Hood alongside The Sir John Borlase Warren in Nottingham (see p84) as two of Everards Brewery’s (see p36) 29 beer-led Project William publicans, thinks drinks-focused pubs have plenty of life left in them. “The traditional beer-led pub model is not broken, despite media reports to the

ALE HOUSE ROCK

Why the traditional British ale house is just as loved today as it always has been. By Matt Wright

@greatfoodmag Feature


contrary,” he says. “Lots of our customers were lapsed pub goers – they’d got sick of characterless pubs owned by big chains that serve a poor range of drinks, so they chose to stay at home. But give people a nice environment, great customer service and a fantastic range of beers and they will go to the pub.”

Nice environment. Good customer service. Fantastic range of beers. It’s hardly rocket science but if you think about it, those three elements are present in virtually all of today’s growing number of beer-led pubs. In the boozers that are thriving across

Britain today, that’s exactly what they offer, even if they don’t at first glance appear to be traditional in the old fashioned, misty-eyes-through-rosy-spectacles sense.

Take the fashionable new breed of craft beer pubs such as those operated by the likes of London’s Craft Beer Co and Aberdeen’s Brewdog: these places serve an excellent, varied range of beers in an environment well suited to their target market. OK, so the beers might be labelled ‘craft’ and have cutting-edge-sounding names, but underneath is a beer-led pub and a nice environment. And what could be more traditionally British than that? ‘Traditional’ does not mean old fashioned. The dictionary definition

MAIN PICTURE: The Sir John Borlase Warren in Nottingham.TOP: The Chesterfield Arms in Chesterfield. ABOVE: Anthony Hughes (centre), who runs two traditional cask beer pubs in Nottinghamshire.

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of traditional is: “Existing in or as part of a tradition; long-established.” So it’s correct to argue that thriving craft beer bars – which are basically beer-led pubs – are actually traditionally British, despite their modern look and feel. They are in fact just another evolution of these islands’ long-established love affair with good quality alcoholic drinks consumed in a sociable environment.

Also consider the micropubs that are springing up in our towns and cities all over the country. They are all about good beer – not food – served by a knowledgeable landlord in a pleasant, distraction-free environment that lends itself to conversation. Also contemplate Wetherspoon pubs: OK, so food is an important element but they succeed in the main because of their extensive, competitively-priced beer selection combined with efficient, speedy, professional customer service.

Back to Everards Brewery. It owns plenty of other pubs in addition to the Robin Hood (AND) Little John and Sir John Borlase Warren that are also proving that beer-led is not dead, but thriving. The Chesterfield Arms in Chesterfield, The Crown in Beeston, The Final Whistle in Southwell, and The Brown Cow in Mansfield (see p20) are four examples. They are wholeheartedly traditional pubs, serving locally brewed cask ales (15 to 20 handpulls in each pub), snacks such as pork pies and cheese cobs but little other food, and with no music and no TV, but all are doing a brisk trade. In fact, two of these pubs quadrupled turnover after just a few months of becoming beer-led.

James Brown is the Everards’ licensee behind The Chesterfield Arms, The Crown and The Final Whistle. He believes that concentrating on great beer, good pub design and excellent customer service works: “We

@greatfoodmag Feature


There are many other examples of this ale-led approach succeeding, particularly with the pubs that Everards owns and runs with Titanic Brewery of Stoke-on-Trent, Raw Brewing of Chesterfield and Wrekin Brewery of Wellington, Shropshire.

So next time you hear about the decline of the traditional British beer-led pub, think about the words of Anthony Hughes: “Give people a nice environment, great customer service and a fantastic range of beers and they will go to the pub.”

And remember that what on the surface appears to be different and cutting edge, is actually, when it comes down to it, simply an evolution of the traditional British ale house, whether it has the word ‘craft’ above the beer list or not. n

ran a restaurant and wine bar in Derby for a few years, which taught us you need a clear focus for your pub or restaurant. You need to do one thing well and focus on that. We focus on serving really great beer and providing a place where people can meet up and chat. Lots of places try to please everyone and end up pleasing no one. They have a few lagers, loud music, a few bitters, sport on TV and average food. When planning the pubs with Everards, we said we don’t want a gaming machine, we don’t want a TV, we only want a bit of background music, and we only want to offer sandwiches and cold snacks. But we do want to serve over 10 different types of cask beer and we do want to have well trained, welcoming staff who understand what we are trying to do.”

The Craft Beer Co in Covent

Garden – a traditional ale-led

pub at heart

Brewdog pubs feel cutting edge but

are simply an evolution of

an ancient concept

ABOVE: The Sir John in Nottingham’s Canning Circus.BELOW: James Brown, who runs several beer-led pubs.

the handbook 2016€¦ · chosen: we visit each restaurant, pub, food shop or cookery school before...

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