The Samuel Fox Country Inn, Bradwell

You may remember banging on about the Samuel Fox in the past...  For those of you who wondered what happened to the Sam Fox after Charlie left you might be interested in the newsletter that landed in my inbox today.

"My name is James Duckett and I am the new head chef and proprietor of the Samuel Fox Country Inn. The Samuel Fox underwent a complete refurbishment in 2008 and since then has gained an enviable reputation for comfortable accommodation and fine food. However, since former managers Charlie and Kelly left earlier this year standards were allowed to slip somewhat. Having taken over the helm earlier this month my commitment is to ensure that the Samuel Fox is once again a very special place to stay, dine or just enjoy a drink at the bar.

The Samuel Fox team

 I am joined in the kitchen by sous chef Rob, with whom I've worked in a previous restaurant venture, and at front of house by bar and restaurant managers, Sabrina and Gareth. Together we're dedicated to ensuring that the Samuel Fox is a superb place to stay, a focus for lovers of good food and also a place where both visitors and locals alike are welcome to pop in for a drink in convivial surroundings.

James Duckett - chef proprietor
New to the Samuel Fox and the Peak District, I was born in Lancashire and my early career was spent working in the kitchens of some of the best restaurants in the UK, France, Holland, Spain and Australia. I've worked under such celebrated Michelin starred chefs as Albert Roux, Michel Roux jnr, Marcus Wareing and Phil Howard and I've run my own restaurants in Andalucia and more recently in Devon. In between times I've cooked on super yachts in the Caribbean and headed up the kitchen at a prominent private members club. This is my first pub venture and I'm sure it will prove to be an exciting challenge.

The Restaurant and Bar
In the restaurant and bar you may now enjoy choosing from entirely new lunch and dinner à la carte menus, featuring contemporary dishes based on British and continental classical cuisine, as well as from the ‘blackboard’ offering some traditional pub dishes and specials.  And for Sunday lunch my menu also features traditional roasts.  All my dishes are prepared on the premises by Rob and me using the best of fresh local produce wherever possible.  We have a good wine list and there are always two local real ales available at the bar as well as a selection of wines by the glass.  The interlinked restaurant and bar areas are light and airy and enjoy wonderful views over the stunning Hope Valley landscape.

Accommodation 

The Samuel Fox has four beautifully appointed ensuite room each with large flat screen TV, ironing board and a welcome tray with beverages making facilities, fruit, sherry and chocolates.

Christmas and New Year at the Samuel Fox  

For the Christmas and New Year festive period we have some very tempting offers for you.  I’ve pulled together some great dishes for my menus for the pre-Christmas party season; Christmas Day lunch; Boxing Day lunch and dinner; New Year’s Eve dinner; and New Year’s Day lunch.  We’re also offering Inclusive packages for couples  wishing to ‘escape’ and enjoy a complete break over Christmas or New Year, staying in one of the our superbly appointed en suite bedrooms. 

You can find all my menus as well as room rates and autumn and winter break special offers on the inn website. Also, you can see some reviews we’ve received since I took over the Samuel Fox.  It seems we’re on the right track! Whether staying on business, enjoying a weekend or midweek break in the glorious Hope Valley, seeking somewhere special to dine or just wishing to enjoy a well kept pint at the bar, you’ll find a very warm welcome awaits you from us all at the Samuel Fox Country Inn."

Check out the new menus here.

It might be a while before we get to try Sam Fox again, but I will be back. In the meantime, if you get chance to visit, do let me know what you think!

Phoenix Catering, Sheffield

For most of us, the lunch hour is the most precious hour of the day. It's great to escape the office, go for a mooch, sit in the local park or feed the ducks by the canal. Thinking about it, it can be the most amazing 'me time'; no kids, no chores, no phones or emails... hell, you could even switch Twitter off too.

So, how do we feel when this precious hour is snatched away from us, sometimes without any notice, by our employers/clients? Do we jump for joy? No. Do we scream, shout and stomp? No. We just shrug our shoulders and think 'oh well, at least we'll get a free sandwich'. But is that really good enough? Giving up our one and only chance of a bit of 'me time' just for a cruddy sandwich? Afterall they do say that there's no such thing as a free lunch...

You might wonder where all this is leading... Well I was recently contacted by Phoenix Catering who wanted me to try one of their business buffets and as my colleagues and I munched our way through our lunch hour I started thinking about all the work lunches I've had in the past. My work place is pretty good as all the food is made fresh in-house but a few years ago I had the 'joy' of being subjected to ready made Iceland style sausages rolls, bland bhajis, pork pies and the like. And although I enjoy comfort food as much as the next person, a plate of beige food does not please me.

So, if our employers are stealing our precious lunch hours and we let them on the basis that we'll get a 'free' lunch then the least they can do is make sure that the lunch is tasty, right? As I've said, my place does a pretty good lunch, but with a selection of sandwiches, quiche and a variety of fried goods, it's hardly the healthiest. Yeah, there's the obligatory fruit bowl but nobody's gonna start chomping on an apple whilst mingling with colleagues and clients are they?

On taking delivery of the business lunch sample from Phoenix Catering I was impressed with the colour and vibrancy of the platters. There was a tropical fruit platter, a huge selection of crudités and a tomato and mozzarella salad along with sandwiches and brownies. Sarah, the owner of Phoenix Catering, told me that the sample was enough for four, but as I unwrapped the platters and laid them out, it was clear that this was enough for a very hungry four.

Sarah had prepared a selection of the most popular sandwiches; sweet chilli chicken, roast beef and tomato and ham salad. The use of simple sliced bread did disappoint and I think we'd have all preferred to see wraps or pittas, but the fillings pleased. Both the ham and beef were thickly sliced and my only complaint was that the beef was overcooked for my liking. Sweet chilli chicken was tasty without being too hot and there were lots of chunks of peppers in there keeping the sandwich fresh tasting.

Tomato and mozzarella salad isn't something I usually see at a working lunch and it was good to see it here. Admittedly the tomatoes were a bit bland, but as Sarah sources all her salad from the Yorkshire region, I wasn't expecting a burst of Italian favours. The basil (which is home grown), however, did have good flavour as did the slices of black olives.

A large selection of crudités was sticks of red pepper, carrot, celery and cucumber served with freshly made tomato and houmous dips. It was clear that all the veg was freshly prepared as it was all sweet tasting and juicy. Houmous packed a good garlic punch, but we all agreed that the tomato dip could have done with a bit of heat and my colleague's emergency bottle of Tabasco sauce pepped it up nicely. All in all it we were grateful to have something healthy and tasty; something we could have picked away at all afternoon without having to feel guilty.

The fruit platter was probably the highlight of the lot. Give me a fruit bowl and I won't touch any of it, give me fruit all nicely sliced up and easy to eat and I will happily scoff away. It's silly, I know, but it works. Slices of juicy orange, melon, pineapple and kiwi along with a scattering of grapes were devoured quickly and enjoyed by all.

After all that healthy food we felt that a slice of brownie wouldn't hurt and with offerings from #Brownies, they were difficult to decline. And it's good to know that Sarah's keen to use as much local produce as possible. Aside from the Brownies, meats and salads, there's dairy produce from Longley Farm and the bread is from Woodthorpe Bakery. As well as keeping things local, Sarah prepares the food fresh every day to ensure her customers get the best of the ingredients.

I'd let Sarah decide what she was going to send me and I'm very happy with the choices she made. For anyone ordering it's good to know that the menu is pretty flexible with sandwiches and brownies being the staples and choices of savouries, nachos, meats and cheeses amongst other things available as add ons. Prices start at £5 a head which seems reasonable for Sheffield especially as there's free delivery included. They can deliver 7 days a week and breakfast is available too.

Maggie May's, Sheffield

Maggie May's is not somewhere I would normally venture. Located in the venue that previously housed a virtual golf course and, later, a naff bar with good cocktails but impossibly loud music, it's a little off the beaten track and somewhere that's proving popular with, er, how can I put this politely... the older crowd. It even advertises itself as somewhere to celebrate a 40th, 50th or 60th birthday, so it really doesn't sound like somewhere I'd venture for my lunch.

And it is only lunch that I've had here, midweek too, as Friday and Saturday nights are party time... and the parties start early at Maggie May's. Music is mostly 60's, 70's & 80's and it's all dancing, rather than eating, so if you're after food, keep it midweek (and note that the kitchen is closed on Sunday and Monday).

So, with such a strong focus on the music side of things, can this place stand up as a serious eatery? Well, yes, it's actually quite a nice place to be in the week. It's a smart looking bar with comfortable seating AND it's managed to get itself a decent chef! Lee Vintin, who was previously at Devonshire Arms, has come in, devised a menu  and taken charge of the kitchen. The food, in line with the music, is 'Noshtalgic' with dishes served in baskets (note - sitting at one of the high tables helps with getting your knife and fork into these things) and menus printed on old LPs.

It might all seem a bit gimmicky but Lee knows his stuff and can cook damn well so the food is absolutely for real. Organic Buffalo burgers are their speciality, but my favourites are the pulled pork sandwich and the chicken & chips. There's also wraps and pizzas on the menu, but I haven't ventured that far yet, and now that Lee's introduced a specials menu of fried chicken and bangers & mash, there's little chance I'm gonna be ordering pizza!

On an impromptu day off I took Gav here for lunch (I'd been a few times with work and he hadn't tried it yet). I'd heard about the specials and was hankering after some of their fried chicken so I was pleased to find it available. The barmaid was pushing the bangers & mash (rightly so as we're talking Moss Valley sausages, who also provide the pork for the pulled pork by the way), but I've had their sausages before and wanted to try something new. Also, I don't know about you, but I don't like ordering bangers and mash when I'm out; it's too easy, something that I'd be able to throw together at home, I'd rather go for something a bit more complex.

Now, I do have a bit of a past when it comes to fried chicken. I worked in KFC as a student and developed a love for their chicken pieces and burgers, but I haven't had it in years (yes, sometimes I do cut off my nose to spite my face with this not eating in chains lark), so I was only ever going to order the fried chicken burger (£6.95) here. It came in a Welbeck Bakery bottom baked bun with mayo, iceberg and cheese (an extra 95p) with sides of a mountain of fries, coleslaw and a small salad.

The chicken was juicy and tasty and although I know that I shouldn't compare an independent to to fast food chain (really, I shouldn't), but this did kind of take me back... except it was better. The bun was really tasty and had a good substance, the chicken fillet had been flattened so that it filled the bun nicely and the cheese had melted over the meat. Fries were perfectly seasoned. Side salad was a little over dressed for my liking, but included some of the tastier items such as cherry tomatoes, grated carrot and pepper. Coleslaw was fine, but I barely touched it; I was stuffed.

I'd recommended the pulled pork sandwich (£6.25) to Gav, who was not disappointed! The Cajun fries alone wowed just by smelling amazing and thankfully their taste lived up to the promising aromas. There was more coleslaw and an enormous strip of pork crackling... and that's before he got to the sandwich. The bottom baked bun was packed full of tasty and tender pork along with some salad leaves and I don't care that their signature dish is the buffalo burger, this is the star of the menu.

As always I was too full to even look at the dessert menu, which is a huge shame given that there's knickerbocker glory on there. Maybe next time I'll stick to a slider and salad so that I can fit one in! And of course there will be a next time; the place is a hit with my colleagues, so much so that I've booked our Christmas do here.

I highly recommend a visit; you'll love the food and the prices (especially if you go on a Tuesday as there's 25% off all food and drink!).