DISCOVER THE VERY BEST PLACES

www.greatfoodclub.co.uk The Handbook 2016Club

A GUIDE TO THE MIDLANDS’ BEST LOCAL FOOD & DRINK INDEPENDENTS 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 Follow us on... handbook are some of the region’s best, most characterful and /GreatFoodClub passionate restaurants, pubs, food shops and producers. Each has been chosen on merit and the aim is @greatfoodmag to showcase our finest local food and drink businesses. EDITOR IN CHIEF: The page opposite shows you how Great Food Club Matt Wright works and if you haven’t already joined... well, why not?! ENQUIRIES: 01664 500070 or It’s free and the membership card we’ll post to you will get 07970 384013 you more than 200 amazing deals, from a free round of INFORMATION: This handbook was published in cocktails at one of Britain’s best pubs, to 10% off at November 2015. All several award-winning farm shops. More importantly, information has been checked carefully. Great Food Club will guide you to some superb places and PRINTED BY: make it easier for you to support our local independents. Warners Midlands Over the past year we’ve gone past the 7,000 member SEO & DIGITAL: Inbound.co.uk mark and launched the Great Food Club Awards (see p7 PUBLISHED BY: and p14). We’ve also recruited a team of local food writers Rocco Media, 1st Floor, 10 High St, with their ears to the ground. Their local knowledge allows Melton Mowbray, us to find even more brilliant places to share with you. Leics, LE13 0TR

You can join Great Food Club at greatfoodclub.co.uk. Your Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy – and use – this guide! map and index is on p4 [email protected]

THE GREAT FOOD CLUB HANDBOOK 2017 – OUT AUTUMN 2016

2 Great Food Club Handbook 2016 www.greatfoodclub.co.uk HOW IT WORKS... Go to greatfoodclub.co.uk, click ‘join’ 1 and fill in the short form (it’s free).

DISCOVER THE VERY BEST PLACES Receive your www.greatfoodclub.co.ukClub 2membership Enjoy great card in the post, food and drink No. 0000 free of charge.

Explore this Use your card to 3handbook and 4 claim the exclusive greatfoodclub.co.uk member offers that to discover the many choose to run – all best handpicked offers are on show at greatfoodclub.co.uk: local independent type a postcode into the restaurants, pubs, farm box on the home page to shops, producers, delis find recommendations and cookery schools. and deals nearby.

The businesses we add to the Great Food Club network are carefully NBchosen: 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.

www.greatfoodclub.co.uk Great Food Club Handbook 2016 3 @greatfoodmag Index

The champions revealed! 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. People’s Choice Nottinghamshire Producer: Chazwinkle’s, Elton, Cambs...... p26 Producer: Maxeys Farm Shop, Kirklington...... p62 Pub/restaurant: The Mad Turk, Pub/restaurant: The Clock House, Upton...... p29 Stamford, Lincs...... p59 and Hart’s, Nottingham (joint winners)...... p47 Shop: Harker’s Farm Shop, Clipston on the Shop: Welbeck Farm Shop, Welbeck...... p93 Wolds, Notts...... p46 People Choice Award winners are the businesses that received the highest Derbyshire number of public votes across the entire Producer: Lindsay’s Still Room, Turnditch...... p57 Midlands in each category. Pub/restaurant: Calabria, Chesterfield...... p24 Shop: Hackwood Farm Shop, Radbourne...... p44 Leicestershire & Rutland Producer: Hambleton Bakery, West Midlands Exton, Rutland...... p44 Producer: Talton Mill Farm Shop, Pub/restaurant: The Olive Branch, Newbold on Stour...... p88 Clipsham, Rutland...... p68 Pub/restaurant: Purecraft Bar & Shop: Thrussington’s Village Stores, Kitchen, Birmingham...... p73 Thrussington, Leics...... p89 Shop: Loaf Bakery, Stirchley...... p57

Lincolnshire Producer: Brewster’s Brewery, Grantham...... p19 How the awards were decided Pub/restaurant: The Jews House, Lincoln..... p50 First a shortlist was created by public vote, Shop: Stamford Deli, Stamford...... p87 comprising the top three vote winners in each county for each category. All independent food and drink businesses in the Midlands were Northamptonshire eligible (UK and global chains were excluded) Producer: Warner Edwards and 1,750 votes were cast. Final winners from Distillery, Harrington...... p92 the shortlist were decided after a judging Pub/restaurant: The Swan, Braybrooke...... p88 process involving GFC’s writing team. Shop: Beckworth Emporium, Mears Ashby...... p12

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

www.greatfoodclub.co.uk Great Food Club Handbook 20167 facebook.com/greatfoodclub No. 4 Wood St 4 Wood Street, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, NG18 1QA

small and stylish restaurant situated in a restored 19th century A 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 area, or book the private 12-seater Tasting Menu offering dishes such as Laurent-Perrier Champagne Room. Taste of Local Beef, Horseradish, Marrow Wine and spirits are also important to and Vegetable Textures. the No. 4 Wood St experience: the wine Diners can choose to enjoy such list is carefully chosen, and gin lovers will delights in the comfort of the main dining be in their element.

BOOK ON: 01623 424824 WEB: 4woodstreet.co.uk 45 West Distillery & Gin School The Collection Yard, Bawdon Lodge Farm, Nanpantan Road, Nanpantan, Leicestershire, LE12 9YE he 45 West Distillery is a craft gin distillery situated in the heart T 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 courses where you create your own Baxter, who produces Burleighs gin in unique gin using botanicals of your choice ‘Messy Bessy’, a 450-litre copper pot still. before bottling and sealing your own 70cl 45 Gin School runs weekly three-hour bottle and adding a personalised label.

CONTACT: 0116 278 8492 WEB: 45westdistillers.com

8 Great Food Club Handbook 2016 www.greatfoodclub.co.uk @greatfoodmag A-Z of Great Food Club Amalfi White 50 Derby Road, Melbourne, Derbyshire, DE73 8FE

malfi White describes itself as an Italian restaurant, cocktail and A 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 excellent too and the staff were Downton Abbey, and a brilliant garden. knowledgeable and helpful with gluten- After his visit, Great Food Club’s free choices. Amalfi White feels more like reviewer wrote: “The cod bites were a restaurant in London, Birmingham, presented beautifully and tasted light and Auckland or Rome. But that is the whole flavoursome. The other seafood was point and they are to be congratulated.”

BOOK ON: 01332 694890 WEB: amalfiwhite.com Amber Valley Wines Back Lane, Wessington, Derbyshire

nyone brave enough to plant their own vineyard in the middle of A 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. With their Adopt-A-Vine scheme and “We believe the Amber Valley provides vineyard tours, Amber Valley Wines want the best wine-producing conditions in the as many people as possible to join them north of England,” says Duncan. on the journey of making Derbyshire wine.

CONTACT: 07970 666181 WEB: ambervalleywines.co.uk www.greatfoodclub.co.uk Great Food Club Handbook 20169 facebook.com/greatfoodclub Croots Farm Shop Farnah House Farm, Wirksworth Road, Duffield, Derbyshire, DE56 4AQ roots Farm Shop opened in 2008 after Steve Croot decided to add a C 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, and Croots’ own lamb. Many items here relax, eat, drink and enjoy the vista. are produced in-house and in total have Inside the large shop you’ll find food won more than 60 awards. Prize winners and drink made by over 40 of the region’s include the shop’s own Boozy Banger, and producers. In addition, there’s a large a variety of Croots’ pies, which won gongs butchery stocked with locally reared meat at the British Pie Awards.

CONTACT: 01332 843032 WEB: croots.co.uk The Crown All Saints’ Place, Stamford, Lincolnshire, PE9 2AG he Crown is several places in one: bustling bar, fabulous courtyard, T 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 fact, many of the highlight ingredients, signs deck the walls. including the Tallington lamb and The menus, created by executive chef Lincolnshire red beef, come from Nick Buttress, are local and seasonal. In Michael’s own farm.

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

32 Great Food Club Handbook 2016 www.greatfoodclub.co.uk @greatfoodmag A-Z of Great Food Club Deli Flavour Shop 1: 2nd Floor, Silver Arcade, Silver Street, Leicester, LE1 5FA. Shop 2: 2 Allandale Rd, Leicester, LE2 2DA eli Flavour has two shop/cafes in Leicester – one in pretty Silver D 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 better. Inside you’ll find speciality produce most picky connoisseur. and a fine array of ales and ciders. The The Allandale Road outlet has been seating area is stylish but feels completely named one of the 50 best delis in the relaxed, containing a pleasing jumble of country by The Independent. The larger furniture. It’s a great place to chill out with shop/cafe in Silver Arcade is possibly even a freshly-ground coffee and cake.

CONTACT: 0116 270 0771 WEB: deliflavour.net Delice Deli & Cafe 7-8 Baxter Gate, Loughborough, Leicestershire, LE11 1TG elice is a deli and café on Baxter Gate in central Loughborough. It’s D 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 These days Laurent enjoys a less Laurent and Sharon Gerbet. Laurent stressful life making his own patés and comes from Dijon and was once head chef gluten-free breads, as well as seeking out to the admiral on a French aircraft carrier. top quality food and drink.

CONTACT: 01509 210013 WEB: facebook.com/DeliceDeliCafe www.greatfoodclub.co.uk Great Food Club Handbook 201633 facebook.com/greatfoodclub

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

hanks for giving us a real went that they’d all soon be replaced pub again.” That’s the by coffee shops and restaurants, and “T comment that Anthony that we’d all prefer to stay at home Hughes, licensee of the Robin Hood drinking supermarket wine and (AND) Little John pub in Arnold, eating ready-meals. Nottinghamshire (see p76), hears Anthony, who is the founder of most regularly from his customers. Lincoln Green Brewing Co and runs It’s thought-provoking feedback the Robin Hood alongside The Sir and lends support to the idea that John Borlase Warren in Nottingham beer-led pubs, far from being in their (see p84) as two of Everards death throws, are actually making Brewery’s (see p36) 29 beer-led something of a comeback. A few Project William publicans, thinks years ago, news outlets were full of drinks-focused pubs have plenty of scare stories implying that Britain’s life left in them. “The traditional ale houses would soon be an beer-led pub model is not broken, endangered species. The argument despite media reports to the

78 Great Food Club Handbook 2016 www.greatfoodclub.co.uk @greatfoodmag Feature

Britain today, that’s exactly what MAIN PICTURE: they offer, even if they don’t at first The Sir John glance appear to be traditional in the Borlase Warren old fashioned, misty-eyes-through- in Nottingham. TOP: The contrary,” he says. “Lots of our rosy-spectacles sense. Chesterfield customers were lapsed pub goers – Take the fashionable new breed of Arms in they’d got sick of characterless pubs craft beer pubs such as those Chesterfield. owned by big chains that serve a operated by the likes of London’s ABOVE: Anthony poor range of drinks, so they chose Craft Beer Co and Aberdeen’s Hughes (centre), to stay at home. But give people a Brewdog: these places serve an who runs two nice environment, great customer excellent, varied range of beers in an traditional cask service and a fantastic range of environment well suited to their beer pubs in beers and they will go to the pub.” target market. OK, so the beers Nottinghamshire. Nice environment. Good customer might be labelled ‘craft’ and have service. Fantastic range of beers. It’s cutting-edge-sounding names, but hardly rocket science but if you think underneath is a beer-led pub and a about it, those three elements are nice environment. And what could be present in virtually all of today’s more traditionally British than that? growing number of beer-led pubs. In ‘Traditional’ does not mean old the boozers that are thriving across fashioned. The dictionary definition ➸

www.greatfoodclub.co.uk Great Food Club Handbook 201679 facebook.com/greatfoodclub 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

80 Great Food Club Handbook 2016 www.greatfoodclub.co.uk @greatfoodmag Feature

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

The Craft Beer Co in Covent Garden – a traditional ale-led pub at heart

Brewdog pubs feel ran a restaurant and wine bar in Derby There are many other examples of cutting edge but for a few years, which taught us you this ale-led approach succeeding, are simply an need a clear focus for your pub or particularly with the pubs that evolution of an ancient restaurant. You need to do one thing Everards owns and runs with Titanic concept well and focus on that. We focus on Brewery of Stoke-on-Trent, Raw serving really great beer and providing Brewing of Chesterfield and Wrekin a place where people can meet up and Brewery of Wellington, Shropshire. chat. Lots of places try to please So next time you hear about the everyone and end up pleasing no one. decline of the traditional British beer- They have a few lagers, loud music, a led pub, think about the words of few bitters, sport on TV and average Anthony Hughes: “Give people a nice food. When planning the pubs with environment, great customer service Everards, we said we don’t want a and a fantastic range of beers and gaming machine, we don’t want a TV, they will go to the pub.” we only want a bit of background And remember that what on the music, and we only want to offer surface appears to be different and sandwiches and cold snacks. But we do cutting edge, is actually, when it comes want to serve over 10 different types down to it, simply an evolution of the of cask beer and we do want to have traditional British ale house, whether well trained, welcoming staff who it has the word ‘craft’ above the beer understand what we are trying to do.” list or not. n

www.greatfoodclub.co.uk Great Food Club Handbook 201681