Out & About Summer 2021

RESTAURANT REVIEW

Outside, The Vineyard, Stockcross

HILARY SCOTT tries a unique dining concept at The Vineyard

‘Let’s go outside’ has been a familiar phrase during the last year or so. So to call your Covid dining solution – a domed marquee – Outside, is pretty clever. That’s exactly what The Vineyard at Stockcross has done – and it’s been so popular it could morph into a permanent fixture. Nestling in the lovely grounds, the marquee pavilion is full of wooden furniture, cosy rugs, a firepit in the middle for warmth, vineyard themed drapes around the walls and a barbecue for the chefs to cook on. But even more amazing is that it has a superb atmosphere – no mean feat for what was meant to be a temporary solution. As we dined there on a sunny Friday, we remarked to each other that we’d want to come back – and were heartened to hear from staff that some sort of concept may be kept in the future. We hope so. The menu is inventive – small plates of beautifully cooked food you can graze on interspersed with a couple of bigger dishes if you feel you want a little bit more. And the pricing is competitive – £30 a head for three plates and a glass of Taittinger champagne, a beer or a cocktail or £40 for five plates and drink. Bigger dishes have a supplement, extra dishes are £7 a plate, as are the generous desserts – all in all, top notch food at good prices in these stunning surroundings that brings the Vineyard flair to a different dining idea. After ordering, dishes are brought in no particular order – often cold ones arrive before the hot ones. First up for us was a large sphere of peppered burrata served with sweet peaches – the meltingly soft cheese the perfect foil for the summery stone fruit.

with fruity olive oil. Just as we were finishing these came two perfectly cooked barbecued giant prawns with a little dish of lemon mayo to dip them into. The usual conversation took place when ordering small plates – what else did we order? Ooh the miso aubergine we remembered and just at that moment a dish with two thick slabs of barbecued aubergine which had been brushed with sweet and sour miso arrived with a little pot of fiery dip. Blackened and crisp at the edges, I could have eaten just this and still have heaped praise on our dinner. Photographer Dijana meanwhile raved about the cabbage with salsa verde – again crispy at the edges, this hunk of hispi cabbage was drenched in the deep green herby salsa which smelled divine and had a smoky edge and sat in a small pool of olive oil. Then there was falafel on flatbread – two chunky hot spheres and some spiced peas – and soft slow cooked lamb smothered in yogurt, mint and cucumber. Finally our ‘big’ dish at a supplement of £18 – a Hungerford honey-baked Tunworth cheese with crudités, seeded crackers and bread. In its wooden box and drizzled with the honey the cheese was pungent yet sweet, the crudités generous (big almost purple halved radishes, carrots and courgettes) and the crackers moreish. You will probably be thinking we could not fit in dessert – but no! The staff gave us a small gap before bringing three. They were all just fabulous and the right sized portions. First a zingy lemon posset with meltingly good shortbread. Then a strawberry and almond tart with mascarpone – the pastry case as crisp and light as you like. Finally, and we

The interior of the restaurant; below, a Hun- gerford honey-baked Tunworth cheese with crudités, seeded crackers and bread; bottom chocolate mousse cake Pictures Dijana Capan/DVision Images

Then a crisp salad of little gem hearts with the Vineyard house dressing, a slightly spicy thousand island style drizzled in ribbons across the lettuce. Simple but delicious. Being asparagus season we had a plate of barbecued asparagus dotted with shavings of pecorino and drizzled

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O&A SUMMER 2021