Tom Kerridge and Pub in the Park

27/5/2017

Have you heard of Tom Kerridge? He owns two (soon to be three) pubs in Marlow and his pub The Hand & Flowers was the first pub to receive two Michelin stars. It is booked up months in advance. He has also appeared on TV (Tom Kerridge Proper Pub Food) and has published cookery books. He is therefore rather a popular and well-known figure in Marlow. His second pub is The Coach (no booking required) and he is about to open a third, The Butchers Tap.

At Christmas he set up a Pop-up Picture House (with food being served) in the town. The tickets for December sold out within minutes so they added in January too and they sold out and I didn't get a look in! He is now working with Rick Stein and has created Sunset Cinema at Cliveden and Chewton Glen during the summer - and I did manage to get tickets this time. We will be eating lovely food and watching Scandal at Cliveden.

Then he had another idea and created a festival-style event 'Pub in the Park', this took place last weekend in Higginson Park in Marlow. I managed to get six tickets for Saturday afternoon. There were about eight pop-up pubs (Tom's mates) all serving 'tapas' sized portions of their famous dishes. Lots to sample and lots of wine, gin, beer etc. A stage providing live music from famous bands (Toploader, Tom Odell, James Morrison and 10cc as well as a few others), a demonstration tent where well-known chefs were showing off their skills plus a shopping village fulling of tempting culinary delights.

We had a blast! The weather was a bit off but we mostly saw sun and only had a couple of really heavy downpours.

I had to dress for rain and mud (oh to be in England now that summer is here ...) and wore navy jeans with my long leather waterproof Dubarry boots (best buy ever). My breton top is from French Connection, my scarf is Mint Velvet and my messenger bag is Mulberry.

Then I added my Targetdry waterproof parka! This is no fashion statement but it is bright, warm and waterproof and it is perfect for Spring and Autumn - I love the longer length as it keeps your legs dry too. Mine is a few years old now but there are similar here - I like the navy one.

I will leave you with a few photos of the afternoon. It involved a lot of alcohol and we were also celebrating our niece's birthday. I felt a little tired by 9 pm (I just can't take the pace these days). But it was great fun and Tom if you are reading , please do it all again next year!!