Sonya is rather a Cotswold culinary institution: she was head chef at The Feathers in Woodstock until 1990 when, with her husband Leo Brooke-Little, she started the now famous Marsh Goose in Moreton-in-Marsh. Now she and her partners have opened this new restaurant which offers a no frills country pub atmosphere, but with the same sort of serious food that has won her such a loyal following at the Goose. There is a motley collection of chairs and tables and a welcoming log fire in the grate. The bar area is full of people just standing around drinking. This may well be because they are waiting for a table. In spite of the remote location, and the vile night, the place was doing a roaring trade even on a Tuesday in January. Other places we had peered into on the way were dead as dodos.
The Churchill is the antithesis of snottiness, of which there is no shortage in this region of Range Rovers and green wellies. There's no booking, and on weekend evenings it's a good idea to leave the spurs on your boots if you want to reach a table in time. The menu changes daily and it's displayed on blackboards in true pub fashion.
Starters go from 3.50 for soups, to a fiver for more elaborate dishes. For instance, there was Ham hock soup with haricots and mustard cream, or deep fried fishcakes, which were accompanied by cucumber, spring onion and ginger balsamic. On another occasion they might be teamed up with scrambled egg and avocado relish. Sonya is keen on pasta which is made in house. She uses it a lot with fish: a popular main dish is a duo of halibut and sea bass with red pepper pasta and basil (12.00). I had a starter of baked salt cod ravioli with lemon cream and parmesan (5.00). The brandade in the middle was light, creamy and very tasty, smothered under a sheet of pasta that was more like lasagne, or a single raviolo. Who cares anyway? It was delicious.
A crispy duck leg confit came with piquant roast pears and watercress and a wonderful artichoke and thyme purée. Sonya is keen on pureés: her repertoire includes saffron mash, olive mash, sweet potato mash and even celeriac mash. Another favourite that comes from the Marsh Goose is cheese choux fritters in a scrummy white wine shallot and mustard sauce.
With my waistline in mind, I decided to have another starter instead of a main course. I made a mistake in choosing the loin of veal with fresh anchovies and capers. For a start, cold meat after hot salt cod was not a good idea, that was my fault. Something tasted rather suspect and I put it down to the meat tasting of anchovy. Although adventurous, I didn't think this was a particularly happy combination. I found myself jealously eyeing other people's main courses in their big deep white bowls. The salmon, floating in a yellow sea of saffron cream and topped off rather grandly with a deep fried oyster, looked particularly good (8.50).
The muttering passenger was cheering up a lot by now and was tucking into her fillet of cod with mushy peas, crisp bacon and red wine sauce, (7.95). She was rather taken with this combination which really did work well. I tried the home made vanilla ice cream which was OK, rather wishing I'd had a single scoop of each of the three ices on the menu rather than three all the same - it wanted something, a sauce or a coulis perhaps. If I'd been hungrier, like the couple next to us, I'd have had the white and dark chocolate terrine with fresh berries and vanilla sauce. It's another favourite from the Marsh Goose, except it costs 3.50 at the Churchill instead of a fiver at the Goose. But then you do get the posh napery and those nice waiters. Never mind - we had a very pretty and efficient plate carrier at the Churchill.
We drank a cheap bottle of an anonymous but decent sort of Australian red wine, and the bill came to thirty pounds and a few pence for the two of us. If we had drunk more, and didn't have our luxury suite a few miles away in Broadway, then we could have stayed Chez Brooke-Little. I took a look at some very pretty rooms upstairs, poshly decorated with quality fabrics and with good en suite plumbing. Sixty pounds per room per night with breakfast sounded very good value to me.
Sonya Kidney is planning to open a take-away next to the Marsh Goose, for all those weekenders from London who need feeding. She's also looking for another pub in the area; local residents are said to be negotiating with Swampy to help lead their campaign. But the foodies are sure to win.
The Churchill Arms, Paxford, Gloucesterhire. Tel: 013865 594000
Open every day, with food served between noon and 2pm, and from 7pm to 9pm.
No reservations. Take a map.
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