There is an official beer for the Cotswold Olympicks that takes place on Friday 1st June. 

Created by Brotherhood Brewery, established by three Chipping Campden siblings, Shinkicker has been created using a two row English malt and a base hop of U.K. cascade. The outcome is a pleasant, flowery and spicy, citrus-like quality with a slight grapefruit characteristic. 

You can find the 3.8% Pale Ale behind many bars in pubs around the town including The Eight Bells, The Volunteer, The Plough Inn at Stretton, The Baker's Arms in Broad Campden and the Noel Arms. 

All profits from the sale of each cask are going back into raising money for this and next year's Cotswold Olimpick Games. 

www.olimpickgames.co.uk
brotherhood.co.uk

Moody's has opened in Cheltenham on the old Bierkeller site and we took a visit to try it out. 

The menu is full of "sharers "n" starters", hot dogs, salads, 6 options of loaded fries, sides and of course burgers... lots of burgers, 14 in fact, including The Moody (pictured below). 

Could you demolish it? 

1 x Beef Burger Patty
1 x Pork & Chorizo Patty
1 x Buttermilk Chicken Fillet
Pulled Pork
Cheese, Burger & BBQ Sauce
Tomato
Lettuce
Gherkings
and topped with...
4 x Chicken wings
4 x Onion rings
1 x Pig in Blanket

The brioche bun did its best to hold up this stack but finally succumbed but all in all it was a seriously good burger and perfect for anyone who likes a little challenge. 

Check them out here - www.moodyburgers.co.uk

The wonderful Cotswolds Distillery have opened their first ever off-site shop on the high street in Bourton on the Water. 

The small satellite store will stock their award-winning gin, the first ever Cotswolds Single Malt Whisky and the delightful cream liqueur, as well as miniatures, glasses and of course some tonic water to enjoy with your gin!

www.cotswoldsdistillery.com/

We are just 100 days from the start of The Big Feastival at Alex James' Farm in Kingham. 

Tom Odell, Paloma Faith, Craig David, Clean Bandit, Professor Green and James Arthur will all be headlining the main stage over the three days while Marco Pierre White, Raymond Blanc, Gizzi Erskine and local favourites Tom and Henry Herbert can be found in the food and drink area. 

A firm favourite with all the family, The Big Feastival 2018 is one of the best weekends in the Cotswolds calendar. 

Tickets: thebigfeastival.com

The Cotswolds has been crying out for a decent fish restaurant for years. We have been relying on Purslane in Cheltenham for far too long for our seafood fix so when The Farncombe Estate announced that they were creating a seafood inspired restaurant by Culinary Director Martin Burge in the newly refurbished Fish Hotel, it was music to my ears. 

First stop was the bar for a couple of pre-dinner drinks. This has been transformed into a stylish space with lots of fine spirits and a cocktail menu that included a Cotswolds Gin Martini... when in Rome! The bar has its own lunch and dinner menu and is also dog friendly. If you have your pooch in tow, you can also enjoy the Hook à la carte menu in the bar which is pretty cool. 

The dining room follows the laid-back Scandinavian style with an open kitchen and plenty of soft furnishings. The menu offers, in their words, " the finest, freshest responsibly sourced fish, sustainable shellfish and a few timeless classics from the land" and I couldn't agree more so don't be put off if you're not the biggest seafood fan. 

The Fowey Mussels with smoked bacon, garlic & Cotswold cider were absolute monsters and one of the best starters I have had for a while. If you love mussels then this is a must. They are also available with white wine and parsley, and as a main course which includes fries, but the bacon, garlic and cider is definitely the way forward and there are lots of them too! 

I rarely order Lemon Sole due do the bones and my lack of patience when having to work for my meal but this was recommended to me and served with shrimp and capers, and it looked amazing on a picture I saw on Instagram (see below), so I couldn't really back out. The bones were a pain, they're always a pain, but it's worth it in the end. The extra side of fries is highly recommended too!  Would I order it again when I go back?, probably not as I saw a picture of the Bouillabaisse on twitter this week which looked incredible and tells me that I probably need to spend less time on social media. 

If you have a sweet tooth then the pudding menu offers some treats as well as some dessert cocktails. An espresso martini was enough for us but were were very tempted by Banana caramel cheesecake. 

Farncombe Estate have a knack of getting things right. The Dormy House and Foxhill Manor both offer brilliant dining experiences and now The Fish Hotel, after failing to reach its full potential in its first few years, has now created a superb celebration of seafood and something the Cotswolds should really embrace. 

Menus:
À la carte 
Set Lunch
Desserts

Website:
www.thefishhotel.co.uk/eat/hook/

Cotswold Farm Park owner and BBC Countryfile star Adam Henson is backing a campaign by local farmer-founded not-for-profit Happerley to make all school dinners 100% traceable from farm to fork. 

The project which is called  “Please Sir! Feed Me Truth” launches today and aims to educate the next generation of consumers with where their food comes from.

He said: “The appreciation and understanding of food starts with children simply knowing how and where the ingredients on their plate were produced. But they don’t.”

“They have no idea. Every school dinner has a story to tell – a journey. It leaves a footprint. We need every child to explore it and be inspired and learn from it.”

Adam hopes every school in the country will commit to making their food supply chain transparent, using technology to deliver into school dining rooms the journey of every plate of food. 

Happerley founder, farmer Matthew Rymer, explains: “The food industry remains one of the least transparent and we are not told the origins of most of the ingredients in our food. Children are particularly susceptible to buying into brands and clever marketing because they do not know or understand better. 

“By working through the food chain to deliver the full story of the ingredients that make their school dinners, our hope is we can create a seismic change for the future that impacts positively on their health and nutrition, the environment and sustainable food production.” 

About Happerly

Happerley was established by two farmers on a mission to empower the consumer to know the journey of their food while creating a level playing field for all food businesses to validate and protect the provenance value of their food production.

This summer our provenance team has started signing up restaurants, retailers, butchers, bakeries etc. willing to become Provenance Champions and have their supply network audited and published online. Meaning you, in an instant, can see their ingredient supply chains down to the farmers and growers.

Are you a business, restaurant, retailer who would be interested in becoming Happerley certified? Visit happerley.co.uk today!

If, like us, you can't start the day without a good coffee this news will be music to your ears.

To celebrate the launch of their new, unique blend of coffee, you can enjoy your first coffee on us every day at a Lucky Onion destination of your choice throughout May. 

Here is where you can enjoy a cup.

No.131, Cheltenham – before 10am

No.38 The Park, Cheltenham – before 10am

The Wheatsheaf Inn, Northleach – before 10am

The Wild Duck, Nr Cirencester – before 12pm

For all the T&C's and a Q&A with the founder of  UE Coffee, the only artisan wood powered coffee roastery in the UK, visit theluckyonion.com/whats-on/coffee-on-us/