Smoke, Fire & Good Beer: EMBER Lands in the Cotswolds

On 26 August, the Cotswolds gets a new kind of pub. EMBER at The Chandlers Arms, in the village of Epwell, brings together Southern American live-fire cooking, craft beer and a relaxed, no-nonsense approach to hospitality.

The new venture is a collaboration between EMBER co-founder Matty Cartwright and The Chandlers Arms’ Harry Flockhart, combining their experience in hospitality with inspiration gathered on travels through America, the Eastern Mediterranean and East Asia.

Matty’s time in the Carolinas and Texas immersed him in low-and-slow barbecue and live-fire cooking, while Harry developed his appreciation for classical technique working alongside his father in France. The result is a menu that brings those influences together over fire, using seasonal British produce wherever possible sourced from farms within 10 miles of the pub.

Expect a rotating selection of small and large plates designed for sharing, including Smoked Apple Cobbler Pork Belly, Smoked Beef Cheek Massaman, Potato Pavé with Whipped Pimento Cheese and the signature Ember Burger. Each dish draws on a story or memory from the founders’ travels.

The drinks list follows the same globetrotting approach, with craft beers from independent breweries around the world alongside house cask ales brewed in the team’s small Warwickshire brewery. A house pale ale and best bitter will be made using surplus bread in the malt bill, helping cut food waste in the process.

Cocktails will centre on spirits from Cotswolds Distillery, with serves including a Grapefruit Gimlet and Brown Butter Old Fashioned, while the wine and spirits list travels from Ugandan rum to Jordanian wine.

Inside, EMBER at The Chandlers Arms is far from the archetypal country pub. Think deep teal walls, low lighting, reclaimed furniture, vintage Chesterfield benches and velvet sofas, alongside pieces from Matty’s art collection, a Jimi Hendrix bust and a giant Tweety Pie head presiding over the room.

The result is a Cotswolds pub with a distinctly international outlook: big flavours, good beer, British produce and plenty to talk about.

www.embertaproom.com