Canteen
A summer 2026 Italian pop-up at the Old Coal Yard near Chipping Norton, all fresh pasta and pizza.
A summer 2026 Italian pop-up at the Old Coal Yard near Chipping Norton, all fresh pasta and pizza.
Canteen made its name in Notting Hill, and for the summer of 2026 it has taken over the barns and courtyard at The Old Coal Yard, a working yard tucked into the hamlet of Gagingwell between Enstone and Chipping Norton. We should say up front that this is a seasonal pop-up rather than a permanent fixture, so it is worth checking their site before you build a trip around it. While it is running, though, it is one of the more talked-about tables in this corner of the Cotswolds, and it happens to be barely ten minutes from our front door.
The cooking is Italian-inspired and built for sharing: focaccia to start, a plate of melon and prosciutto, fresh pasta with a proper sausage ragù, pizza from the oven, and the chocolate mousse that followed the kitchen down from London. The menu changes with what is good that week, so we have stopped trying to predict it and just order broadly across the table. There is nothing precious about the setting either. Some seats run along the windows, others are picnic benches inside the barn, and the whole thing feels more like a very good supper club than a restaurant with white cloths.
What we like most is how easy it makes an evening out. You are close enough that nobody has to nurse a single glass and drive home in the dark for half an hour, and the mood is relaxed enough that arriving in walking clothes after a long afternoon out is entirely fine. It suits a group, it suits a couple, and because the format is so laid-back it copes cheerfully with children too.
Canteen splits its week into two different moods, and it helps to know which one you are turning up for. The daytime café is walk-in and casual; the evening and weekend restaurant service is the fuller sit-down experience and is the one to reserve. We have set out the shape of it below, but do confirm the current times on their own site, as a pop-up can shift its hours as the season goes on.
This is one of the closest good tables to Well Cottage. Gagingwell sits just the other side of Enstone from us, so it is a short run down the lanes, roughly ten minutes door to door and mostly on quiet roads. That closeness is a real part of the appeal. You can head out on a whim, share a few plates and a bottle, and still be back at the cottage well before the evening feels late. If you would rather leave the car behind entirely, a taxi is a five-minute fare each way.
If Canteen has closed for the season by the time you visit, the same easy-evening feeling is close at hand elsewhere. The Kingham Plough and Wild Rabbit are both a little further out but well worth the drive, and Daylesford covers the daytime end beautifully. You will find all of our recommendations gathered on the eating and drinking page.
“When it is on, it is the easiest evening going. Ten minutes down the lane, a table full of pasta and pizza, and home before it feels late. We just check it is still running before we set off.”
All of this on the doorstep, and your own thatched cottage to come home to. Sleeps seven, less than a mile from Soho Farmhouse.