Located in the village of Buckland, the 16th century pub has been restored and will open on 30 September with the help of Phil White, Richardson’s former boss and supper-club partner.
The 40-cover restaurant menu will feature ‘robust’ British classics such as battered hake and chips; beef and bacon suet pastry pie and mash; brown butter, crab and toast tartlet with apple salad and cured egg; grilled corn beef with cabbage and potato stew; Cotswold lamb cutlets with samphire butter; and 28 day dry-aged grass-fed beef with smoked bone marrow toast and parsley salad.
Desserts, meanwhile, will include bread and butter pudding; treacle tart; and crème brûlée.
The pub will also have a separate 80-cover bar area that will serve a rotating menu of ‘five good things’ every day, with dishes to include smoked cod roe fritters; half a dozen Poole oysters either on ice, with devilled butter, or served with exmoor caviar and champagne; toast and bacon jam; fried haggis; and Welsh rarebit.
“If you know me, you know pubs pulsate through my blood,” says Richardson.
“I am so, so proud to be opening The Lamb Tavern. We cook everything from scratch including our own bread, butter, desserts and ice creams. This kind of ‘elevated gastropub’ cooking makes me so happy – it’s a fun menu, with serious parts to it. The villagers have been lovely so far, everyone has been so welcoming and they’re so excited about their beloved pub coming back to life.”
