A huge thank you to the immensely talented Sharon and Trevor of Sharon Trueman Photography for  absolutely amazing shots of us and our restaurant, thank you so much for capturing a great weekend!

To all of the amazing people we’ve had the pleasure of meeting over the past two years:
 
It is with mixed emotions that we announce that, due to strained relations with our landlady and the longstanding complications of the Longbarn Village site, we have decided not to renew our lease.
 
The past two years have been incredible.  We have enjoyed every minute of building ‘the chef’s dozen’ into what it is and, looking back, we can’t believe what we’ve achieved in such a short period. We set out with the intention of stripping back the unnecessary restaurant fuss to concentrate on good value and big flavours with a relaxed and welcoming service - which, hopefully, you feel we have delivered.
 
We will be using this as an opportunity to evolve.  We are building stronger relationships with our small-scale, artisan food producers  - relationships that will give us access to even better ingredients, grown and hung to our very own specifications.
 
We will also be working on tweaks, designed to improve everyone’s experience  and we’ll let you know all the details including where and when you can find version 2.0 of ‘the chef’s dozen’, in due course.  
 
We certainly will take with us some truly magnificent memories. We want to thank you all for your kindness, generosity and continued support and we look forward to seeing you in the not-to-distant future.
 
 
Richard and Solanche
 
P.S. If you know of any small-scale quality food producers in the Warwickshire and Worcestershire region that you think we should know about, please do tell us about them
 
 

Keep up with Chef's Dozen news on twitter @thechefsdozen, facebook 'the chef's dozen'  and online at www.thechefsdozen.co.uk

Guess What?  

We're rolling back the clock! 

Do you remember the first offer we did?  You know, the one before anyone knew what the chef's dozen was and before it was 'cool' to eat four (or more) courses, or have 2 desserts just because you could?  Well, we do!  And we're doing it again, for one whole month! 

This January (2013) you can enjoy a 4-course meal with a sparkling cocktail at the chef's dozen for a *bargain* £28 (per person).  And.... you can have it on any night (so long as it's between Tuesday and Friday!) 

We'd suggest you book early, 'cos you know there'll be disappointment if you miss out on this, frankly, quite amazing offer!  

Reserve your table on the 'reservations' page of this website.  (And bring your friends!) 

See you in January!  

It's that time of the year again - the Mayan's are threatening, it's cold but IT'S CHRISTMAS!!!  

We'd like to take this opportunity to thank our guests for your support over the past year!  We've had an unforgettable year and we've loved sharing your special moments with you.  We have some truly fantastic memories to take with us into the new year, including a 5-star review in the Birmingham Mail (Thanks Mr Fulford!) as well as retaining the number 1 spot in Warwickshire on TripAdvisor (thank you to everyone who reviewed us).  We've also achieved both regional and national Diner's Choice Awards in the summer and gained an entry in the 2013 Michelin Guide which we're both very proud to be a part of.  

We'd like to wish you a very merry Christmas and we look forward to welcoming you back to the chef's dozen in 2013.  

Just a quick one - We're very excited and proud to share with you that we've been included in the Michelin Guide for 2013!  Now time to get back to the stove!  

Over the last fourteen months we have often been asked how we came up with the idea for our signature menu,  so we thought it would be nice to give you the full story.

‘The idea’ was formed whilst we were working in South Africa at Le Quartier Francais in 2009. The Tasting Room restaurant had a set tasting menu similar to most fine dining restaurants with a second menu that had a free choice of five-courses from ten dishes. Our favourite restaurant to eat in on days off was Overture, a relaxed restaurant on a wine farm in Stellenbosch that did amazing food with a very different syle to Le Quartier but again with a free choice from a set number of dishes. This was new and exciting to us and different from anything we had experienced in the UK.  

Around this time the informal restaurants movement was taking off and we would often talk about different ideas of getting started for ourselves. One favourite idea at the time was to take over a ‘greasy spoon’ café in a city, with an open kitchen in the back passing over the dishes to guests. The idea was simple great food in an informal setting with the idea that you choose your own 'tasting menu', from similarly sized seasonal dishes, rather than the restaurant deciding for you. So if you prefered you could have all savoury courses or even two puddings!

When we returned to England and a potential collaboration with a gastro pub in the South East didn’t quite happen, we found ourselves turning our thoughts back to ‘the idea’.  However, being a ‘country boy’, the thought of being in a city didn’t really appeal. So‘the idea’ was adapted. We considered Chipping Campden (Richard’s home town) and Stratford-upon-Avon before agreeing upon Longbarn Village just outside of Alcester (which is still just half an hour from Rich’s home network of suppliers and also a short drive from Birminghams suburbs). People thought we were crazy wanting to attempt an untried format - including potential business partners – but we were convinced, so we struck out alone. And here we are, now in our second year with ‘the chef’s dozen’, with a menu format that keeps us on our toes and you, our guest, in control. And we would not have it any other way!

Hello All

As we approach our first birthday, we’d like to thank you for your patronage over the past 12 months.  It has been an exciting year from our opening night when we found out we were feeding a former Roux-brother chef to our five-star review in the Birmingham Mail in February this year. 

To those who took the time to review us on both TripAdvisor and Opentable, thank you for your kind and humbling comments.   Through your reviews, we’ve achieved recognition in TripAdvisor’s Warwickshire listing as well as both regional and national commendation in the OpenTable Diner’s Choice Awards. 

tweaks 
Our second year brings with it a few tweaks.  We have bowed to popular demand and altered the structure a little.  This year, we are offering three, five and seven courses:   The three-course option will be available tuesday to thursday  for those who fancy popping in for a lighter meal, whereas the five-course option will allow for a more classically composed meal i.e Starter, Fish, Meat, Cheese, Dessert. (Rest assured, though, you can still choose whichever combination of dishes you prefer). For those of you who prefer the ‘tasting menu’ option, we now offer seven-courses - we have managed to resist demands for the twelve-course meal!  These changes will come into effect on our official birthday, Saturday 21 April.  (The new website should also be up and running by then – meaning we will be able to update the online menu regularly so you will be able to see the menu progress through the seasons!)   

wine-tasting dinner
For those who have enjoyed our dinner-party style wine-tasting dinners, we have another one coming up with James from Vin Neuf in Stratford on Thursday 10 May 2012.  Please be aware that numbers are limited for the event so early booking is essential.  The price is £40 a head and includes snacks, a four-course dinner and wines.   

new opening hours

Please be aware of our new opening hours: We are now closed on Sunday and Monday, reopening Tuesday evening, once the kitchen ‘team’ has freshly created the week’s menu.

 The ‘chef’s dozen’ menu is available Noon – 2:30 pm (Wednesday to Saturday) and 7:00 – 9:00pm (Tuesday to Saturday).

the good food guide restaurant of the year competition 
And finally, if you’ve enjoyed your chef’s dozen dining experience, The Good Food Guide’s restaurant of the year competition ends on Monday 23 April 2012.  If you’d like to vote for us, please do follow the link:  http://www.thegoodfoodguide.co.uk/feedback   

We look forward to welcoming everyone back in our second year.   

 Thank you, once again.   

 Richard and Solanche

To all of the amazing people we’ve had the pleasure of meeting over the past two years:
 
It is with mixed emotions that we announce that, due to strained relations with our landlady and the longstanding complications of the Longbarn Village site, we have decided not to renew our lease.
 
The past two years have been incredible.  We have enjoyed every minute of building ‘the chef’s dozen’ into what it is and, looking back, we can’t believe what we’ve achieved in such a short period. We set out with the intention of stripping back the unnecessary restaurant fuss to concentrate on good value and big flavours with a relaxed and welcoming service - which, hopefully, you feel we have delivered.
 
We will be using this as an opportunity to evolve.  We are building stronger relationships with our small-scale, artisan food producers  - relationships that will give us access to even better ingredients, grown and hung to our very own specifications.
 
We will also be working on tweaks, designed to improve everyone’s experience  and we’ll let you know all the details including where and when you can find version 2.0 of ‘the chef’s dozen’, in due course.  
 
We certainly will take with us some truly magnificent memories. We want to thank you all for your kindness, generosity and continued support and we look forward to seeing you in the not-to-distant future.
 
 
Richard and Solanche
 
P.S. If you know of any small-scale quality food producers in the Warwickshire and Worcestershire region that you think we should know about, please do tell us about them
 
 

Keep up with Chef's Dozen news on twitter @thechefsdozen, facebook 'the chef's dozen'  and online at www.thechefsdozen.co.uk