Wilding

At first glance, Wilding looks like a wine shop - but walk past the bottle-laden shelves in the front of this new arival on Oxford's Little Clarendon Street and it opens up into a conservatory dining room with tables spilling on to an outdoor terrace. Perch at the counter next to the open kitchen to watch chef Ben Wood at work: artfully slicing slivers of aged beef and plating it with horseradish, blue cheese, toasted walnuts. It's also where the soft-serve machine resides, this time loaded with an Earl Grey ice cream to be piped into a swirl atop a coupette of rhubarb jelly. Dishes are confident and clever (from the Marmite butter kicking things off to the beef-fat fudge to finish) and, thanks to enomatic dispensers, there's an impressive by-the-glass list. Just don't let the drink distract - the food is far too good to bed in at at the bar. It's a jewel in Jericho's dining scene that deserves success.

Words by Rachel Walker.

This article was taken from the April 2024 issue of Food and Travel. To subscribe today, click here.