The Bewicke Arms in Hallaton, Leicestershire || Launch night

Friday night Mr C and I were invited along to The Bewicke Arms. 

Who can refuse the offer of drinking and eating in a pub on a Friday night? That's what Friday nights are made for. 

Situated in the picturesque village of Hallaton on the border between Leicestershire and Rutland this country pub is now under new ownership. It's had a grand refurbishment giving it a modern feel but still with a traditional twist and the new owners Claire and Simon were throwing a bit of a launch party.

Fizz in hand we wandered inside to check it out. It has a nice light bright airy feel to the place with the Hare Pie restaurant just inside the doors as you walk in the entrance from the car park. The restaurant itself is not huge and there's probably only around 8/9 tables, laid out simply with crisp table linen. Although small you're not sitting on top of each other, it feels quite spacious and I liked that. You can obviously sit and enjoy food in the rest of the pub too.

Moving into the heart of the pub it gets more traditional with more exposed brick work, open fires and that good old cosy country pub feel. I could happily sit here on a Sunday with the fire burning, a belly full of food, good company and of course a few glasses of something!

Tom Cockerill has been appointed Consultant Chef with Glenn Cowell as head Chef. The focus is on traditional pub food but done really well and all produce is sourced from local suppliers. 

That's the current menu above, although for obvious reasons that wasn't available on the night but they'd put together a taster menu and there was quite a lot on there. 

So, on to the star of the show, the food! I must warn you if you're hungry right now the following shots will only make your tummy grumble a whole lot more! 

Lincolnshire sausages, buttered mash & onion gravy and crispy onions.

Outdoor reared pork sliders, Rutland Charcuterie dry cured bacon, vintage sparkenhoe, red cabbage & village apple coleslaw.

Grainstore beer battered cod, tartar sauce and mushy peas.

Anyone for more sausage and mash? 

Stonebaked pizza, Rutland Charcuterie fennel & herb salami, Belvoir Ridge Colwick cheese, locally foraged Penny Buns.

Duck liver parfait, crispy duck prosciutto. 

Bancroft Farm duck egg Crème brule, hedgerow brambles with lavender shortbread. 

All the food was mouth wateringly good but the winner for me was the crème brule, obviously, because pudding is always the best bit right? Well, I love a good brule and this one didn't disappoint. 

You'll also find the Hare Pie Cafe on the site of the pub. A truly lovely coffee shop and deli. This was also open on the evening tempting us with so much naughtiness! The weather had been kind to us on Friday, it was a warm-ish (for September) evening and as soon as we got wind that some people were actually outside listening to the band that were playing and sampling other delights, and not being ones to pass on any free food *ever* we hopped over to Hare Pie Cafe. 

These delicious treats were bite size pieces of lemony, chocolatey, carroty goodness, just the right size to pop straight into your mouth when no-one was looking! I sampled them all. 

And washed them all down with superb latte that certainly hit the spot after all the fizz. 

The cafe has refurbished too. It serves breakfast until 11.30 and then various sandwiches and lots of savouries and sweets to choose from. The two ladies in there, sorry didn't get their names, were so friendly and a real credit to the place. The cafe gets really busy at weekends with walkers and cyclists  so if you're in the area in your walking boots or on your bike, pop in. 

A little note about the village of Hallaton itself. It's famous for its Hare Pie scramble and bottle kicking which takes place on Easter Monday. Apparently it's an ancient tradition where two villages (Hallaton & Medbourne) wrestle over some barrels without any rules whatsoever. Sounds like a bit of a scrum to me. I may go along to spectate next time though. If you'd like to know more you can read about it here. 

We tootled off shortly after as we had an early start the next day but this is one place we most definitely will visit again. You should too, add it to your list of places to visit for food! Thank you to Claire and Simon and all the team at The Bewicke Arms. You can also find them on Facebook here. 

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