There's something quietly thrilling about eating beef that was raised in the fields you can see from your table. Herd sits inside a heated tent on Todenham Manor Farm, a 900-acre working estate near Moreton-in-Marsh, and chef Christopher Ellis cooks with an honesty that matches the setting.
The concept is simple and, once you've been, you'll wonder why more places don't do it this way. The farm raises its own cattle, and Christopher Ellis turns that beef (along with whatever the kitchen garden and local suppliers offer) into menus that shift with the seasons. You eat in a large, warmly lit tent on the farm itself, surrounded by rolling Cotswold pasture. It feels like a proper occasion without a trace of pretension.
Friday burger nights have become a local institution: proper patties from the estate herd, cooked over coals, best enjoyed with a cold beer and no particular hurry. Sunday roasts are generous, slow affairs. But the weeknight dinners are worth the trip too, especially when the seasonal specials land. Breakfast is relaxed and good. The drive from Well Cottage takes about fifteen minutes along quiet roads through Chipping Norton, and you'll want to book ahead, particularly at weekends.
“The Friday burger night is our go-to. You sit in a heated tent on a working farm, eating beef that was raised in the next field. It's the sort of place that makes you glad you're staying somewhere rural.”
All of this on the doorstep, and your own thatched cottage to come home to. Sleeps seven, less than a mile from Soho Farmhouse.