"Homemade" in Oxford and Paris

There’s been a lot of discussion in the national and international press over the summer about France’s introduction of a “Fait Maison” law: the introduction of a little symbol intended to show which restaurant dishes have been entirely prepared in house, and which have had some kind of prep done off site. The majority of the fuss has been around the specifics of the rules: frozen chopped vegetables are fine, unless they’re potatoes for chips, which aren’t acceptable; paté can’t be made elsewhere but pasta can; that French classic, steak tartare, could be chopped up in some factory and then dumped on your plate and still qualify for the logo. But is there any point in having such a symbol at all? Would it improve food in Oxford?

You might think this is the sort of thing I would be entirely in favour of: I love supporting independent restaurants who craft and produce fantastic food that reflects Oxford and themselves, not mass-produced generic pap. Oxford is flooded with exactly the type of chain restaurant which France’s Fait Maison law is designed to expose, but would introducing a similar symbol here actually have any effect on them? We need to recognise that a large proportion of Oxford’s restaurants are sustained by the tourist trade, by visitors whose concern is not for the local but for the safe, the recognisable, and the comfortable. They prefer not to risk a chef at a local independent restaurant serving them something spicy, and what on earth are they meant to do when faced with homemade brawn on a menu?

These customers are unlikely to be deterred from visiting a chain restaurant simply because it doesn’t display a logo, so the restaurants which benefit most from their custom will continue to do so, squeezing out independent trade in the city centre. But what of locals? I like to think that I’m capable of knowing just from reading a menu whether or not the majority of the food is prepared and cooked in house, or shipped in ready-prepped. Menus with more than 15 main courses are unlikely to consist entirely of fresh ingredients, for example. And then there is the helpful weasel phrase “home-cooked”: not “homemade”, mind, but produced in a factory hundreds of miles away and then reheated in the restaurant kitchen once you’ve ordered it. No independent restaurant crafting dishes from scratch needs to specify home-cooked on a menu, because that is their default state; it is only restaurants where this isn’t the norm who feel the need to use this phrase. So I don’t think having a helpful little symbol on menus would help me much, either.

That’s not to say that there isn’t a group of people who this symbol wouldn’t help. There are thousands of local residents who want to eat better food but who struggle to know where to find it, or who want to support independents but are confused by restaurants owned by massive corporations masquerading as indies. Everything helps, and an easily spotted symbol on menus displayed in restaurant windows might enable this group to spend a bit more of their money on businesses doing good things.

And, finally, the symbol would allow me to easily avoid one of my greatest bête noirs, the nightmare that haunts me through even my waking hours, ruining meals just when my hopes are highest: the unexpected, frozen, oven, chip.

How to eat out sustainably

Eating out is a luxury. And, as with many luxuries, it can often be easy to forget ethical concerns when you’re enjoying them: I’ve been known to nibble on a bit of foie gras occasionally, despite knowing all the many reasons why I shouldn’t. But does that mean we should totally ignore all the noble ideals we would practice in day to day life? I think there are some simple steps we can all take when eating out to ensure the world, at least, isn’t a worse place.

That said, many of the main concerns of the sustainable food movement (how do we feed a growing world population with limited agricultural land, for example) simply aren’t relevant here: we are never going to be able to feed the world in the same way as we eat out, and we shouldn’t try to. What we’re looking for here aren’t solutions to world hunger, but working towards ensuring that our children might have many of the same options when they’re having a first date, a working lunch, or a family celebration in 20 or 30 years time.

First, you can eat seasonally. There’s one restaurant in Oxford which, in midwinter, claimed to promote “local, seasonal food” whilst serving a tomato and mozzarella salad. Luckily for us, many Oxford chefs are far more imaginative; especially in the depths of winter, what a chef can do with yet another bloody parsnip can be significantly more exciting than anything we might come up with in the confines of our own kitchen! Eating food which can be grown in the UK during its natural season reduces the amount of greenhouse gases emitted as a result of its production, whether that’s as part of the growing process itself or as a result of getting it onto your plate. It also supports the UK farming industry to keep producing great food - and if we don’t eat it now, who knows if it will still be grown in a generation’s time?

Second, try the vegetarian option occasionally! The days of vegetable lasagne and mushroom risotto are long gone, and lots of Oxford restaurants are serving vegetarian dishes as exciting - or even more exciting - than their meat or fish options. Check out <a href=”http://www.bittenoxford.co.uk/best-for-vegetarians.html”>the Bitten guide to Oxford’s best restaurants for vegetarians</a> for inspiration, and let us know if you find any particularly good dishes elsewhere. Producing a chunk of meat to sit on your plate uses far, far more of the world’s resources, and releases far more greenhouse gases, than producing the equivalent amount of vegetables.

If you can’t face a meal out without meat, then try some of the more unusual cuts on the menu. Bavette steak is fantastically tasty and just as tender as any other when it’s well cooked, and, let’s face it, the chances of that happening in a professional kitchen are much higher than when you’re at home! Restaurants love these cuts because they’re cheaper to buy (everyone wants fillet, so it’s expensive) and therefore represent more profit; you should love them because they ensure that less of an animal - and therefore less of the resources that went into its production - is wasted. For the truly adventurous, get to one of Oxford’s fab Chinese restaurants and order some offal. Britain is exporting pig offal to China at the moment, at vast environmental impact. Keep it here and let us eat it!

Third, when choosing fish look for varieties which aren’t currently in danger of becoming extinct in the wild. That might mean going for things like hake or pollock which are all still plentiful in the wild, or it might mean choosing farmed fish like salmon (although it’s worth noting that many fish farms have an appalling impact on the environment and the fish they produce, so do research, ask the restaurant lots of questions, and if you’re not happy choose something else). Choosing fish to eat can be one of the most complex areas out there, but even some small actions, like not having the cod loin, can make a massive impact.

When you read those stats about food waste (what’s the latest amount we throw away? A third?) it’s easy to assume that that waste takes place in our own houses. But massive amounts of food get wasted in restaurants, too, and especially at the end of the process. Who hasn’t had just a few nibbles from the bread basket, or pushed an unwanted salad garnish to the edge of the plate? Just as often, I find I can’t quite finish the portion of food I’ve been served (I’m only little!). When that happens, just ask to take it away - and hey presto, a free lunch tomorrow. Fantastic new scheme Too Good To Waste has just launched in Oxfordshire, and although only a few restaurants are taking part in the formal scheme, the more people ask to take away leftovers the more restaurants will join in!

Finally, sustainability isn’t just about making sure future generations enjoy the same food as we do - it can also be about sustaining the environment around them. Oxford has so much beautiful countryside just outside it, and that’s partly thanks to the wonderful range of local farmers we have. If you want to see that gorgeous patchwork of grass, wheat, and green veg in the future, then we need to support local farmers now. So when you see a local farm named on a menu, choose that dish; if no local suppliers are named, ask the restaurant why it’s not supporting them.

Modern Baker

Modern Baker may have seemed to have popped out of nowhere to land in Summertown, but it’s actually been a long time in the proving. It all began over four years ago, when owner Melissa Sharp was diagnosed with breast cancer. As she embarked on treatment, she gradually realised that her lifestyle certainly wasn’t helping her health, and may even be damaging it: her high-stress job as a management consultant, but more importantly, the food she was putting into her body, needed changing.

Melissa began to investigate alternative ways of eating and revamped her entire diet so that (mostly!) everything that goes in will do her good. Modern Baker is the result of four years of study, experimentation, and practical baking, and is Melissa’s attempt to share some of what she’s learned with others. She began by popping up at Worton Organic Garden, while taking artisan baking courses at Daylesford and at Virtuous Breads. However, a full-time bakery needs a full-time baker, and so she recruited Lindsey Stark. Lindsey comes with years of training behind her, and together the two of them began to develop their range.

The starting point for all the foods that Modern Baker produce and sell is that they should be as close to their natural state and as minimally processed as possible, whilst also tasting fab! Lindsey had trained to bake with sourdough starters, and was keen to continue using this more traditional (and, as far as I’m concerned, more flavourful) way of baking; this meshed well with the research Melissa had been doing into the health benefits of slower fermented breads. For many with gluten intolerances, sourdoughs can be considerably easier to digest than their speedily, mass-produced, supermarket cousins. They’ve also chosen to use a range of naturally lower-gluten or entirely gluten-free flours. Having experimented at home with spelt flours, I’m particularly excited to try their loaves made with kamut, an even more ancient forerunner of modern wheat.

But for many people, the cakes will be what entices them in to Modern Baker! As with their breads, Melissa has replaced processed ingredients with more natural ones, particularly focussing on replacing refined sugars with coconut sugar, honey, or maple syrup, which not only have the benefit of being less processed, they also taste significantly better. Alongside that, they try to use raw ingredients like nut butters, berries, and raw cacao.

The shop is aiming to be a one-stop centre for those interested in healthy eating, and one of the aspects Melissa has enjoyed most so far is putting together her “Wall of Health”, which runs all down one side of the shop. This holds a glee-inducing range of products I’ve previously struggled to find elsewhere: more of that raw cacao, heaven-scented herbal teas, and, joy of joys, a brilliant cookbook collection. Everything on sale has been personally tried and tested by Melissa; the cookbooks are just the tiniest selection from her collection of over 60 tomes. She’s got a way to go before hitting my total (currently running at over 80), but she’s certainly trying!

The whole space is light and airy, reflecting the cleanness of the food, and much of that is thanks to part-barista, part-designer, <a href=”http://www.charlotteorr.com/”>Charlotte Orr</a>. She drew the beautiful Scandi-inspired tree designs for the Modern Baker signs, and the whole space draws on that same feeling. I can imagine the cafe being a great place to sit, relax, and take time to focus on one’s self and one’s own health: I certainly look forward to spending many hours ensconced there.

Best for... cocktails

A lot of my eating out is done in a slightly rushed fashion: grabbing a quick bite after work, when neither of us can be bothered cooking. But when I have a proper evening out, I do like to start with a cocktail: it someone makes the whole dining out experience feel a bit more special. So where should you eat to get the best pre-dinner drinks?

My first mention goes jointly to two of the Mogford venues, Gees (61 Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 6PE), and Quod (92-94 High St, Oxford OX1 4BJ). Quod, in particular, is built for leisurely evenings, with a separate bar area staffed by charming young things. Their cocktail menu changes regularly but the bartenders are always well trained, able to advise you on which drink to choose before doing an excellent job of mixing it. They’ll provide you with nibbles and water without being asked, and even have a bar snacks menu if you’re not quite sure what to order for your main meal but are already starving hungry. After that, the main restaurant food will probably be a bit of a let down, but stick to the most simple sounding dishes on the menu and you should be fine.

I recently returned to Gees after a long absence, and it’s had quite the makeover in the meantime, making it now quite a relaxing venue to linger away an evening in. Their cocktail list is short and classic, but it’s the unfussiness of the staff which really impressed me: they were quite happy for me and my companion to sit for a good half hour or more before we ordered any actual food. The food here is certainly more interesting than at Quod – we had artichokes, soft shell crab, guinea fowl and wild sea trout – and the prices aren’t too excessive. They also serve a wide variety of wines by the carafe (or glass), in case you overdid it on the cocktails earlier.

Let’s be frank: the cocktail bar at Jamie’s (24-26 George Street, Oxford OX1 2AE), and the staff’s habit of referring everyone there for five minutes even when you have a reservation, exist solely for money-making purposes, encouraging people to spend on the drinks items with the biggest mark-ups. But once you’ve accepted that fact, you can happily sit at the bar, watch other customers come and go, and drink one of their cocktails. This is one of a few places in Oxford to serve my current favourite, the Aperol Spritz, which makes a great aperitif to Italian food, but they also mix a good Negroni. They also have a particularly good range (I’m told) of non-alcoholic cocktails.

Branca (111 Walton St, Oxford OX2 6AJ) are another mostly-Italian restaurant which recognises the importance of the aperitif. Their Prosecco-based offerings are particularly strong, and they have a changing “cocktail of the month”, so regular visitors need never be bored. Almost all their wines are available by the glass or “pot” (carafe), an even better offering than Gees manage. The food is classic Italian with some excellent sourcing - their antipasti are superb - and the atmosphere buzzes with people enjoying themselves. Definitely one for date night.

For a long time I thought that Kazbar (25-27 Cowley Rd, Oxford OX4 1HP) was only a cocktail bar: I didn’t realise it did any food, let alone excellent food. The atmosphere is so relaxed that you’d feel quite comfortable coming just for drinks, or for drinks and an occasional nibble, or for drinks and a full meal (or just food, but I’ve never tried that…). The sangria is traditional, and good, but they also do a range of more interesting cocktails. The tapas are mostly Spanish with a few Moroccan influences, and ideal for producing a leisurely meal with friends.

With the entire front half of the restaurant dedicated as a cocktail bar, Moya had to make it onto this list. You can sit at the bar and have nibbles served to you there, or you can go for the main restaurant space and have drinks at your table. They’ve got the usual range of classics, plus some fairly appalling-looking variations on Long Island Iced Tea, but their “contemporary house specials” and fizzy concoctions are where you’ll find the best stuff, like the champagne-topped Russian Spring Punch or the Walnut (brandy) Alexander. The food is robust enough to soak up a couple of drinks, so go for one of their excellently-priced bottles of wine once you’re done.

And finally, a slightly odd choice: Atomic Burgers (96 Cowley Rd, Oxford OX4 1JE). Not famed for their elegance, these guys nonetheless produce one of the finest cocktails in Oxford: the Vincent Vega Shotgun Shake. This is a peanut butter ice cream shake with a cherry on top, already an awesome thing, but with added bourbon. Genius. The only downside is that, after drinking one of these, I’m often too full to eat anything at all, let alone one of their generously topped burgers. But then, when the drink is this good, who needs food?

Meet the Producers: NBC

Since the Natural Bread Company opened their latest cafe just a 30-second walk from my office, I’ve been in regularly for coffee and sandwiches, so I’d almost forgotten that NBC are not just a single cafe but a brilliant producer, supplying farmers’ markets and restaurants across Oxford and the surrounding area. So I popped in a couple of weeks ago to chat to Charlotte and Charlie, the current managers, to find out a bit more about what they do and why they do it!

The very first hint of what was to become NBC came in 2006, when Charlotte’s mum, Claire, started baking cakes to supply to their local Appleton farmers’ market. Charlotte’s dad, Will, quickly realised he wanted in on the act, too, and in 2007 he started baking bread to supply alongside those cakes. The production was initially very small-scale (just Will in his garage), but they quickly expanded to cover other farmers’ markets in East Oxford (where I first found them!) and Wolvercote.

However, the first large expansion came in 2012, when they opened a shop in Eynsham and started selling hundreds of loaves a week, alongside a growing range of cakes and pastries created by Claire. The next year, they opened in Woodstock and paired up with HasBean coffee roasters so that they could run a cafe alongside the shop; just a few months later they opened their Little Clarendon cafe and shop. They now bake over 4,000 loaves every week, sold through their shops, various farmers’ markets, and direct to local restaurants including 1855, the Mogford empire, The Magdalen Arms, coffee fiend favourites Quarter Horse and The Missing Bean, and the Vaults and Garden.

Those not familiar with the rules of sourdough baking will be amazed to find that they’re still using the same “starter” - the yeast mother from which each loaf is born - as they did in 2007. That’s one of the elements of what makes their bread taste so great: the variety of yeasts all create slightly different compounds as they break down the flour, leading to a much richer tasting bread. The only exception to this starter rule is for their “Pugliese” loaf, baked with durum flour from a starter over 70 years old, shipped in from Italy by Will a few years ago.

Then there’s the flour. NBC decided early on that they were more interested in working with a local company, with whom they could build a relationship, than with an overseas company who might meet other sustainable aims, like producing organically-certified flour. They chose to work with Wessex Mill, based in Wantage, who in turn buy their wheat from a variety of local farms with whom they have personal longstanding relationships. Those relationships mean that NBC can be quite precise about exactly what flour they source for each individual type of bread.

After the starter and the flour, all the bread needs is water, salt, and time. Charlotte emphasised to me how important that last of those is: all their loaves rise for a minimum of 24 hours. The average supermarket loaf, on the other hand, is given less than an hour. The slowness of the rise, along with the variety of yeasts mentioned earlier, results in a much deeper flavour. The breads vary in the exact processes they go through before baking - their dark rye loaf needs more kneading, for example - but the aim through all the processes is to increase the flavour of the final loaf.

Having spent the last three years in solid expansion mode, NBC are now taking a year or two to settle back and, as Charlie says, to have a bit of a play with various new ideas! They’ve already imported a specialist cold-brewing machine for coffee from Canada, which I can testify makes an amazing iced coffee. On the other hand, they’re keen to keep doing what they do best. The Far Breton, an almost custardy prune cake, has been on the menu since 2006, and isn’t going to go anywhere!

Best for... outside dining

As I write this, another single day of vague sunshine has slowly declined into another grey Monday, and it’s increasingly looking like we’re in line for another delightful British summer. But on the off chance that we do get some balmy days, the last thing you want is to be stuck inside when eating out. I’ve found Oxford to be fairly lacking in restaurants with nice outside areas (I blame the colleges and their gorgeous quads, sucking up all the nice green enclosed spaces!), but here are a few of my top choices:

I’m a sucker for a good roof terrace, and at the time of writing the only one in Oxford belongs to the Ashmolean Dining Rooms. Admittedly, the views are mainly into the bedrooms of the Randolph, rather than of dreaming spires, but it’s better than nothing. Most of the time the Dining Rooms are only a lunchtime venue, but on Fridays and Saturdays you can sip cocktails and then watch the sun set as you eat. After a recent menu nadir, angled a little too closely at the Museum’s average elderly visitor, they seem to have had a refresh and are now offering a pleasant Mediterranean-inspired menu.

Quod is light, airy, and summery even in the depths of winter, and with their front windows open the main restaurant can feel like eating outside. But, hidden away at the rear, they have a fabulous little suntrap terrace, west-facing to catch dinnertime sunrays. It’s never the most reliable venue for food, but the drinks are excellent, the atmosphere is elegant, and service is some of the most charming I’ve had. Stick to the bistro classics (crab mayonnaise; steak; fish cakes) and you should be fine.

I wouldn’t normally recommend one Mogford venue, but I’m about to recommend a second within a single article, because I cannot talk about outside dining without mentioning the delicious, wisteria-smothered front terrace of the Old Parsonage. The pain of the frankly extortionate prices (£17 for a chicken and bacon pie?) is nearly entirely ameliorated by the quiet monastic hush, the scent of the flowers, and the fawning waitresses. They’re also quite happy to let you sit there with just a pot of tea, should the food be properly beyond your budget.

A paved area does not a pub garden make. But the one at the Jericho Tavern it is large, and sunny, and therefore fits in nicely here. Regulars of the Royal Oak or the Cape of Good Hope will recognise the menu, although it is usually better executed here than at its sister pubs, and the drinks tend to be a quid cheaper too. Probably one of the best for Friday after-work summertime drinks that might turn into dinner/more drinks/3 a.m. taxis home.

On Osney Island, the calm and the river can make it feel like you’re in the countryside, so the small concreted back garden of The Punter seems a little more romantic and outdoorsy than it might do elsewhere. The menu features the usual pub classics, but I’m keener on the more adventurous dishes: at the moment they’re advertising an aubergine soup, merguez sausages, and vine-leaf-wrapped sea bass. Not all on one plate, obviously. It’s really not that far from the town centre, but always seems to be quiet, so you’re basically guaranteed a seat in the sun.

The canteen-style dining offered by Vaults & Garden is not always the most tempting, particularly given its echoing interior and tiny little tables in regimented rows. But in summer, the “garden” element comes into its own, enabling you to sit just next to Radcliffe Square whilst you lunch, admiring the Camera and taking the piss out of tourists. Steer clear of the congealed pre-cooked rarebits and go for their nourishing health-food mains: the goat’s cheese and lentil gratin is a particular favourite.

Portabello has only a slim terrace to offer as outside dining, but on the thoroughfare of South Parade, it can sometimes seem to punch far above its size, providing a full view over the comings and goings at the other venues on the road. The mass of heaters also ensures that the season and time for eating here is significantly longer than at other places: still outside at 10 a.m. in April? No problem! The menu is starting to age, with a few too many 1990s influences hanging about, but for meat-based classics it’s still reliable.

It barely has an outside seating area (I’m not convinced by a couple of rickety chairs in the middle of a road), but with its massive windows open, Kazbar feels remarkably like sitting in a souk in Marrakech. Except with added alcohol! Most of the customers (usually including me) are focussed on those drinks, and the cocktail and wine lists should certainly be thoroughly explored, but the food is also excellent: Spanish tapas with the occasional North African excursion, often featuring ingredients which I haven’t tried. One of the best for making you feel as if it’s actually summertime.

Best for... sandwiches

The first thing that needs to be said about Oxford’s sandwich supplies is: stay away from the chains. There are plenty of branches of Costa in central Oxford, and if you want over-priced under-filled pap I highly recommend them, but let’s talk REAL sandwiches here: great bread, generous fillings, interesting combinations. A desk-based lunch need never be dull again.

Top of the list is the ever-brilliant, ever-changing Olives (42 High Street, Oxford OX1 4AP). Their everyday selection of baguettes is brilliant enough, stuffed to the brink with the finest of fillings: superb freshly sliced parma ham or salami, buffalo mozzarella, tomatoes that actually taste of something, but their weekly specials is where they really show off. The rare roast beef, blue cheese, roast onion and rocket baguette is generally reckoned to lead the field, but there’s always something interesting on offer. I once even spotted them stuffing baguettes with huge chunks of lobster and garlic mayo. On top of that, they’re a decent deli, and if you pop in and choose a bottle of wine at lunchtime, they’ll have it chilled for you by the time you leave work in the evening. 

Bread is often under-recognised as an important element in a sandwich: too many people are willing to accept a basic brown/white choice with no further questions asked. That’s the reverse of the situation at the relatively new Natural Bread Company’s Companion cafe, on Little Clarendon Street. As you’d expect from the makers of the best bread in Oxford, the focus here is on the gorgeous crusty rolls, chewy and slightly sour, but the fillings ain’t bad either. Last time I visited, the soft goat’s cheese was deliciously ripe and creamy, and the roasted vegetables actually had little charred bits on them: a far cry from the soggy mess of steamed aubergine served in many cafes. They also make an amazing coffee, with a choice of two different beans always on.

Good bread is also at the core of the offerings at the Organic Deli Cafe on Friar’s Entry, where they also make their own bread. Their range of vegetarian fillings is particularly impressive (butternut squash and brie, anyone), and all their meats are free-range at least, if not organic too. My favourite is the “Free Range”: roughly hewn slices of chicken breast with a deeply savoury homemade basil pesto and sweet sundried tomatoes. This is for those days when you are really, really, hungry. They also have a small selection of vegan groceries.

On the other hand, the next two places focus firmly on fillings, cramming them into the smallest possible amount of flatbread required to transport them to your mouth. LB’s (253 Banbury Rd, Oxford OX2 7HN) do the most dangerous garlic and tahina sauces I’ve tasted in Oxford: I’ve been known to lick the paper their sandwiches are wrapped in to make sure I don’t miss any. Order the chicken or lamb shwarma wraps, stuffed with marinated smoky grilled meat, crunchy salad, and drizzled with plenty of those sauces before being gently warmed through. Then try not to order the baklava unless you like looking like Mr Creosote.

Najar’s on St Giles might look like a small newspaper hut, but there’s a reason why the owners have been made honourary members of the Balliol JCR, and it’s not their range of magazines. Selling possibly the best falafel in Oxford (in a close tie with Al Shami), you could just take them away as they are, but for best results get them in a pitta with hummus and tahina. Just keep nodding when they ask you about the massive range of extras they will offer you.

Finally, it doesn’t exactly count as a sandwich, but one of the best treats on a sunny day in Oxford is to grab a baguette and take a trip to the Oxford Cheese Shop in the Covered Market. Let the guys behind the till know what types of cheese you normally like, or what flavours you fancy that day, and they’ll talk you through various different options, tasting as you go. Once you’ve settled on a couple (or more, if you’re greedy), add some of their chutney and amazing butter, take the lot off to University Parks, and munch contentedly.