Jack O' Newbury

The Jack O’ Newbury is the Berkshire pub and restaurant from chef Dom Chapman and restaurateur Nigel Sutcliffe, two familiar names in British hospitality who first worked together at Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck Group.

Its rather good name reaches considerably further back. Jack O’ Newbury takes its inspiration from John ‘Jack’ Smallwood, the fifteenth-century figure known as Jack the Moneymaker. According to the story, the reluctant young novice escaped monastic life in Gloucestershire, joined a band of travelling players and headed south in search of something more interesting. It is a suitably colourful name for Chapman and Sutcliffe’s own new chapter in Binfield.

Chapman was formerly Head Chef at The Hind’s Head and went on to run The Royal Oak at Paley Street and The Beehive in White Waltham, while Sutcliffe was Managing Director of The Fat Duck Group. Here they have taken on a restored village inn with an 80-cover dining room, Snug bar and terrace overlooking two acres of private grounds.

There is a wildflower meadow and herb garden used by the kitchen, an Argentinian grill outside and a separate pavilion for private dining and events. The menu is firmly that of a very good British pub, but Chapman’s restaurant pedigree is evident: British produce, some European influence and prime cuts from British farms cooked over the grill.

The Jack also has 11 individually designed bedrooms, divided between the original pub and a converted barn. Windsor and Ascot are a short drive away and London is around 30 miles distant, making it as useful for a Berkshire weekend as it is for lunch or dinner closer to home.