Starting Up with Clare Alexander @ The Killingworth Castle

Great news came our way this week with Michelin awarding us with our Bib Gourmand at The Killingworth Castle for the second year running.

There have been 26 new Michelin Bib Gourmands awarded across the UK (only 10 of those in England outside the London area) but also 13 deletions, so it’s a great morale booster for the staff and our customers.

The Killingworth Castle has also been shortlisted in the Oxfordshire Restaurant Awards in the Traditional Pub category which looks for “uniquely British creations, informal establishments that promote a sense of conviviality and community, which serve good quality food (often, but not exclusively British) and a range of beers” so fingers crossed and go to their website if you want to vote for us.

We got both our pub teams together (from The Ebrington Arms near Chipping Campden) and had a staff party. We’ve got the best teams we’ve ever had right now and they really feel like an extended family. So it’s good to let our hair down together, something everyone in our trade knows how to do exceptionally well. And it’s really important to factor this in before the country goes mad at Christmas.

Both pubs have also retained two AA rosettes under their awards scheme and achieved runner-up status in their respective CAMRA Pub of the Year categories so there’s a healthy consistency and competition running between the two sites.

With autumn here, the harvest season offers the chefs an amazing amount of produce to use in their dishes. At The Killy some of our most popular main dishes right now include butter poached hake, salted hake mousse, wild rice, watercress, chorizo and samphire and slow braised Old Spot pig cheeks, cauliflower, black pudding, creamed corn, spring onions. Andy’s griddled Cornish mackerel tart, crushed peas with marjoram, cucumber, saffron potatoes and curried crayfish bisque is also receiving rave reviews.

Our sous chef, Nathan, does some fantastic vegetarian dishes and we are selling loads of his roasted local organic Romano pepper, stuffed with barley, courgette and kale, mint pesto. When vegetarian cooking is done well there’s nothing better and lots of people these days are eating less meat so we strive to offer proper alternatives and not just another risotto which seems to be many places’ veggie fallback. But of course we’ve always got some pub classics on the specials board like fish and chips and the homemade burgers, whether venison or beef always fly out.

With the beautiful balmy autumn we’ve had we are still serving meals in the beer garden yet turning our attentions to Christmas party bookings. Throughout December we’re running some delicious Christmas dishes on our specials board but we’ve got a few key events before then to keep things busy. We only have a couple of tables left for Fish Night on October 14 and on November 11 we’re running a Game Food evening. We have customers who drive out monthly for these but it’s also supported really well locally which is great.

We’re looking forward to Christmas and have just about confirmed finance to start work on our eight letting bedrooms. With Blenheim, Woodstock and Lotus teams all on our doorstep we get asked every week when our rooms will be ready. This has been a frustratingly lengthy finance battle that we’ve hopefully nearly won and we can’t wait to get Wootton on the tourist map while also servicing accommodation needs for local businesses.

On Saturday, October 25, we are having our first ever Killy Food & Craft Fair. From 10am-2pm we will have an array of craft and food stalls and plan to sell our own pork pulled baps. We hope to make the most of our large beer gardens front and back to host the event and if it’s a hit, turn it into a regular event. People can come along to browse for something special for dinner, pick up some Christmas presents and maybe try the pub for lunch at the same time. The fair will have the usual cakes, meats, pies and preserves alongside face- painting for the children and a range of craft stalls. We’ll also have someone giving massages, some musicians playing and our local shop, Wootton Stores, will be on hand with some of their wares, showcasing how great a community-run shop can be.

We hope our village pub is the best it can be too.

TRY IT
The Killingworth Castle, Glympton Road, Wootton.
Call 01993 811401, email reservations@thekilling worthcastle or see thekillingworthcastle.com

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