The Hind's Head

Last updated

The Hind's Head
Hinds Head Public House, High Street, Bray - geograph.org.uk - 1271458.jpg
The Hind's Head in 2009
The Hind's Head
Berkshire UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location of the Hind's Head, in Bray, Berkshire
Restaurant information
Owner(s) Heston Blumenthal
Head chefPete Gray
Food type British
Dress codeNone
Rating Etoile Michelin-1.svg (Michelin Guide)
Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg AA Rosettes
Street addressHigh Street
CityBray
CountyBerkshire
Postal/ZIP CodeSL6 2AB
CountryEngland
Coordinates 51°30′30″N0°42′07″W / 51.508225°N 0.702066°W / 51.508225; -0.702066
ReservationsYes
Website www.hindsheadbray.com

The Hind's Head is a gastropub in Bray, Berkshire. It dates from the 15th century and was converted into a restaurant in the 1920s. [1] In 2004, it was purchased by the chef Heston Blumenthal, the owner of another Bray restaurant, the Fat Duck.

Contents

Unlike the molecular gastronomy of the Fat Duck, the Hind's Head serves traditional British cuisine such as Lancashire hotpot, steak and kidney pudding, Scotch eggs and Eton mess. [2] It was awarded a Michelin star in 2013.

History

The Hind's Head dates from the 15th century. It retains elements of its earlier eras, including an open fireplace. [2] The original purpose of the building is not known, but it is thought that it was either a hunting lodge or an abbot's guesthouse. [3] It was an inn until 1928, when it was purchased by the London nightclub owner Kitty Henry, who combined it with the cottage next door to operate the premises as a restaurant. [3]

In 1947, Philip Mountbatten (later the Duke of Edinburgh) held his stag party at the Hind's Head prior to his marriage to Princess Elizabeth. [2] Prince Philip returned in 1963 along with a party of fifty guests, including Elizabeth, Prince Charles, the Princess Royal and King Olav V of Norway. [3] Diana, Princess of Wales, dined with her sons Princes William and Harry, after visiting them while they were staying at Eton College. [4] The Hind's Head was later taken over by a brewery. [3]

A scotch egg from the Hind's Head, made with a quail's egg. Quail Scotch Egg.jpg
A scotch egg from the Hind's Head, made with a quail's egg.

The chef Heston Blumenthal, the owner of the nearby Fat Duck restaurant, purchased the Hind's Head in 2004. [3] Blumenthal used funds from his investment in the Riverside Brasserie, also in Bray. [5] He bought the premises to use the car parking and offices for his restaurant the Fat Duck. [6] As of 2007, the Hind's Head was serving up to 250 customers a day, generating £2.5 million in annual turnover. [7] In 2008, it made £51,088 profit. [8]

In 2008, the head chef, Dominic Chapman, left to run the Royal Oak in Maidenhead, and was awarded a Michelin star there shortly afterwards. [9] His replacement, Clive Dixon, also left to work at Koffman's restaurant at the Berkeley in London. He was replaced by Kevin Love, who had worked at the Hind's Head for 18 months as the sous chef. [10]

By 2010, year-on-year profit had increased to £136,196. [8] Following the announcement of his purchase of a nearby pub, the Crown, Blumenthal said that the Hind's Head had become a destination for food rather than a local tavern, and said instead the Crown would act as Bray's drinking establishment. [11]

The Hind's Head entered the 2012 Scotch Egg Challenge, as judged by Tom Parker Bowles, Gizzi Erskine and Eric Lanlard. [12] It placed second; its scotch egg was an Iberico pork sausage-meat covered quail's egg, coated in a breadcrumb mixture seasoned with salt infused with vinegar. [13]

Triple cooked chips, Heston Blumenthal's first notable foray into molecular gastronomy. Triple Cooked Chips.jpg
Triple cooked chips, Heston Blumenthal's first notable foray into molecular gastronomy.

Rather than the molecular gastronomy at the Fat Duck, the Hind's Head serves British cuisine. [6] The menu features Blumenthal's interpretations of dishes such as oxtail and kidney pudding, tea-smoked salmon with sour cream butter and soda bread, and Blumenthal's triple-cooked chips. [14] Blumenthal said that the development of the cooking methods for the chips was his first foray into a scientific approach to cooking. [15] The former head chef Dominic Chapman worked with Blumenthal to develop a trifle for the dessert menu, which included multiple layers of syllabub, and both tea syrup and a green tea infusion. [16] The menu includes both a set menu and a selection of a la carte dishes. [3]

The pub has retained its bar, and has a range of bar snacks including scotch eggs made with quail eggs. [14] While Blumenthal was researching historical dishes, several were tested out at the Hind's Head, including "quaking pudding" from the Tudor era, [17] and chocolate wine from the 17th century. [18] [19] Beers served include those from the Greene King Brewery as well as guest beers from smaller breweries. [2]

Reception

Michelle Rowe ate at the Hind's Head in 2007 for The Australian . She described the menu as "a happy collision of the sublime and the ridiculous", and particularly praised the oxtail and kidney pudding. [3] Amol Rajan reviewed the pub for The Independent in 2010, and did not like the lack of interior size or the atmosphere. He thought that the lack of a suitable vegetarian option in the main courses was "appalling" but was pleased with the oxtail and kidney pudding. [20] He also thought that the presentation of a venison cheeseburger on a small wooden board was "idiotic" and that the chocolate wine slush "evolve[d] from cocoa to bad claret with each mouthful". [20] He gave the pub a score of six out of ten overall. [20]

In 2007, the Hind's Head was named the fourth-best pub in the UK for food in the PubChef awards. [21] The Michelin Eating Out Guide named the Hind's Head the best pub in the UK in 2011. [10] It was awarded a Michelin star in the 2013 UK and Ireland edition, [22] which was accidentally revealed by Michelin a week early due to a fault on their website. [23] It was the fifth UK star for Blumenthal, [24] and had previously been named a Bib Gourmand restaurant. [25] It holds three AA Rosettes. [26]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bray, Berkshire</span> Village in Berkshire, England

Bray, occasionally Bray on Thames, is a suburban village and civil parish in the English county of Berkshire. It sits on the banks of the River Thames, to the southeast of Maidenhead of which it is a suburb. The village is mentioned in the comedic song "The Vicar of Bray". Bray contains two of the eight three-Michelin-starred restaurants in the United Kingdom and has several large business premises including Bray Studios at Water Oakley, where the first series of Hammer Horror films were produced.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heston Blumenthal</span> English chef

Heston Marc Blumenthal is an English celebrity chef, TV personality and food writer. Blumenthal is regarded as a pioneer of multi-sensory cooking, food pairing and flavour encapsulation. He came to public attention with unusual recipes, such as bacon-and-egg ice cream and snail porridge. His recipes for triple-cooked chips and soft-centred Scotch eggs have been widely imitated. He has advocated a scientific approach to cooking, for which he has been awarded honorary degrees from the universities of Reading, Bristol and London and made an honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Fat Duck</span> Restaurant in Bray, Berkshire, England

The Fat Duck is a fine dining restaurant in Bray, Berkshire, England, owned by the chef Heston Blumenthal. Housed in a 16th-century building, the Fat Duck opened on 16 August 1995. Although it originally served food similar to a French bistro, it soon acquired a reputation for precision and invention, and has been at the forefront of many modern culinary developments, such as food pairing, flavour encapsulation and multi-sensory cooking.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Waterside Inn</span> French restaurant

The Waterside Inn, in Bray, Berkshire, England, is a restaurant founded by the brothers Michel and Albert Roux after the success of Le Gavroche. It is currently run by Michel's son, Alain. The restaurant has three Michelin stars, and in 2010 it became the first restaurant outside France to retain all three stars for twenty-five years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sat Bains</span> English chef

Satwant Singh "Sat" Bains is an English chef best known for being chef proprietor of the two-Michelin star Restaurant Sat Bains with Rooms in Nottingham, England. He won the Roux Scholarship in 1999, and worked in France, before returning to the UK and opening his own restaurant. Bains was also one of the winners on the BBC show Great British Menu in 2007.

Garrey Dawson is a British chef who has appeared on television in the BBC programme Ready Steady Cook.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Egg and chips</span>

Egg and chips, also known as chips and egg, is a popular dish in the United Kingdom, consisting simply of chips served with fried eggs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bacon ice cream</span> Bacon dish

Bacon ice cream is an ice cream generally created by adding bacon to egg custard and freezing the mixture. The concept of bacon ice cream originated in a 1973 sketch on the British comedy series The Two Ronnies as a joke; it was eventually created for April Fools' Day by a New York ice cream parlour in 1982. In the 2000s, the English chef Heston Blumenthal experimented with ice cream, making a custard similar to scrambled eggs and adding bacon to create one of his signature dishes. It now appears on dessert menus in other restaurants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Hand & Flowers</span> Gastropub

The Hand & Flowers is a gastropub in Marlow, Buckinghamshire that opened in 2005. Owned and operated by Tom Kerridge and his wife Beth Cullen-Kerridge, it gained its first Michelin star within a year of opening and a second in the 2012 list, making it the first pub to hold two Michelin stars. It was named the AA Restaurant of the Year for 2011–12.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dinner by Heston Blumenthal</span> Restaurant in London, England

Dinner by Heston Blumenthal is a restaurant in London, England, created by Heston Blumenthal. Opened in January 2011, it received a Michelin star within a year and earned its second in 2014. In April 2014, it was listed fifth on The World's 50 Best Restaurants in Restaurant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel Clifford (chef)</span> British chef

Daniel Clifford is an English chef who is best known for his work at the two Michelin star restaurant Midsummer House. He was also named one of the winners of the 2012 and 2013 series of the BBC television show the Great British Menu. He was chef patron of a gastro pub in Little Dunmow, Essex, named The Flitch of Bacon, which held one Michelin star from 2018 to 2021. Daniel is married to his wife Alice and has five daughters and two stepsons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hibiscus (restaurant)</span> Restaurant in London

Hibiscus was a London restaurant which was owned and run by French chef Claude Bosi. It was opened in 2000 in Ludlow, Shropshire, and won its first Michelin star within a year, and a second in the 2004 Guide. In July 2006, Bosi and his wife Claire announced that they were to sell the location in Ludlow and move closer to London. The property was sold to Alan Murchison, and Bosi purchased a new site on Maddox Street in London. The restaurant closed in 2016.

<i>Hestons Fantastical Food</i> British TV series or programme

Heston's Fantastical Food is a television cookery program starring chef Heston Blumenthal which broadcast on Channel 4 in the UK during late 2012. The programme follows Blumenthal as he supersizes a variety of food for presentation to members of the public.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crab ice cream</span> Ice cream made with crabmeat

Crab ice cream is a sweet flavour of ice cream with crab. It is offered in some food establishments, particularly ice cream parlours, such as Heston Blumenthal's The Fat Duck restaurant, and the Venezuelan Coromoto.

Mary-Ellen McTague is a Manchester chef who has run two successful restaurants in the city; Aumbry and 4244.

James "Jocky" Petrie is a Scottish professional chef, best known for his work alongside chef Heston Blumenthal as head of development of the Experimental Kitchen at The Fat Duck, and as Group Executive Development Chef for Gordon Ramsay. He has regularly appeared as mentor and judge on a number of television shows including MasterChef, Heston's Fantastical Food, In Search of Perfection, and Top Chef Suomi.

Emily Watkins is a British chef at The Kingham Plough gastropub restaurant in Gloucestershire, having previously worked in Florence and at The Fat Duck. She was one of the winners of 2014's season of the Great British Menu.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elystan Street</span> Restaurant in London, England

Elystan Street is a London restaurant co-owned by chef patron Phil Howard and Rebecca Mascarenhas. Howard and Mascarenhas established the restaurant on 27 September 2016, six months after Howard sold and left his previous restaurant The Square. Elystan Street earned its first Michelin star in October 2017 and has retained it since.

Costes is a Michelin-starred restaurant in Budapest, Hungary. The head chef of the restaurant is Eszter Palagyi.

References

  1. ↑ Shingler, Tom (17 February 2017). "Teamwork, consistency and Scotch eggs: The Hinds Head". Great British Chefs. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Robinson, Kate (14 April 2007). "Berkshire Pub Guide: The Hinds Head Hotel, Bray". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Rowe, Michelle (27 August 2011). "Room at Heston's inn for a demanding diner". The Australian . Archived from the original on 3 September 2011. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  4. ↑ Nicholson, Sarah (27 March 2011). "City caught up in royal romance". News.com.au. Archived from the original on 25 February 2014. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  5. ↑ Sims, Fiona (19 August 2008). "Lee Dixon – My Passion For Wine". Decanter.com. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  6. 1 2 Muhlke, Christine (30 April 2006). "The Way We Eat: Olde School". The New York Times . Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  7. ↑ Lander, Nicholas (6 July 2007). "Duck that lays the golden egg". Financial Times . Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  8. 1 2 Millar, Rupert (11 May 2010). "Blumenthal snaps up another Bray pub". The Drinks Business. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  9. ↑ MacLeod, Tracey (17 April 2010). "Parky's Pub". The Independent. Archived from the original on 25 January 2013. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  10. 1 2 Paskin, Becky (8 September 2010). "Blumenthal's Hinds Head named Michelin Pub of the Year". Big Hospitality. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  11. ↑ Vines, Richard (28 April 2010). "Fat Duck's Heston Blumenthal Buys Second Pub in Village of Bray". Bloomberg. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  12. ↑ "Snack attack: the Scotch Egg Challenge is back". Time Out. 3 September 2012. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  13. ↑ Rucki, Alexandra (29 September 2012). "Top chef's scramble to win The Scotch Egg Challenge". Your Local Guardian. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  14. 1 2 Doyle, Kilian (20 March 2010). "Theatre a La Carte". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 11 June 2014. Retrieved 29 September 2012.(subscription required)
  15. ↑ "Heston Blumenthal: Why snail porridge consumes me". CNN. 14 September 2012. Retrieved 21 September 2012.
  16. ↑ "Trifle revival". Caterer and Hotelkeeper. 1 December 2005. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  17. ↑ Lynes, Andy (9 July 2006). "Take a traditional dish and add a whole lot of imagination". The Independent on Sunday. Archived from the original on 25 January 2013. Retrieved 29 September 2012.(subscription required)
  18. ↑ "The Hinds Head 'Through the Ages' dinner: Chocolate Wine (c.1660)". Table Talk. 21 September 2012. Retrieved 29 September 2012.[ permanent dead link ]
  19. ↑ "Hinds Head Chocolate Wine". The New York Times. 30 April 2006. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  20. 1 2 3 Rajan, Amol (1 August 2010). "Hinds Head High Street, Bray, Berkshire, tel: 01628 626 151" . The Independent. Archived from the original on 18 June 2022. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  21. ↑ Vines, Richard (3 December 2007). "Anchor & Hope Named Best U.K. Gastropub for Third Straight Year". Bloomberg. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  22. ↑ Eversham, Emma; Nicholls, Luke (27 September 2012). "Michelin Guide 2013: Two stars for L'Enclume, Sketch and Michael Wignall at The Latymer". Big Hospitality. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  23. ↑ Walker, Peter (27 September 2012). "Michelin leaks own restaurant guide a week early". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  24. ↑ Sherwin, Adam (28 September 2012). "Critic opens own restaurant – then wins a Michelin star" . The Independent. Archived from the original on 18 June 2022. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  25. ↑ Gosney, Mark (27 January 2005). "Gastro pubs cut bigger slice of Michelin status". The Publican's Morning Advertiser. Retrieved 29 September 2012.[ permanent dead link ]
  26. ↑ "Hinds Head AA Rosettes".
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.