The latest bitesize chunks of food news for Oxfordshire.

  • Chef James Wilkinson has joined The Varsity Club off Oxford High Street to deliver a brand new a la carte dining offering. Currently available Wednesday-Sunday evenings from 6pm for groups of up to 6 people, The Dining Room offers £23 for two courses or £28 for three courses. The menu includes starters of brown sugar soused mackerel with damson, fennel bhajis with spiced chickpea, smoked aubergine, mains of winter squash gnocchi, mushroom & truffle, slow cooked pork belly, or the 10oz Sirloin steak with all the trimmings. With puddings of white chocolate chip brownies, vanilla ice cream, rhubarb & ginger fool, rhubarb sorbet or a cheese board, what’s not to like?
  • Amazing chef duo Ryan and Liam Simpson-Trotman from Orwells in Shiplake are off to Wales to host a guest chef evening at the award winning Beach House in Oxwich Bay on November 20.

Orwells won Restaurant of the Year in 2016 and was listed in the Top 50 restaurants 2018 of the Good Food Guide as well as achieving no less than four rather prestigious AA rosettes.

Their style of food reflects the personalities of the chefs, whilst the ethos is to be true to sustainability and the seasons and rural provenance.

Tickets for the evening cost £68 per person. Call 01792 390965 or email reservations@beachhouseoxwich.co.uk.

  • Independent roastery, Volcano Coffee Works, has partnered with Crisis, to provide a bespoke blend of its ethically-traded and environmentally-friendly coffee, available at Café from Crisis Oxford, with 15 per cent of all sales going to the national charity to help support homeless people.

Sourced from the Democratic Republic of Congo and a Brazilian female-only enterprise called AMECAFE, the sustainable blend is rich-bodied.

In addition to serving homemade food and great coffee, Café from Crisis sites provide training opportunities for people experiencing homelessness that are looking to get into employment with over 400 members completing programmes to date.

Café from Crisis is at 40 George Street, Oxford. Go to volcano coffeeworks.com

  • With November being branded Vegan Month, Vivek Singh’s modern Indian restaurant Cinnamon Kitchen Oxford in the Westgate, is plating up for the planet with the launch of a delicious-sounding vegan menu.

Featuring an innovative selection of vibrant, plant-based dishes, the four-course menu costs £35 per person. Go to cinnamon-kitchen.com.