What: A new restaurant within the Relais Henley, a 40-bedroom riverside boutique hotel in Henley-on-Thames. With 60-covers inside and an additional 50-covers al fresco, Restaurant Dominic Chapman serves a steadfastly classic modern British menu.
Who: As the name suggests, the restaurant is helmed by Dominic Chapman. The chef is best known for his nine-year run at The Beehive pub in nearby White Waltham. Under his tenure the venue was a regular on the Top 50 Gastropubs list, received a cooking score of six in the Good Food Guide, two AA Rosettes and dining pub of the year in the Good Pub Guide. Chapman is heading the kitchen as executive chef supported by head chef David Thompson, with whom he has been working for many years. Chapman continues to run the (also very nearby) The Crown at Burchett’s Green, which he acquired in 2022 from fellow chef Simon Bonwick. The Relais Henley is owned by the Relais Retreats group, a two-strong hotel business headed by Grace Leo and Tim Hartnoll.
The vibe: Formerly The Clipper Restaurant, the interiors have been redesigned by Leo to create ‘a warm and welcoming but also modern space’. Design details include marble table tops, cream and teal walls; and orange fabric-shod chairs and banquettes.
The food: Chapman has stuck to the classics with a menu that includes roast tomato and basil soup with garlic focaccia; Black Cow cheddar tart, confit leeks, chive mayonnaise and frisee salad; Cornish crab salad; steak and kidney pie with mashed potato; peppered haunch of venison; and chocolate fondant with toffee sauce, almond biscuit, and coffee ice cream.
And another thing: Chapman’s menu might appear a little safe - indeed, it would not have raised any eyebrows 20 years ago - but this is a chef that knows his market having worked in this moneyed and somewhat conservative part of the world for decades. “I really wanted to create a restaurant that was accessible to a wide range of people in the area so our menus have been especially designed to make sure that we have something for everybody,” he says.
Hart Street, Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire RG9 2AR
