FOOD&DRINK

Tony Benjamin takes a trip to the Michelin-starred Pony & Trap.

The Pony & Trap is a smart little country pub out near the Chew Valley Lake. With splendid views across rolling countryside, the well-refurbished 200-year-old place is a welcoming sight to hungry ramblers who fancy a friendly pint and a bite to eat. The only disappointing thing is that they’ll have had to book ahead – five or six weeks ahead, in fact, if it’s a weekend. Already a popular dining destination, things went ballistic for the Pony & Trap in January this year when the Michelin guide awarded chef/proprietor Josh Eggleton his first Michelin star. “It was completely out of the blue,” he recalls. “They post it online and I was setting up lunch when one of the other chefs came slamming down the stairs to tell me. I was very surprised – speechless, in fact, which is very unusual for me. They tell me I even lost a bit of colour in my face!”

It’s an amazing achievement – the only other Michelin-starred place near Bristol is Casa Mia in Westbury-on-Trym – and even more impressive when you realise that 26-year-old Eggleton never had a formal chef’s training. A local lad, he grew up in Whitchurch and his introduction to catering came as a washer-up in the Bear & Swan pub in Chew Magna. “I probably learnt most of what I know off Eric, the chef there.” The young Eggleton enrolled in City of Bristol College where, aged 19, he won the hotly contested Gordon Ramsay Scholar prize in 2003. That led to three years of travelling, meeting and working with chefs in Sicily, France and the USA, before returning home determined to start his own business.

This is where the story gets truly remarkable, however, with the 22-year-old taking the lease of the near-derelict Pony & Trap, the only pub in a rural community of 25 residents. Helped by family and friends he began to transform the place, refurbishing the building and improving the kitchen. Using as much local seasonal and organic produce as possible Eggleton took the menu from ‘pub grub’ to ‘modern English dishes with Mediterranean influences’ and in 18 months saw a fivefold increase in business. By 2009 he was able to buy out the freehold and finally make the place his own, with the Michelin recognition coming just over a year later. It’s a dream trajectory that even the ambitious Mr Eggleton didn’t anticipate: “I never imagined I’d get a Michelin star – it’s the Holy Grail in catering, after all – and though I love to cook I’ve never had a proper apprenticeship. Gordon Ramsay offered me a job back then but I was hell-bent on running my own business. Now I wish I’d taken the chance but, then again, I seem to have achieved it anyway.”

Importantly, however, he knows he can’t sit on those laurels. He’s constantly evolving ideas and extending his range by learning to churn butter or make his own black pudding. An early attempt at curing Parma ham went a bit wrong – it exploded – but he’s been taking tips from charcutier Vincent Castellano and adding homemade salami and salt beef to the Pony & Trap repertoire. He’s not afraid of a bit of friendly competition either, and recently organised a series of highly successful ‘Meet The Chef’ showdown meals with the Sanchez Iglesias brothers from Casa Mia, Toby Gritten (Pump House) and Nathan Weir (New Inn, Backwell): all top chefs from the local scene, each taking turns to host the event and cooking one of four courses on the day. “We wanted to raise our profile – we’re all young chefs who cook in our own way. We thought we’d do it in January when it’s usually quiet…” But it looks like ‘quiet’ is something the Pony & Trap just won’t be any more.

THE LAST ‘MEET THE CHEFS’ IS AT CITY OF BRISTOL COLLEGE ON THUR 24 MAR. FFI: 0117 312 5412.
 

Copyright Tony Benjamin 2011 

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