Bucks &amp; Oxon


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-seventh-heaven">SEVENTH HEAVEN</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="750" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/241023-DanesfieldHouse_TheOakRoom.jpg" alt="Danesfield House Hotel The Oak Room " class="wp-image-178616" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/241023-DanesfieldHouse_TheOakRoom.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/241023-DanesfieldHouse_TheOakRoom-800x600.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/241023-DanesfieldHouse_TheOakRoom-400x300.jpg 400w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



<p>Loosen those waistbands because <a href="https://danesfieldhouse.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Danesfield House Hotel</a> outside Marlow has revamped its Oak Room as a fine-dining restaurant – and it’s now taking bookings for its <a href="https://danesfieldhouse.co.uk/dining" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">seven-course tasting menu</a>. Yup, that’s seven courses designed by Danesfield’s head chef Matthew Edmonds using seasonal ingredients, so prepare to have your tastebuds blown by Orkney scallop ceviche, miso langoustine bisque, and Berkshire venison with beetroot, chocolate and blackberry. I hear Michelin-starred chef Adam Simmons, who used to work in the Danesfield kitchens, has already given <a href="https://danesfieldhouse.co.uk/sites/default/files/Oak%20Room%20Tasting%20Menu%20%20Wine%20Pairings.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">this exquisite menu</a> the thumbs up, so get in there quick for a pre-Christmas feast. The Oak Room seats parties of up to six, and the tasting menu (and its sister vegetarian option), is available Weds to Sat. The damage? It&#8217;s £110pp, plus optional wine pairing. Book <a href="https://cloud-reservations.net/BookTable/Index/139?restID=262&amp;serviceID=104%20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here</a>.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="750" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/241023-DanesfieldHouse_TheOakRoom_Scallops.jpg" alt="The Oak Room tasting menu Danesfield House" class="wp-image-178620" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/241023-DanesfieldHouse_TheOakRoom_Scallops.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/241023-DanesfieldHouse_TheOakRoom_Scallops-800x600.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/241023-DanesfieldHouse_TheOakRoom_Scallops-400x300.jpg 400w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-birds-of-a-feather">BIRDS OF A FEATHER</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="667" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/0JEP7019.jpg" alt="The Feathers Woodstock" class="wp-image-178622" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/0JEP7019.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/0JEP7019-800x534.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/0JEP7019-400x267.jpg 400w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



<p>Woodstock has everything you&#8217;d want from a Cotswolds market town &#8211; honey-stone architecture, indie shops galore and excellent gastropubs. Now there&#8217;s <em>another </em>feather in its cap &#8211; quite literally. Woodstock&#8217;s historic hotel-cum-pub-restaurant, <a href="https://www.feathers.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Feathers</a>, has re-opened after a multimillion-pound refurb, and it&#8217;s quite the destination. It has 23 spruced up rooms, including three suites called The Robin, The Goldcrest, and The Nightingale; a stylish brasserie called The Nest, overseen by head chef Luke Rawicki; and The Aviary Bar &#8211; the place to hang for cocktails, fine wines or a few rounds of Jeremy Clarkson&#8217;s Hawkstone homebrew. Hotelier Gordon Campbell Gray named The Feathers after his collection of preserved birds. With Blenheim Palace on your doorstep, this zhushed up bolthole has much to make you chirpy.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-wedding-belle">WEDDING BELLE</h2>



<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/3/2024/12/JUDGESIMG_9783.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-178624" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/JUDGESIMG_9783.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/JUDGESIMG_9783-800x800.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/JUDGESIMG_9783-400x400.jpg 400w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/JUDGESIMG_9783-500x500.jpg 500w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Credit: Buckinghamshire Council</figcaption></figure>



<p>Good news for the newly betrothed. There’s a new place to tie the knot in Bucks – and, unlike some bells-and-whistles options, it won’t break the bank. It’s called <a href="https://ceremonies.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/open-days-and-events/winter-events/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Private Lounge</a> and you’ll find it inside The Judges Lodges building in Aylesbury, which was designed as accommodation for Assizes judges travelling the country and is connected to the old courts in the Market Square by an overhead passage. Check out its stately-style antique mirrors and marble fireplace for yourself at the preview day on 11 Jan and let your Bridgerton-style wedding fantasies run riot. I do!</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-let-s-sauna">LET’S SAUNA</h2>



<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/3/2024/12/PRINCESSKATE.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-178626" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/PRINCESSKATE.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/PRINCESSKATE-800x800.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/PRINCESSKATE-400x400.jpg 400w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/PRINCESSKATE-500x500.jpg 500w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



<p>A <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DDHY2AQCHWY/?hl=en&amp;img_index=1" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Royal throwback</a> from Peterley Manor Farm lit up their Insta this week, as –times flies! – it&#8217;s been five years since the Princess of Wales dropped by to dust her megawatt Royal sparkle on families choosing their Christmas tree (above). While the door’s always open to Kate (here’s hoping), this year’s guest in the Christmas tree glade is the <a href="https://www.resetwildspa.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Reset Wild Spa</a>, which is firing up the hot tubs for its new Winter residency. <a href="https://www.resetwildspa.co.uk/appointments" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Book an ice-bath or sauna</a> from Fri 6 Dec through Jan for some serious celeb-style chillaxing. Now <a href="https://muddystilettos.co.uk/lifestyle/wellbeing-lifestyle/david-beckham-home-sauna-best-to-buy-right-now/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">David Beckham has a home sauna</a> (yes, we have photos), things are&nbsp;<em>really</em>&nbsp;hotting up.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="667" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/ResetWildSpa.jpg" alt="Reset Wild Spa Peterley Manor Farm" class="wp-image-178633" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/ResetWildSpa.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/ResetWildSpa-800x534.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/ResetWildSpa-400x267.jpg 400w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-sunday-best">SUNDAY BEST</h2>



<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/3/2024/09/TheWhiteHart.jpg" alt="The White Hart Fyfield" class="wp-image-172565" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/09/TheWhiteHart.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/09/TheWhiteHart-800x800.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/09/TheWhiteHart-400x400.jpg 400w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/09/TheWhiteHart-500x500.jpg 500w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Credit: @thewhitehartfyfield</figcaption></figure>



<p>Champagne corks are popping at <a href="https://www.theploughshiplake.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Plough at Shiplake</a> and <a href="https://www.whitehart-fyfield.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The White Hart at Fyfield</a>, which have both been named in the Good Food Guide’s first-ever list of the <a href="https://www.thegoodfoodguide.co.uk/best-sunday-roasts/best-sunday-roast-2024-the-50-best-sunday-roasts-across-britain-to-be-eating-right-now" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">50 Best Sunday Roasts in Britain</a>. The 2024 Best Of list was compiled from 18,000 nominations by foodie-minded members of the public, who called The Plough’s Sunday lunch ‘exactly what we love’, and praised The White Hart for serving classics with ‘pride and enthusiasm’, with a nod to its ‘heavenly’ puddings too. Chef hats off – we already know how great these fab local haunts are (read our new review of the Muddy Award-winning White Hart <a href="https://bucksoxon.muddystilettos.co.uk/eat-out/restaurants/review-the-white-hart-fyfield-oxfordshire/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here</a>) so it&#8217;s great the rest of the country is cottoning on too.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-coach-turns-10">THE COACH TURNS 10</h2>



<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/3/2024/12/THECOACH.jpg" alt="The Coach Marlow" class="wp-image-178650" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/THECOACH.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/THECOACH-800x800.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/THECOACH-400x400.jpg 400w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/THECOACH-500x500.jpg 500w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



<p>And finally: Tom Kerridge’s much-loved Michelin-star pub <a href="https://www.thecoachmarlow.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Coach</a> in Marlow turns ten this month. To celebrate, chef Sarah Hayward has added a few of its greatest hits to the menu, starting from this week (take a peek <a href="https://www.thecoachmarlow.co.uk/menu/lunch-dinner" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here</a> for&nbsp;Coach chicken kiev with cauliflower cheese and more). To toast it all, there’s also&nbsp;a new ale brewed by Marlow’s Rebellion Brewery, called ‘Decade’. It’s not quite Taylor Swift’s Eras tour, but you get the picture.</p>


Superflash news! Hot hotels and prize-winning pubs

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