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CHEERS!
The 2013 Michelin guide
awarded stars to 13 UK pubs,
including The Harwood Arms
and the Sir Charles Napier.
The Hand & Flowers is the
only pub with two stars.
* The Sir Charles Napier
Chinnor, Oxfordshire
www.sircharlesnapier.co.uk
* The Harwood Arms
Fulham, London
www.harwoodarms.com
** The Hand & Flowers
Marlow, Buckinghamshire
www.thehandandflowers.co.uk
* The Pipe and Glass Inn
South Dalton, East Yorkshire
www.pipeandglass.co.uk
* The Butchers Arms
Eldersfield, Gloucestershire
www.thebutchersarms.net
* The Hinds Head
Bray, Berkshire
www.hindsheadbray.com
* Red Lion
East Chisenbury, Wiltshire
www.redlionfreehouse.com
* The Masons Arms
Knowstone, Devon
www.masonsarmsdevon.co.uk
* The Black Swan
Oldstead, North Yorkshire
www.blackswanoldstead.co.uk
* The Stagg Inn
Titley, Herefordshire
www.thestagg.co.uk
* The Sportsman
Whitstable, Kent
www.thesportsmanseasalter.co.uk
* The Nut Tree
Murcott, Oxfordshire
www.nuttreeinn.co.uk
* The Pony & Trap
Chew Magna, Somerset
www.theponyandtrap.co.uk
� GO TO LONDON SAS takes you to London. Book your trip
at www.flysas.com or use your EuroBonus points. Round-trips
to London start at 30,000 points from airports in Scandinavia
and Finland. Taxes and fees apply, from €68.
trilby hat and a touch of makeup, a man who looks
like a Beat poet dressed all in black who regularly
steps out for a hand-rolled cigarette. What’s totally
unexpected is that in back there’s a lively Thai
restaurant serving dishes such as chicken khao rad
na (rice stir-fry with vegetables and gravy) and
kaeng ped phed yang (roasted duck with red curry)
in a room where orchids and tropical vines hang
from the ceiling. It’s a wonderful juxtaposition of
Thai and traditional – Bang-cockney? – but what
robs The Churchill of its cigar is its own success.
It’s simply too busy for our liking.
The following afternoon we’re back in Clerkenwell.
After a few wrong turns down narrow Dickensian
streets, the Jerusalem Tavern appears like
a stage set left over from the filming of Oliver! It
dates from 1810 and once housed a watchmaker,
hence the huge windows to let in as much light as
possible. The interior is old and inviting, all dark
gray stone and woodwork painted seaweed green,
with engravings and decorative blue-and-white
tiling on the walls. St. Peter’s Brewery from Suffolk
owns the pub and makes the ales, including
cream ale, organic bitter, grapefruit ale and even
(a sign of the times) gluten-free ale. A sign headed
“Serious Pig” lists ham and salami to nibble on,
and there are sourdough sandwiches. Today’s special
is sea bream. What more could you ask?
The quiet is disturbed only by the slow ticking
of an old clock and an American couple whose conversation
ranges over presidential politics, British
art and their shared love of Buffy the Vampire
Slayer as they drink their pints of winter ale. In the
front bar twentysomething Matt Higgins sits by
the window reading The Economist over a pint of
St. Peter’s mild. We strike up a conversation and in
just a few words he sums up the simple pleasures
of a pub.
“I’m off work this week,” he says. “I’ve got my
newspaper, I’ve got my beer. Life is grand.” �
Lazing on a
sunny afternoon:
Enjoying a weekday
pint at the
Jerusalem Tavern
SCANORAMA DECEMBER 2012/JANUARY 2013 67
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