Crack team at The Red Lion win The Oxford Times Restaurant Of The Year Award

It wasn’t hard picking the 2014 The Oxford Times Restaurant Of The Year Award winner. From the moment I set foot in The Red Lion in Britwell Salome, I knew I was experiencing somewhere magic, somewhere utterly memorable, and it didn’t let me down.

The food was sensational and I knew it would be hard to beat.

That said, it’s been a bumper year in terms of food, with endless pubs, restaurants and cafes opening up in Oxford and beyond, full of new ideas, keen to make an impact, desperate to make their mark. But even though The Red Lion sits in the middle of blooming nowhere, past the Lewknor bus stop and through Watlington, where it is perched unceremoniously on the side of the road, indistinct were it not for the smart cars in the car park, but it rests head and shoulders above the competition.

Smashing food aside, it’s love that overwhelms you from the moment you arrive, Andrew Hill’s utter devotion to his craft in the kitchen and his partner Eilidh Ferguson’s smiling presence in the restaurant causes everything to run smoothly — a match made in heaven then.

Popping in this week with a photographer, the award tucked under my coat, Andrew and Eilidh were blown away when presented with the glass trophy, Andrew saying it topped off the perfect year. But nothing happens by chance and you don’t win restaurant awards without a dream and a commitment to see it come to fruition, although for Andrew cooking is as natural as breathing, and he loves what he does, as evident in the food he produces.

“Everybody else tells you how hard it is being a chef, and sympathises with you about the long hours and stressful environment,” he tells me, “but for me I think it’s all relative to what you know and do. I feel very privileged to wake up every day looking forward to getting in the kitchen. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes you wonder what the hell you’re doing, mental and physical exhaustion sets in from time to time, and missing out on friends’ and family events can be tough. But my dad said to me at a very early age that job satisfaction is the most important thing, above money or anything else work related, and he is absolutely right in my opinion.”

Andrew, who hailed from Swindon and then Thatcham, fell into chef work whilst studying A- level Maths and Physics. “I was looking for an accounting job and just happened to mention cooking and someone overheard our conversation and put me in contact with a small restaurant who was looking for a commis chef. The rest is history, and while I don't believe in fate, perhaps a little fate was involved that day!”

Working his way up the culinary tree, Andrew says the highlights were the team attaining a Michelin Star at The Vineyard at Stockcross, which for a young chef was an amazing experience, and encouraged him to buy The Half Moon in Cuxham at the age of 29. “I'd promised myself my first business by the age of 30 so I could do things my way and work in a nice environment and constantly learn,” he remembers. “I learnt a lot about consistency and standards, although I think I've always had my own mind and my own beliefs.”

There for five years, he and Eilidh then did a year’s stint at Pierreponts Cafe in Goring-on-Thames, but realised they missed the pub trade. So when catering for a shoot lunch in Britwell Salome, local pig farmer John Mearns said he was thinking of buying The Red Lion Pub and wondered if they would take it on. They bit his hand off.

The Red Lion in Britwell Salome

“We wanted to create a place that Andrew and I would like to visit, somewhere with delicious food made with local produce, friendly service and a great atmosphere and we certainly feel we have achieved our brief,” Eilidh says. “Our customers keep coming back because they love Andrew's food and our personal service, the pub has a natural lovely atmosphere and this year we also managed to grow a lot of our own salad, herbs, vegetables and cut flowers — something we never thought we’d be able to do,” she smiles.

“And since the beginning in 2012 it was like opening a ‘made’ business. We were fully booked at weekends from the opening week, and it has been the same ever since. Our biggest struggle is staffing — it’s so difficult to entice quality chefs to come and work at a pub/restaurant when you don’t have the accolades to back up your ethos, but maybe this award will change that!”

For Andrew, 37, it’s been about finding the best available local and seasonal produce: “We don’t believe in buying local for the sake of buying local; it’s got to be great quality as well. Poor produce deeply upsets me and great produce still amazes me. A freshly picked unblemished, bright red radish is the most joyous thing,” he enthuses. “Nature is incredible. For me it is about the whole process from sowing and breeding, nurturing, harvesting, killing, cooking and eating. There is always so much to learn and experiment with in the kitchen, so I butcher whole animals, not allowing anything to go to waste, and try to grow as much fruit, veg and herbs as we can. I still get butterflies before every service.”

More important however is the local community and surrounding villages. “They are our bread and butter and visit the pub in all weathers, all year round. They also talk about us and spread the word without knowing it. Britwell Salome was effectively without a proper pub for about ten years, so they know how important a pub is within the village; a place to meet new and old neighbours, exchange the village gossip and local information and history,” Eilidh, 28, says.

The pair have been together for 10 years now, meeting when both working at The White Lion in Crays Pond. So what’s it like living and working together? “It’s easy and difficult at once. People often tell us how they could never spend so much time with their other halves, but in reality we don’t really spend a lot of time together, which is good and bad!

“Sometimes we go a whole day without having a proper conversation, so we forget to tell each other about things not related to work. But we can both wholeheartedly say that we wouldn’t like to do this job without each other. I trust Andrew’s cooking, and he trusts that the service matches his meals.”

Still clutching her award she adds: “But this has topped our year off! What a Christmas present! One day we’d like to have a restaurant with rooms and grow more of our own produce and rear some animals but know it will take us a while to establish ourselves at The Red Lion first,” before Andrew grins and pipes up. “It'd also be nice if we achieved more of a balance between satisfaction and finances!”

The Red Lion, Britwell Salome, near Watlington, OX49 5LG
01491 613140 www.theredlionbritwellsalome.co.uk