When I was shooting last — poshos and rich chefs invite me to dance occasionally — I commented to one jolly Army officer that my favourite peg (where you stand to shoot the birds) was the one adjacent to the old farmhouse and cottage, to which he replied, “Ah yes, is that because it reminds you of an urban setting, plenty of guns there too?” I laughed again when I thought about it at the Hawthorn, another meeting of countryside and town.
The pub is the work of Peter Creed and Tom Noest, whose portfolio of Cotswoldian pubs in the rolling fields west of London have long been fostering acclaim. There are six now, including the Bell at Langford, and the Hawthorn is the group’s first London endeavour. It feels that way too — a bucolic, rural import placed neatly into Shepherd’s Bush, bringing mustard walls the colour of trousers, bouncing chatter and real ales.
This place is one of the new guard, those pubs that look old and have agreeable bar snacks and staff in Gazelles. Here the wooden floor is old and worn, the chairs out of some ancient school, the bar curved and the cushions bohemian. Those with the money to nail the pints will love it, and we just have to hope that all the old boozers with pool tables and Carlsberg find a way of surviving too.
I didn’t stay long but enjoyed my Guinness immeasurably. There’s now a band of pubs in west London worth traipsing to, running down in a meandering line from the Hero in Maida Vale to the Cow, then to here. All do a good pint and superb plates of food. You know the type: pint of prawns, rarebit, Scotch eggs and sausages on sticks. And so while these pubs are relatively pricey for pubs, they can be a cheap(ish) lunch or dinner out too, which is warming. And so well played, country bumpkins. You’re welcome in town (so long as you take me shooting occasionally).
434 Uxbridge Road, W12; thehawthornpub.com
Bar snacks
Nyetimber
Nationwide, nyetimber.com
Sussex vineyard Nyetimber has become the first English sparkling wine to be crowned best in the world by the International Wine Challenge. It was awarded two of the most lauded trophies last week: Champion Sparkling Wine and, for head winemaker Cherie Spriggs, Sparkling Winemaker of the Year. It was Nyetimber’s blanc de blanc 2016 magnum that saw off champagne. Deservedly so, it’s top tier. Where to try it in London? The Nyetimber terrace at Angler, in the City, is a very sound bet.
The Hart
56 Blandford Street, W1, thehartw1.com
The team behind The Hero, Canteen, The Fat Badger and more will launch their latest pub next to the Chiltern Firehouse this month. Called The Hart, Public House Group has taken over what was once the Flowerhouse and we might expect more of the same: an upmarket boozer with pub classics, pints and cocktails on the ground floor, and a restaurant — an “intimate dining space” — above.
