The Old Vicarage Restaurant

About

30 years of culinary excellence - The Old Vicarage always offers outstanding food and a warm welcome.

In three decades of business we have consistently received countless awards and accolades from leading national food critics. Whilst it is pleasing to have this type of professional endorsement the accolades we rate highest of all are those from the many happy guests who return time and time again.

Whether it is an intimate dinner for two, a fine dining private party, or a formal function, you can be assured of inspirational cooking, friendly hospitality and professional service second to none.

The Old Vicarage is a delightful Victorian country house in a quiet rural position, surrounded by acres of rolling lawns and hidden copses. This is a comfortable rather than a grand house with a warm aura of hospitality. With idyllic views over Ridgeway and the Moss Valley it’s easy to forget that you’re just 10 minutes away from the M1 motorway.

Completed in 1846, this is a typically solid stone-built Church house, set in grounds originally laid out by a celebrated Victorian horticulturist with mature specimen trees first brought as seedlings from the Middle East in 1850. With gravel driveway, croquet lawn, kitchen garden, stables and coach house, The Old Vicarage may appear to be reliably traditional and meet everyone’s expectations of a typically English country house.

However, once you enter the restaurant the conservative and the predictable are left behind. Guests can expect to enjoy exciting, vibrant, internationally recognised and modern cooking by Tessa Bramley with her talented kitchen team.

Tessa Bramley, owner and chef of The Old Vicarage for 30 years, continues to guide and influence her long-established kitchen team. The style is modern and innovative, full of unexpected flavour combinations, based on advanced professional technique yet always grounded in the traditional roots of classical cooking.

Tessa has a clear understanding of how to coax every nuance of flavour from the ingredients she uses. Her work revolves around the garden – this is country cooking, properly grounded in nature and evocative of the seasons. All of the fresh produce used at The Old Vicarage is grown in the kitchen garden or comes from the nearby farms.

Tessa is a prolific writer and a frequent contributor to national magazines and periodicals. She has also written several books including ‘The Instinctive Cook’, ‘Traditional Puddings’ and ‘Casseroles: Comfort Food at its Best’.

Tessa has presented TV shows for the BBC, Channel 4 and ITV, with appearances on ‘Here’s One I Made Earlier’, ‘Masterchef’, and ‘Light Lunch’. She’s made several TV series, on location as well as at The Old Vicarage.