English weather is famously unpredictable but still, top dogs at Public House Group – the hospitality trio behind the likes of The Hero, The Pelican, and The Bull in Charlbury – likely thought that the first week of June was a safe bet for its newest opening.
They were wrong, and England was in the midst of a week-long downpour when Canteen Cotswolds – a sister to the Italian-inspired London hotspot – opened in the Old Coal Yard, just outside of postcard-pretty Chipping Norton.
But, fortunately for Public House founders Phil Winser, James Gummer, and Olivier van Themsche, the group’s reputation precedes it. On the restaurant’s first Saturday, amid the rain, the place is packed and the buzz spills out of the doors. There are groups of friends; older couples sharing carafes of red; new parents holding baby toys in one hand and glasses of fizz in the other. The car park is nicely dotted with Range Rovers.
Like Canteen 1.0, the menu looks directly at Italy. “Everything is designed to share,” we’re told as we order. Focaccia arrives nearly as soon as you sit down – crunchy enough to cut the roof of your mouth but subdued with peppery olive oil. Then there’s hunks of sweet charentais melon, wrapped up in prosciutto; doughy white-base pizza with fennel salami; and steaming bowls of pasta, coated in a rich sausage ragu. Like at the London original, chicken cooked in sage-infused milk is a secondi star. Mop up the last of that fragrant, earthy sauce with the piping hot, crispy-edged Tuscan roast potatoes.
Keep the doctor happy with a side order of salad – go for the baby gem lettuce, swimming in a silky dressing, mustardy enough to feel it in your nostrils. Eating Italian-style – with a whole pizza and bowl of pasta polished off before you get to the entrees – means dessert can often be neglected. No such problem here – every table around us orders at least one plate of the chocolate mousse (again, already made famous at Big Sister Canteen), devilishly drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with salt.
Like the food, the drinks list isn’t trying too hard to challenge the status quo, and does classics excellently: the martini (vodka, slice; unless requested otherwise) is crisp and ice-cold, and the negroni is fragrant and un-fussy. Bar a single Provence rosé, the wine menu sticks entirely to Italy, and covers the length and breadth of the country.
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As you might surmise from the name, this new Canteen isn’t fine dining, so don’t come anticipating that: there are no pressed white tablecloths, nor designer cutlery. Some seats sit along the windows, others are picnic benches that have been carted inside; the odd dog hides under a table. Service is affable, cheery, and genuine, but without airs and graces. It’s prompt, too – mains might arrive while you’re still finishing the last of your pasta course.
I have my fingers crossed for a sunnier summer for the Canteen Cotswolds team, but even if it’s storms only from here on out, Public House seems to have another success on its roster.
