It’s a hive of activity at The Bat & Ball in Cuddesdon when we arrive for a chat with new owner Ben Tavassoly-Moss and ex Manoir chef Rick Owens. Electricians, carpenters, cleaners, chefs and delivery men bustle around getting ready for the grand opening (it opens tonight, Wednesday Jan 8).
The phone rings constantly, people desperately trying to get a booking, The Bat & Ball’s sister pub The Lamb in Little Milton already doing all the talking. The excitement is palpable.
“Yes we are really excited,” new owner Ben confirms with a grin. “We can’t wait. Because we have been after The Bat & Ball for quite a while. We fell in love with it as soon as we walked in. It is such a happy space and oozing with potential.”
The Bat & Ball has been a labour of love for Ben, who never wavered from his mission to take on the beautiful village pub, convincing the villagers and then buying it off Admiral Taverns.
To cut a long story short, after lengthy negotiations, Ben was given the green light and handed the keys in July. Work has been ongoing ever since, transforming the historic pub with rooms into a gorgeous, light airy space ready to receive its new customers and welcome the regulars back.
A gleaming new kitchen, dry room, bedrooms and interior followed.
And with ex Manoir chef Rick Owens on board, under the watchful eye of exec chef Nat Berney (who is overseeing both pubs) the expectations are high.
A quick scout of the rooms confirms the attention to detail Ben has put into the refurb: they are beautifully decorated by local craftsmen and would be a pleasure to stay in (hint, hint).
But The Bat & Ball will be very different to The Lamb, READ OUR REVIEW OF THE LAMB HERE, more casual and traditional, although just as convivial, its menu equally as delicious, but not as high brow.
That will be down to Rick and his team, the 25 year-old being the feather in The Ball’s cap. “The Ball was empty when I saw it, so it was hard to imagine how it would look, but on the way home I was already thinking about menus,” Rick explains. “So three days later I rang and said ‘I’m in’.”
“I just want to cook the kind of food people want to eat so I’m ecstatic about getting the job. I just can’t wait to get into the kitchen and get going,” Rick says.
A glimpse at the new menu literally made our mouths water. Welsh rarebit with house salad, ham hock and apricot terrine, crispy fried aubergine with date molasses and spiced yoghurt, Korean fried chicken wings with a gochujang dressing, Calnan’s sausages ring & mash, caramelised onion gravy & crispy onions, flat iron steak…. the list of enticing delicacies continues.
The extensive kids menu corroborates its family friendly ethos, and as for breakfast, I’m there for the kippers with herb and caper butter!
As for their customer base, having opened to the locals for drinks since November, customers have already travelled from Thame, Horspath, Wheatley, Watlington, Headington and Oxford to have a look, the pub having quite a reputation back in the day, so Ben is confident of their catchment.
“We wanted both The Bat and its menu to have a traditional pub feel, with great service, whether you come in for chips and a glass of wine or a proper meal,” Ben explains. “And as a freehouse we get to choose the beer we like.”
“We have to do it differently to The Lamb because it’s bigger (54 covers, twice that in the summer) and more casual. But we wanted to maintain the same quality and know how in the kitchen,” Ben adds. So traditional dishes that we can elevate. But under Rick, The Bat will come into its own,” Ben says.
Ben has plans to open several more pubs in the future, all with their own identity, but for now his focus is on keeping the lamb’s excellent reputation (it is now the proud recipient of two AA rosettes).
The Bat & Ball, High Street, Cuddesdon, is open Wednesday to Saturday for lunch and dinner, as well as Sunday lunch. Go to https://www.batandballcuddesdon.co.uk
