Christopher Gray feels as if he’s spent a couple of hours in France on a visit to The Swan at Tetsworth

A favourite treat for Raymond Blanc – as he told readers of a national newspaper recently – is to spend most of the day at The Swan at Tetsworth.

This is perhaps not surprising since, paradoxically, this quintessentially English former coaching inn, dating back to the 17th century, successfully celebrates all that is best in the culinary traditions of Raymond’s native country.

To a person, the staff are French. Marseillaise chef Sebastien Rouard and his team offer French dishes in classic style or of their own devising.

The wine list is also 100 per cent French, as if the rest of Europe – not to mention the New World – were alien territories for viniculture.

Speaking the day after our superb lunch to boss Antoine Chrétien – absent during the visit – I said I felt as if we had been temporarily transported to France.

He was delighted to hear it.

A mid-meal ‘trou Normand’ – a hefty slug of calvados with, in this case, a tart apple sorbet – supplied a quintessentially Gallic touch. That the fiery calva had been made by Antoine’s grandfather, as long ago as 1948, was a detail almost too perfect to credit.

Unlike Raymond’s, ours was not a day-long visit but one fixed into a two-hour window by the schedule of the Red Rose bus service. Whisked from Oxford’s High Street to Tetsworth in 30 minutes, we arrived just before noon.

With the same happy, helpful young driver at the wheel for the return, it seemed almost as if we had a personal chauffeur.

The first 15 minutes of the visit were spent admiring some of the wonderful antiques on sale in the larger part of the building, which might explain why the restaurant is only open during the day.

Sebastian Rouard is likely to be recognised by many familiar with the Oxford restaurant scene, having worked for periods at such places at Branca, Le Petit Blanc and the Old Parsonage.

Deputy manageress Camille Veron was, for me, a familiar face too, she having looked after us a number of times during her seven years at (always excellent) Pierre Victoire in Little Clarendon Street.

“An aperitif?” she wondered, to which suggestion, bus-borne, we could accede. Glasses of chilled Pouilly Fumé hit the spot as we read and discussed the menu.

So what did we have? First, crisp baked rolls with unsalted Normandy butter, which we were able to season ourselves with crystals of Basquais salt with chillies.

My ignorant assumption had been that a “cassolette” would be some sort of variation on a ‘cassoulet’, suggesting some sort of bean-based stew.

In fact a cassolette is a cooking container like a large ramekin which was filled in this case with chunks of scallop and sole in a creamy sauce with shallots and saffron, topped with a layer of puff pastry. Utterly delicious!

For Rosemarie, there was a rich and creamy parsnip soup. Then came the calva and sorbet, a convivial lead-in to our main courses.

Oxford Mail:

  • Rack of lamb with truffled potatoes and roast fennel

Mine was duck breast, served in thick pink slices (no degree bloody, happily) in a sauce of honey and Czechuan peppers with a cake of dauphinoise potatoes and a quartered roast fig.

A glass of claret (Chateau Graveyron, Graves, 2012) was an ideal accompaniment.

Unusually, as it might seem, Rosemarie selected a chardonnay (Savigny-Les-Beaune, Louis Latour) for her perfectly cooked main course of rack of lamb in a herby crust, with truffled mashed potato and roast fennel. Its age (2008) will indicate why this proved suitable, with a mature oak flavour entirely acceptable with the meat.

We shared excellent vegetables: carrots, green beans, mange tout and asparagus.

A crêpe Suzette flamed in Benedictine supplied a classic finish to Rosemarie’s meal, while I sampled three perfectly ripe French cheeses: Langres, a soft cows’ milk delight; bleu d’Auvergne; and Cados, a camembert washed in . . . yes, more calva.

Raymond is definitely on to something then because The Swan is definitely worth a visit.

ESSENTIALS

The Swan at Tetsworth, High Street, Tetsworth, OX9 7AB.
Tel: 01844 281182, theswan.co.uk/restaurant

Opening times: Mon-Thurs and Sun, 10am-6pm; Friday and Saturday 10am-11pm
The people: owner Antoine Chrétien, general manager Mathieu Colombet, head chef Sebastien Rouard
Do try the... parsnip soup with bread (£6), cassolette de la mer (£14), duck breast with honey and peppers (£22), rack of lamb en croute (£24), crêpe Suzette (£9), cheese selection (£14)