DINING OUT Tom Kerridge on why

>>Are you seeking a memorable dining out experience this spring? These are our recommendations to help you support the industry...

1.The Red Lion, Bicker...

Good food begins with good ingredients, and so there’s nobody better to trust than one of the county’s most renowned farming families to create and source local fruit vegetables and meat with which to create wonderful dishes. The Duffy family has owned the Red Lion at Bicker since 2012 and the pub’s sister venues are The Poachers Country Hotel at Kirton Holme and The Supreme Inns on he Bicker Bar Roundabout. At 350 years old the Red Lion features stunning architecture creating a great backdrop for the pub restaurant’s dishes. There’s a great à la carte menu featuring classic dishes prepared with skill and creativity, and a VERY good Sunday lunch is available too. We’re also fans of the Lincolnshire Tapas option, which provides a choice of 14 smaller ‘mix and match’ dishes to enjoy as sharing dishes, starters or a tapas-style main course.

n Ye Olde Red Lion, Bicker, Boston, Lincolnshire, PE20 3EF Call 01775 821200, www.redlionbicker.co.uk. Tandoori fillet of salmon.

2.The Black Horse...

Based at Gosberton, The Black Horse specialises in providing a traditional pub atmosphere but food that proves satisfying and well-crafted. During our visit honey-roasted Norfolk pork belly and seared pigeon breast sat on the menu alongside a Bouillabaisse and wonderful winter desserts like a poached pear crumble. Based in South Holland, the team make the most of the availability of superb local ingredients with no gimmicks, just a really satisfying dining experience. n The Black Horse, Gosberton Risegate, Spalding PE11 4ET. Call 01775 840995 or see www.theblackhorse-gr.co.uk.

3.The Cross Keys, Grasby, Caistor...

Grasby’s Cross Keys affords its diner spectacular views of Lincoln Cathedral, from its elevated position between Caistor and Brigg. Chef patron Steph Barker and front of house Malika Garwell work with their team to create imaginative dishes with lots of local ingredients and big flavours. Currently the Cross Keys team is running a single menu with seven main courses including roasted duck breast and duo of lamb. Later in 2021 it’s expected that restaurant’s Specials Nights will resume, for deliciously different dining. n The Cross Keys, Grasby, DN38 6AQ. Call 01652 628247, www.crosskeysinngrasby.co.uk.

Roasted duck breast, with salt baked beetroot, and buttered corn.

4.The Petwood Hotel, Woodhall Spa...

Happily, the appeal of The Petwood Hotel in Woodhall Spa extends way beyond its Dambusters heritage, with excellent AA rosette dining courtesy of Philip Long and his brigade, via a menu that comprises a blend of à la carte dishes and traditional favourites. As spring begins to appear you can enjoy a walk around the hotel’s grounds and the woodland that surround The Petwood Hotel. Then, later on in the year, subject to restrictions lifting, enjoy days touch of cabin fever, and you’d like to enjoy a Thankfully, we’ve the perfect suggestion. Belvoir Castle’s Engine Yard is located adjacent to the 15,000 acre Belvoir Castle estate, and the Grade I castle which stretches 450ft into the sky and is home to the Duke of Rutland. The Duchess of Rutland Emma Manners created the £2.5m Engine Yard, development, which opened in 2018 and as well as the interiors shops, posh delis and garden centres, the Fuel Tank and Balloon Bar provide excellent food, from brunches to lunches or just to a slice of cake to enjoy with decent coffee.

spent in Jubilee Park opposite, with Woodhall Spa’s 1940s weekend hopefully returning after its absence in 2020. During the warmer months the hotel’s terrace is an ideal spot to enjoy al fresco dining. In addition, The Petwood Hotel also invites open air theatre companies like Chapterhouse to perform within the grounds too, so visit the hotel’s website regularly for an up to date events list

n The Petwood Hotel, Stixwould Rd, Woodhall Spa, LN10 6QG. Call 01526 352411, www.petwood.co.uk. Pictured right is the hotel’s Chilled chocolate fondant, blackberry purée and crème fraîche sorbet

5.Engine Yard, Grantham

It’s still pretty chilly, you’ve come down with a trip somewhere, although you’re stuck for ideas. throughout 2021.

n The Fuel Tank at the Engine Yard, Belvoir Castle, Grantham NG32 1PA. Call 01476 247059 or see www.engineyardbelvoir.com

Baked North Sea cod, smoked haddock and pea sauce with parsley mash at Orton Hall.

Dining Out: Going a little further afield...

Naturally we’re keen advocates of enjoying Lincolnshire’s best pubs, restaurants and hotels, but if you were inclined to venture a little further, we promise the trip will be worth it... n Looking for astonishing fine dining in a pretty village location? Look no further than The Chubby Castor near Stamford. Chef Adebola Adeshina has worked with Gordon Ramsay and Marcus Wareing at Petrus, his own restaurant is exceptionally impressive! n Rutland’s Barnsdale Lodge is highly recommended ideal for morning coffee, a superb lunch or brilliant evening dining. Close to Rutland Water, you can also blow the cobwebs away with a walk or cycle around the reservoir.

01572 724678, www.barnsdalelodge.co.uk. n Orton Hall, Peterborough boasts a stunning location and has its own spa. Choose from fine dining in the Huntley Restaurant or relaxed quality in the Ramblewood Inn.

WHOLLY SMOKE

This month we revisited Highway 61, or at least the A17, to visit a Lincolnshire restauranteur providing phenomenal authentic barbecue products. Thanks to Yummy – which provides fresh local food, delivered right to your door – the scent of hickorysmoked deliciousness is blowin’ in the wind…

Words: Rob Davis.

FREEWHEELIN’ DAVID BEEVER is cooking up a treat, in his HQ in the beating heart of the Lincolnshire countryside. You’ll know when you’re there… if the scent of slow-cooked, hickory-infused meat, drifting across the misty fields doesn’t give it away, the sound of Bob Dylan playing at full volume will.

So loud is the sound of folk rock that David doesn’t hear me knock, knock, knocking on heaven’s door – or at least the door of his development kitchen – so I decide to take a liberty and just walk in. The poor guy nearly jumped out of his skin in surprise. “Sorry, it’s his new album…” David replied.

“I didn’t know he had one out. What’s it like?” I ask.

“It’s pretty good. Here, try this,” he says and hands me a slice of the slow-cooked brisket that, along with Bob Dylan, was commanding his attention prior to my arrival. “What’s it like?

“It’s pretty good too,” I reply. Actually, that was a thoroughly indecent understatement. It was one of the best things I’ve ever tasted, which is great news for the good folk of Lincolnshire who are now able to avail themselves of David’s authentic, slow-cooked, barbecue-smoked brisket, ribs, pulled pork and chicken for themselves… all from the comfort of our homes.

Alas, the term barbecue has, in the UK, been disgraced to express undercooked sausages with burned exteriors, or fatty mass-market burgers dripping with grease and tainted by the whiff of white spirit or some other nefarious accelerant.

The good old US-of-A, meanwhile, has a more devout adherence to barbecue conventions, as David himself knows, having embarked, in his youth, on a coast-to-coast road trip where he fell in love with barbecue food all the way from Texas to Tennessee, Memphis to Mississippi and from Oklahoma to Arcansas... ‘yee-haw!’

“Barbecue meat is much maligned,” he says. “Forget cloying sauces or overly sweet flavours. Our products adhere to proper barbecue practices. Namely the cooking of good-quality meat, slowly, over a long, low, consistent heat to break down the collagen and fats whilst infusing a sweet hickory smokiness.”

A different ‘rub’ is applied to each product post-butchery; a process which happens on site, prior to smoking. >>