After a year of culinary highlights, Katherine MacAlister marks the renaissance of foodie havens in the county There must be something in the water because 2013 has been quite an extraordinary year in terms of food in our neck of the woods, an annus mirabilis if you like with a turnover faster than Rupert Murdoch’s divorce lawyer.

Like rain after a long drought, Oxfordshire hasn’t so much been revelling, as drowning in new restaurants pubs and cafes, the entire hospitality scene being given a long overdue overhaul, and not before time. It has gone from the sublime to the ridiculous in 12 months, entrepreneurs, foodies and restaurateurs appearing in their droves to try their hand, open up, expand, refurb or renovate, forcing everyone else to up their game at the same time.

And we, the lucky punters, have been revelling in our newfound fortune. But where did it start? Perhaps in the revitalised pub scene, Oxford’s city centre transforming almost overnight as The Grapes, St Aldate’s and The White Rabbit were given a make-over and emerged smelling of roses and serving some proper tucker.

The ripples lapped further out, Jacobs Inn in Wolvercote opening earlier this year, the Jacobs & Field team introducing the former Red Lion regulars to its animal-friendly informal dining format to great success. So much, in fact, they’ve just taken on Cafe Noir in Headington and, if rumour is to be believed, are about to work their magic by turning it into a pizza parlour.

Oxford Mail:

Spice of life:  Sojo continues to dazzle

Following thick and fast, The Killingworth Castle in Wootton reopened on a site that had stood empty for years, reaping awards and accolades faster than Mo Farah with the trots. The Rickety Press in Jericho, a firm competitor on the awards front, expanded and reopened to a packed dining room and reliably fantastic food.

Meanwhile, back on the ranch, The Milkshed was launched by the lovely Lucie Greenwood in a former ice cream parlour on a farm in Weston-on-the-Green where I venture too often for my bank manager’s liking.

If Coco’s was a victim of the recession, Bamboo, a Korean restaurant was the success story, serving eclectically weird serving eclectically weird and wacky food. Florios, another casualty in Summertown, is set to reopen as The Oxford Kitchen, the first fine dining restaurant in that neck of the woods since The Lemon Tree shut up shop.

The Anchor triumphantly joined the growing number of updated pubs with an utter metamorphosis, hopefully one that’s more attractive to North Oxford’s locals this time around. The Old Parsonage has shut until March as it is given a facelift, and Portabello’s John Ellse announced that not only was his South Parade restaurant being given the once over but he had also taken over The Perch in Binsey, exciting news.

The Unicorn in Deddington was then bought by two nice chaps one of whom is producing some really good food in the kitchen, pipped to the post by the Wild Rabbit in Kingham which has upped Lady Bamford’s stakes in the culinary game and brought an enormous dash of taste to the shires. The Crown and Thistle in Abingdon has brought some respite to a culinary black hole and The Star in Woodstock changed from being a drinking man’s pub to somewhere serving some really decent grub, apparently the Scotch eggs are to die for.

Back in Oxford the ripples were by now washing down St Michael's’s Street as Bill’s triumphantly converted what was the homeless hostel into a wonderfully quirky addition to the city’s restaurant scene. Cleaver has since joined the ranks, taking over the former Fire & Stone site in George Street with a steak/ribs/chicken style format, and Itsu barged in with its new healthy fast food concept in Cornmarket.

In East Oxford the contagion was spreading, started years ago by the Magdalen Arms and joined by The Rusty Bicycle, Oxfork and the Oxford Blue. But more recently Oli’s Thai joined the ranks, a table there being rarer than supermarket sprouts on Christmas Eve. The entrepreneurial Drew Brammer is also beavering away behind the scenes to turn around the Chester Arms, set to open up any time soon As if that weren’t enough, 1855 just burst on to the Oxford Castle site, the new wine bar and bistro’s decadent and contemporary setting being enormously welcome.

Trend wise though, 2013 has been all about the pop-ups, The Mad Hatter serving cocktails in the closed Cricketers Arms, Field Kitchen Oxford serving Venetian tapas on Friday evenings at Oxfork and the sushi boat arriving at Folly Bridge for all you Japanese aficionados, only to be rivalled by Taberu on Cowley Road, the best food this side of Tokyo.

Still to come is The Crown in Woodstock, Chariots and Cherry Pie, a destination diner in the former Volunteer pub in Grove, and the Turl Street Kitchen is making a valiant effort to take over the former Barclays Bank site over the road.

As a result the nation’s restaurant critics have been visiting Oxford in their droves, The Magdalen Arms, Turl Street, Sojo, Wild Rabbit, Muddy Duck, Le Manoir, all being singled out, while joining an ironically growing list of reviews. And that’s not even mentioning the stalwart survivors peddling away behind the scenes, the likes of the Kingham Plough, Cherwell Boathouse, Nut Tree, Kazbar, Sir Charles Napier, Branca and the Blackboy giving us an often Michelin-starred backbone on which we have been resting until now.

An absolute corker of a year foodwise then, and a culinary journey which requires a lie-down at best, and a diet at worst. Till next year, fellow foodies!