 It was three weeks ago when a video popped up on Instagram and opened with the words "Please, Please, Help... Please!" splattered across the screen. It was a plea from Ols Halas, probably best know for being "The Circus Chef" at Giffords Circus, who had got his 25-tonne wag’n’drag lorry stuck in a field near South Cerney. This wasn't just a lorry getting stuck in a field, this was the home of Ols, his partner Amber, their four-month-old baby Zephyr, black lab Steve and their business. In layman's terms, they were royally buggered. A week later, thanks to some lads with tractors, they were out and on their way. Their next destination was a bit of a secret, unless you looked on their website which told you it was another field (what could go wrong?) in Evenlode, three-four miles from Stow on the Wold. The reason I had access to their website was because I was sent an invite to the "soft launch". I then did something I never ever do, I accepted. This was for a few reasons;
A donation to their gofundme page and a cash tip after I had eaten eased the guilt slightly. We arrived at the new site on a mizzly, November, Thursday evening and I wondered whether "summer under canvas" would be a better idea than Christmas. From the outside, it was a canvas awning on the side of a lorry. However, inside (when we eventually found the "door") was a beautiful. warm space full of oak tables, candelabras, foilage and a raised kitchen from an adjacent trailer. PHOTOGRAPHY: TOM CROSS 
We were greeted by Ols who showed us inside the lorry. "Once you start living this life, it's hard to escape it" he mentioned as we walked up the steps. The interior was ridiculously impressive with a Scandi-like wooden cabin feel. A double bed took up one end which Steve sleeps under. Back "downstairs" it was a case of sitting wherever we liked, before being greeted with wine, homemade sourdough and a butter softened by a candle wick. It wasn't long before the stunning, crispy and zingy King Prawn Butterfly, Spiced Cocktail Sauce and Avocado arrived. Naturally, I had read the menu before we arrived and was very excited about the Roast Hereford Beef, Braised Blade, Sticky Dates, Hazelnuts, Root Vegetable Pave, Winter Greens main which was truly immense, but I think the prawns were the highlight of my evening. Between those two courses were some delicious, festive feeling Chestnut Cream Canoli with a rosehip jam, before the meal concluded with the most insane Winter Berry Knickerbocker Glory.
Another reason I never accept soft launch invites is because you are obliged to say something positive, even when it's actually mediocre. However, this was anything but. This was cooking of the highest quality in the most wonderful unique setting, and you can't get much more unique than sitting in a the middle of a field in early November. And, we never got to meet Steve which gives us the perfect excuse to go back, as if we needed one. josserrestaurant.com Christmas Under Canvas officially starts on Thursday 28th November and is available on Thursday, Friday & Saturday Evenings. They are also doing the most incredible sounding Sunday lunch under the canvas too which start on December 1st. There are 28 seats for every sitting which makes it a beautifully intimate and truly special dining experience. Photographs: www.crosscreative.uk
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