THE BAILIWICK

BACK IN THE GAME

The Covid pandemic may have scuppered one Berkshire venue for chef Steven Ellis, but he’s back with a refreshing revamp of The Bailiwick in Windsor

By MARK KEBBLE

“Location was everything about The Bailiwick for me and Ami”

AMI AND STEVEN ELLIS

For someone who has worked for such legendary culinary names as Jamie Oliver, Gordon Ramsay and Clare Smyth, it’s fair to say that Steven Ellis must have a pretty strong backbone when it comes to knock-backs. Even so, when Covid put pay to his joint venture with his wife,

Ami, it must have been pretty galling.

“I set up my first pub, The Oxford

Blue, in 2015 in Old Windsor,” he says,

“which I ran with my wife up until the

Covid outbreak. Due to reasons out of our control we sadly had to close this chapter. However, as the saying goes,

‘as one door closes, another opens’.”

That door was the one to The

Bailiwick, located by the gates of

Windsor Great Park. “Location was everything about The Bailiwick for me and Ami,” Steven smiles. “Having been operating in the area previously at The Oxford Blue we started to build a strong relationship with Peter [Clayton], who is the head gamekeeper from the Windsor Great Park. Over time he introduced us to a number of other people from the park, and this flourished into a close working relationship with them, using a lot of their produce as sustainability and locality is a huge part of our ethos. Being on the gates of the park, we couldn’t get any closer if we tried! Being able to use a lot of their produce as well as their Windsor Great Park sparkling wine helps add to our story. It was in fact Peter who told us that The Bailiwick was going on the market originally.”

And, for once, there was a small positive to come out of the pandemic. “As we took it on over lockdown, we took advantage of not being able to open and carried out a full refurb,” Steven explains. “It was a whole family a air carried out by Ami’s father who did all the structural work, and my brother taking on all the electrical works. A lot of changes were done, but we see them in a more positive way. The bar for example was moved back to the middle of the pub, which we found out from old pictures was where it originally was.”

The setting is wonderfully atmospheric and looks great, but for those who know Steven and his work, the food will be the main reason for a visit to The Bailwick. “I started my career at Jamie Oliver’s restaurant Fifteen in Old Street, London, as a chef rather than an apprentice which he was famed for,” Steven says on his culinary background. “I moved on from there to refine my skills at the three Michelin starred restaurant Gordon Ramsay in Chelsea, where I spent a large part of my career training under the watchful eye of Clare Smyth MBE at the helm, and I fell in love with the idea of ‘gastro’.”

What was it like to work with Clare Smyth? “I’d be lying if I didn’t say it was one of the most challenging and hardest times in my career to date. However,” he adds with a smile, “if you asked me if I had the chance to do it all again would I, then the answer would be absolutely yes! Clare helped me develop my skills, and refine my look on how a professional kitchen should be run as well as operate. She showed me how to respect our job and treat it the same as how a professional football team would operate. My passion to succeed grew immensely under her tuition, and I do owe her a lot regarding where I am in my career to date.”

On his style of cooking, he says: “I would describe it as being traditionally British influenced, but using French

cooking. The ingredients that I am most passionate about and excites me the most has to be game. I was introduced to this at The Star Inn [in Yorkshire, where he actually met Ami], they used to have shooting parties and would bring back their day’s shoot for us to cook.

“We feel we o er a good mixed selection of dishes to our guests,” he moves on to the menus we’d fi nd at The Bailiwick. “Due to being short sta ed at the beginning we were unable to prepare our a la carte menu for lunch and dinner. So instead, we created a more relaxed lunch time o ering made up of classic pub fare, which gave us the extra time to prepare our more refi ned a la carte o ering for the evenings. What we didn’t realise at the time, and has now become

ALL GUESTS ARE WELCOME a blessing in disguise, is that our lunch time trade of walkers, elderly couples, and tourists don’t want a heavy three-course menu! This has stuck and enabled us to o er three di erent styles throughout the week. On Sundays we o er a traditional roast style menu, as we get a lot of groups and families visiting. This is more of a sharing style where we fi ll the tables with their chosen cut of meat and vegetables, caulifl ower cheese and roast potatoes – the communal aspect works much better than just plating dishes all up individually.”

On his love for game, Steven says: “For me I love the fact that game is still ‘wild’ and not farmed, I’m a fan of the traditional hunter/gatherer style of working. I sit down at the beginning of the week with the local gamekeeper and discuss what’s in or coming into season. The benefi ts I believe are that from one season during the year, you get an array of di erent wild animals and fl avours that suit di erent garnishes and match di erent wines, making winter my favourite season. The majority of game meat is very lean, it’s far more healthier to eat than any of your usual farmed meats like pork, beef, or chicken. In terms of ingredients, I do have a huge love for venison. What people don’t realise is that venison isn’t only available just in the winter season, there are di erent species available all year round, so we use them in an array of di erent dishes throughout the year. I just love how versatile the meat is, it’s a great one to start with if someone is trying game for the fi rst time.” Then there’s the added attraction at The Bailiwick of Ami being Head Pastry Chef. “Ami is extremely passionate about crafting dishes that perfectly showcase her extensive experience, passion for pastry, and love of art,” Steven beams. “She seamlessly blends classic comfort food with technical accomplishment so that our guests can enjoy recognisable favourites in a more exciting and challenging way. Highlights from the menu at the moment include Ami’s signature spiced vanilla parfait with mulled pear jelly, honey toasted oats and maple poached baby pears.” Steven and Ami Ellis’s Berkshire venture, part two, is certainly just sweet.

thebailiwick.co.uk

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