Bucks &amp; Oxon


<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/11/TroublesomeL.jpg" alt="Simon Bonwick at The Troublesome Lodger" class="wp-image-176403" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/11/TroublesomeL.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/11/TroublesomeL-800x800.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/11/TroublesomeL-400x400.jpg 400w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/11/TroublesomeL-500x500.jpg 500w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



<p>Multi award-winning chef <a href="https://www.chefbonwick.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Simon Bonwick</a> has been cooking up a storm for 40 years, delighting diners at The Crown at Burchetts Green (and winning a Michelin star for his efforts) plus the likes of The Dewdrop Inn at Hurley, The Bull &amp; Butcher at Turville and The Three Tuns in Henley. For his latest act, he&#8217;s styled himself as <a href="https://bucksoxon.muddystilettos.co.uk/little-black-book/directory/the-troublesome-lodger-marlow/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Troublesome Lodger</a> and taken up indefinite residence in the upstairs room at The Oarsman, Marlow, where he&#8217;s dishing up a six-course set dinner every Thu, Fri and Sat. Muddy caught up with him between hand-rolling petit fours for the lowdown on his life in the kitchen.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-your-first-ever-kitchen-job-was-nbsp">Your first-ever kitchen job was…&nbsp;</h3>



<p>At the tender age of 13 I got a job as a kitchen boy at the Bridge Hotel in Sutton Bridge, Lincolnshire, where I was put to work peeling potatoes and plating up starters. The food was very Edwardian in style &#8211; I made starters like Sardines Royale and Eggs Mayonnaise, which involved squirting mayonnaise over eggs and sprinkling them with chives, which very glamorous back in the 1980s. This job was a baptism of fire because I was so little – I’d only ever done a milk round and a paper round before. One of the chefs working there was completely crazy – he used to cook in his slippers because he had really bad gout. But I was a resourceful little boy so I managed to dodge his bullets and stay out of trouble.&nbsp;</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-when-did-you-decide-you-wanted-to-be-a-chef-who-or-what-inspired-you">When did you decide you wanted to be a chef – who or what inspired you?</h3>



<p>When I was a young boy in the 1970s, I used to watch an animation programme called <em>Mr Ben</em>. When I was about eight or nine, I was watching it on a clunky old TV while I was off school with mumps, and the episode was about how Mr Ben persuaded a princess to eat. By becoming a chef, Mr Ben succeeded where everyone else had failed. When I saw that programme, I knew I would become a chef too. My Nan was another influence; while she never called herself a chef, she worked as a cook for an aristocratic family in Kenley, South London, not far from our home in Croydon. I never really sat at her knee but I did enjoy her home cooking – things like steak and kidney pudding, all the things that are considered bad for you now. </p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="900" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/11/BeefTroublesomeL.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-176406" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/11/BeefTroublesomeL.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/11/BeefTroublesomeL-800x720.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/11/BeefTroublesomeL-400x360.jpg 400w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-career-highlight-to-date">Career highlight to date?</h3>



<p>This is my 40<sup>th</sup>&nbsp;year cooking, and the highlight was when we won a Michelin star at The Crown in Burchetts Green in 2016, which we held for seven years until we left, and the Michelin service award for The Crown in 2020. Another high note is that from 1999 to 2016 all our pubs were Michelin Bib Gourmand: The Black Boys Inn, Henley [now closed], The Bull &amp; Butcher in Turville and The Three Tuns, Henley.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-describe-your-cooking-style-and-what-diners-at-the-troublesome-lodger-can-expect-during-your-residence-upstairs-at-the-oarsman">Describe your cooking style and what diners at The Troublesome Lodger can expect during your residence upstairs at The Oarsman.</h3>



<p>Fun, more fun and classy cooking! At The Troublesome Lodger I&#8217;m focusing on luxurious cooking hellbent on the Edwardian era – or, more accurately, a modern pastiche of Edwardian cooking. I cook a piece of beef on a string until it becomes so soft it melts in the mouth, and I make my own Gravlax – it’s nice and dry, rather than greasy. I love making Peach Baba in summer and a really nice Coconut Baba in the winter. It reminds me of seeing coconuts at the street markets in the 1970s. When we were young we were always at the market &#8211; preferably at closing time to get things for free.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-most-memorable-moment-at-work">Most memorable moment at work?</h3>



<p>Working with my family Deborah and our nine children (we met very young) to run The Crown, which was our biggest success. The whole family was integral to winning the awards, I didn’t do that on my own. My children are now 33 down to 10. My son Dean is now an assistant manager at The Waterside Inn in Bray, and George runs a group of pubs in Suffolk.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-have-you-cooked-for-any-celebrities">Have you cooked for any celebrities?</h3>



<p>Everyone you can imagine came to The Crown – all the big local businessman and aristocrats. We once had a whole table of Royals. But there&#8217;s no disclosure here because I&#8217;m too old fashioned.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-biggest-mistake-you-ve-ever-made-in-the-kitchen">Biggest mistake you’ve ever made in the kitchen?</h3>



<p>Way back when I started out, when I was working in a big five-star hotel in the West End, I left the tap open while I was cleaning the huge industrial deep-fat fryer. This meant all the oil went all over the floor and all over my feet. You can imagine a five gallon drum of oil takes a while to clean up – I think it took at least four or five hours.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-who-is-your-favourite-rival-chef-and-why">Who is your favourite rival chef and why?</h3>



<p>My wife Deborah. When she started cooking 34 years ago after we got married she was rubbish, but now she&#8217;s better than me. She knocks it out of the park, and now I have to try and beat her because she&#8217;s infinitely better.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-do-you-have-a-favourite-cookbook">Do you have a favourite cookbook?</h3>



<p>I’ve got over 1,000 cookbooks, but I couldn’t believe how much I love my own book, <em>Cooking in Pubs</em>. When it came out I couldn&#8217;t put it down. My second cookbook, which is called <em>Cooking, Art &amp; Shizzle</em>, is coming out in December. Shizzle is the Jewish work for s**t. I&#8217;m not Jewish but in South London we&#8217;d say, &#8216;Come in and tell me your stories, what&#8217;s going on?&#8217;. My new cookbook is full of stories and names have been changed. It’s really good fun.&nbsp;</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-you-re-tired-and-hungry-what-s-your-go-to-for-a-quick-and-easy-supper">You’re tired and hungry – what’s your go-to for a quick and easy supper?</h3>



<p>Sliced white bread and toast, it’s the greatest thing to eat in the world. I love the way that butter melts on toast &#8211; it has to be white bread, because brown bread goes soggy. If I’m sharing it with Deborah, it’s even better.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/10/TroublesomeLodger.jpeg" alt="The Room Upstairs at the Oarsman" class="wp-image-175487" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/10/TroublesomeLodger.jpeg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/10/TroublesomeLodger-800x800.jpeg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/10/TroublesomeLodger-400x400.jpeg 400w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/10/TroublesomeLodger-500x500.jpeg 500w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The Troublesome Lodger&#8217;s home upstairs at The Oarsman, Marlow</figcaption></figure>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-favourite-food-nationality-and-why">Favourite food nationality and why?</h3>



<p>Everything French for the romance and the craft – from bourgeois cuisine to haute cuisine, which is the highest level of gastronomic experience. And I love eating Deborah&#8217;s repertoire of home cooking &#8211; she makes beef and dumplings, great lasagne, chilli con carne, cottage pie, and sausages and mash. Her food is the best. I love dumplings.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-favourite-place-to-go-locally-for-a-great-meal">Favourite place to go locally for a great meal?</h3>



<p>Round my house, if Deborah’s cooking. I also go to The Oarsman downstairs because head chef Scott Smith is a great cook – he cooks lovely French food with a Scottish twist. I like Scotland better than England sometimes.&nbsp;</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-guilty-food-pleasure">Guilty food pleasure?</h3>



<p>Fast food from Five Guys. My youngest lad Harvey, who’s 15, takes me to the one by the cinema at Handy Cross. They do the best burgers.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-do-you-love-most-about-being-a-chef">What do you love most about being a chef?</h3>



<p>I work solo, making everything from the bread to the petit fours myself, so once I&#8217;ve worked an 85 or 90-hour week I&#8217;m so tired I&#8217;m almost levitating and I can start crying at almost anything. I love that feeling of exhaustion at the end of the week, just standing there and feeling rinsed, then having a shower and going to bed. It&#8217;s a feeling like nothing else.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-do-you-relax-off-duty-do-you-have-time-for-hobbies-and-other-creative-outlets">How do you relax off-duty – do you have time for hobbies and other creative outlets?</h3>



<p>I have to cook every day of the week because otherwise I don&#8217;t feel well; it&#8217;s something I need to do and if I cook every day I feel great. Once I&#8217;ve done enough cooking I enjoy painting in oils on canvas, or whatever I can get my hands on. I have a body of work (some of which is hanging on the walls in the private room at The Troublesome Lodger) and I&#8217;ve sold a number of pieces and taken commissions. I&#8217;m 55 so I&#8217;m not interested in dragging myself down the gym or partying, but I like to go into a zone and paint from a place of calmness. I can&#8217;t paint for too long though, or I feel guilty to cooking.</p>


What’s cooking? Marlow superchef Simon Bonwick

You may also like