The Olive Branch Newsletter: Spring/Summer 2016

Spring & Summer 2016 Your pub newsletter – free to take home

Masterclasses Try one of our wine and kitchen tuition sessions

Twitter: @theolivebranch Facebook: olivebranchclipsham Instagram: olivebranchclipsham

The Olive Branch, Main Street, Clipsham, Rutland, LE15 7SH, 01780 410 355, www.theolivebranchpub.com Photo: Robin Stewart

Welcome..

To your latest Olive Branch newsletter

WINE MASTERCLASSES WITH PEDRO Join us on a wonderful journey of wine and food e’ve launched a series of informal Wine Masterclasses, hosted by wine aficionado and restaurant manager Pedro Torres. The tutored tastings, accompanied by tapas-sized dishes to match, take place once a month on Saturday

W

lunchtimes. Guests arrive at 12.30pm and take seats in The Barn before being guided through seven wines, learning the stories and techniques behind each. The Masterclass takes about two hours. Pedro adores wine and you’ll find his passion infectious. He’s even

Book online: www.theolivebranchpub.com

planning to visit his native Spain to lug huge buckets of grapes up hills at his favourite vineyard!

The next Wine Masterclass will take place on Saturday April 9 and focus on Grenache. See our website for details of this and future events, or call 01780 410355. Price: £55.

fter 14 years and many awards, serving wonderful customers and employing wonderful staff, we are no longer the owners of the Red Lion Inn at Stathern. Wayne and Karen Hammond – loyal Red Lion customers for 20 years – bought the pub from us at the end of January 2016. We would like to thank all the

A

staff who have worked for us and all the customers who have eaten, drunk and partied with us, plus all the suppliers who have helped and supported us at the Red Lion Inn. Now our focus is on The Olive Branch, which we will continue to grow while maybe spending a bit more time with our families!

KITCHEN TUITION SESSIONS WITH SEAN E ach Tuesday you have the chance to join our kitchen team for half a day of professional, hands-on experience and tuition, and then take home some of the best ingredients prepared by your own hands.

The day starts at 8am with a chat with head chef Sean Hope over coffee and pastries, before being taken through to our preparation kitchen and introduced to your ingredients (locally-sourced pork or lamb, or a selection of freshly delivered fish and shellfish).

You then wield the knife under Sean’s expert tuition, working your way through all

Gift Vouchers

the different cuts. You’ll also learn forgotten skills such as how to prepare stock, dripping and sauces.

After being a butcher or fishmonger for the morning, you have the option of sitting down for a meal cooked by Sean, served with wine, beer and cider to match if you wish.

You then return home with your various cuts, all vacuumsealed and labelled ready for the freezer. You’ll also be given recipe notes.

These sessions cost from £150 (for tuition, light lunch, recipe sheets, stocks, sauces and a choice of ingredients from your morning’s work).

BOOK NOW 01780 410355

If you want to buy someone a place on a Kitchen or Wine Masterclass but don’t know when they can attend, why not get them an Olive Branch gift voucher? You can buy one on our website – click the ‘Make a Booking’ button.

Book online: www.theolivebranchpub.com

COOKERY DEMOS

Come along, learn brilliant recipes and enjoy a delicious lunch e’re now taking bookings for Sean’s two-hour seasonal cookery demonstrations at The Olive Branch, which are followed by a wonderful threecourse lunch. The day begins at 10am with coffee, after which Sean demonstrates a specially chosen seasonal menu and then prepares lunch for all guests, which is served with a complimentary glass of wine at 12.30pm. Sean provides a continuous stream of time-saving hints and tips on menu preparation, cooking and final presentation during the demonstration. Guests leave with a copy of the recipes for the featured dishes.

W

Book online: www.theolivebranchpub.com

Dates are as follows...

Tuesday, May 10 Tuesday, July 5 Tuesday, September 6 Tuesday, November 8 Tuesday, December 6

ORDER NOW 01780 410355

WINES OF THE MOMENT: SPECIAL OFFER Pedro has put together a great selection of wines, which you can buy in the Pub Shop. If you’d like to pick up a bottle or a box, please ask a member of the team when you’re next in, or give us a call to discuss delivery.

Whites

Assisi Grechetto Sportoletti 2014, Umbria, Italy Grechetto is a grape that’s originally from Greece. This wine has notes of peaches, almonds and apples, plus a crisp acidity. £11.

Clos du Caillou Blanc Clairette 2014, Cotes du Rhone, France Hints of grapefruit, white peach and browned apple; fresh and clean. £14.50.

Neudorf Sauvignon Blanc 2015, Nelson, New Zealand Intense tropical fruit: guava, nectarines, lemongrass, kaffir lime and peaches; zesty acidity. £17.

Reds

Douro Lote 138 Quinta dos Avidagos DOC 2014, Portugal A wonderful blend with intense notes of damsons, plums and cherries; great balance and fresh acidity. £11.25.

Undurraga TH Pinot Noir 2013, Leyda Valley, San Antonio, Chile Wild strawberries, smoked cherries, black olives and juicy raspberries; muscular but elegant. £17.50.

Patrimonio Domaine Cordoliani 2009, Corsica, France Notes of dark, ripe fruits, black cherries, wild strawberries and Herbs de Provence; spicy with ripe tannins and a long finish; great with spring lamb. £18.

COMING SOON...

Our own paddock with veg patch

We’re planning to create The Olive Branch’s very own vegetable and herb patch on a paddock opposite the pub. Head chef Sean’s green fingers are itching to get planting and the aim is to develop a growing plan to create sustainable, locally sourced food for the pub.

To tie in with the paddock’s creation, we’re planning a summer food fair to take place on Sunday June 26.

Book online: www.theolivebranchpub.com

SPRING &

OLIVE BRANCH CYCLING ROUTES As any cyclist will tell you, few things are more satisfying than a fantastic meal after a good bike ride down beautiful country lanes. Our new website allows fans of pedal power to access six brilliant routes (and growing) that go past the pub. Simply go to www.theolivebranchpub.com, scroll down and look for the ‘Ride With GPS’ logo. Clicking on it takes you to a page where you can load the routes onto a GPS phone app or a Garmin-type device. There’s also a Strava logo on pub website, which links to ‘The Olive Branch Pub Cycling Club’. Get pedalling!

A few examples of dishes you can order The team have created some wonderful dishes for our spring and summer menus. Here are just a few that we’ll be serving as the days continue to lengthen…

Corned beef hash, pickled cabbage, horseradish cream Smoked salmon tartar, crispy sourdough, confit egg yolk Native lobster bisque, Thermidor brioche Line-caught wild seabass, spiced puy lentils, morteau sausage, bulb fennel Sirloin rosé veal, bone marrow & courgette quiche Local rabbit, salt-baked new potatoes, pickled carrot, hot English mustard mayonnaise

DINE FOR #TEAMGEORGE

Summer berry Charlotte, goat’s curd ice cream Stone fruits, elderflower gratin

Photo: Robin Stewart

Thanks to all those who supported our Dine for #TeamGeorge Menu in February. Throughout the month we offered a £10 two-course dinner menu to help raise funds for the long-term rehabilitation of 18-year-old George Robinson, who suffered a serious spinal injury whilst playing rugby in South Africa for Stamford School in July 2015.

Thanks to you we managed to raise £3,718. Here are a couple of pictures you posted on social media while at dining for #teamgeorge at The Olive Branch.

For more on #TeamGeorge, follow @teamgeorge37 on Twitter.

Book online: www.theolivebranchpub.com

SUMMER DISHES at The Olive Branch over the next few months

July and August sees the return of Fruits de Mer at The Olive Branch. Our Fruits de Mer platter is priced at £21.50 and is perfect for two to share as a starter or a light lunch, or for one to enjoy as a main course. Our Fruits de Mer platter may include clams in chilli butter, crevettes with lemon aioli and crabs baked in their shells. www.theolive

BOOK NOW

Tapas on the Terrace

Throughout May and June we’ll be serving our pub tapas which, when the weather is kind, you’ll be able to enjoy on our garden terrace. The tapas, priced at £20 per person, include the likes of gazpachio, rabbit scotch egg, calamari, padrón peppers, chargrilled gem lettuce and more. Tapas desserts may include fresh berry gratin, cinnamon doughnuts, chocolate coffee mousse and more.

branchpub. com

Photo: Robin Stewart

Photo: Robin Stewart

Fruits de Mer

Book online: www.theolivebranchpub.com

Book away now!a night

GET AWAY, LOCALLY Beech House is the perfect place for a luxurious staycation o many guests who stay with us at Beech House – our luxury accommodation opposite the pub – tell us they have only travelled a few miles but still feel like they’ve got away from it all. Imagine driving 20

S

minutes down the road and getting that wonderful feeling of escape, minus the long journey and traffic queues.

However, if you do want to travel further afield for your break, a few places we love and would heartily recommend

BEST WINES

BY THE GLASS Following a lunchtime (which continued till early evening!) visit to Jason Atherton’s Social Wine & Tapas restaurant in London, our manager Pedro has discovered the ‘Coravin’, a brilliant device that lets you serve a glass of wine without opening the bottle! It’s a bit more complicated than that but it allows us to serve some of our best wines by the glass without them spoiling. We’ve now got a Coravin and we will soon be offering a small selection of our finest wines by the glass. So next time you dine with us you can try a very special claret with your steak without having to buy the whole bottle.

Book online: www.theolivebranchpub.com

include The Cat in West Hoathly, West Sussex; The Star Inn at Harome, Yorkshire; and The Swan at Bampton, Devon.

For more choice, check out an excellent new online collection of pubs with rooms at www.innplaces.co.uk.

RUTLAND CHARCUTERIE IN THE PUB SHOP

Visit our Pub Shop for great local produce

We’ve got some fantastic local produce on sale in our Pub Shop, so don’t forget to look next time you visit. Some of our favourite food is from The Rutland Charcuterie Company, based in Braunston in Rutland, who produce delicious cured meats. The company is run by Nick Brake, who converted his farm’s granary into a butchery a few years ago. Nick’s passion is for making British charcuterie with free-range meat sourced from local producers. He studied at The School of Artisan Food in Nottinghamshire before setting up his charcuterie business.

Photo: Robin Stewart

To find great Beech House breaks and offers, visit our website and click on ‘Bedrooms’. Why not arrive early for lunch and enjoy tapas on the terrace or a fruits de mer platter?