The Times
“Can you tell an urban pub in the country from a country pub in the city?” was the question posed rhetorically by Giles Coren following visits to two smart new boozers for well-heeled customers in two fashionable corners of urban and non-urban England. “At the end of the day, it’s just a gorgeous old building with open fires, nooks and crannies, young staff, well-dressed punters with small, glossy dogs and cooking right out of the top drawer.”
First was the Blue Stoops near Notting Hill Gate from former hedge-funder Jamie Allsopp, who has revived his ancestral family brewery and put Lorcan Spiteri of Caravel in charge of the menu. “The vibe was retro, the food was good, the beer and wine were terrific, the bill was modest,” Giles reckoned. “It is a brilliant little pub trying out great new things and an excellent spot from which to relaunch an empire.”
The Mason’s Arms in the Cotswolds, sister pub to the Double Red Duke on the other side of the road, was a “bang-on-the-money modern country pub which is folksier than the Duke, more muscular in the menu, and thus even more my sort of thing” – “weary satirists might call the style “Notting-Hill-on-the-Wold”, but Giles is not convinced that’s the right way round.
To give added weight to his essential thesis, he gave the two pubs exactly the same rating (7.67 out of 10, to be precise) and insisted that both charge £30 for a pie and a pint.
Giles Coren - 2024-11-10
