The Mash Inn

It is all about earth and fire at Nick Mash’s red brick 18th-century pub, reinvented as a restaurant-with-rooms, amid a rural community of hamlets. Nick’s family have farmed in the Chilterns for generations, and he wants guests to reconnect with the land. In a semi-open kitchen, using a flame grill, Jon Parry cooks produce picked from the kitchen garden, foraged, or sourced from the farm, in dishes such as confit duck leg, haricot beans and monk’s beard. Fish is delivered within 24 hours of landing. The night’s set menu might include Jerusalem artichoke soup, pork and rhubarb, potato and black truffle, and beeswax and buttermilk panna cotta. ‘We called in unannounced and scruffy for lunch on a busy Sunday,’ relate Guide insiders. ‘Nick was very much in evidence, helped by his son.’ There was a ‘pubby atmosphere’, ‘a nice terrace for alfresco dining’, and ‘everyone was having a good time’. Bedrooms have a king-size bed, a shower or freestanding bath and L:A Bruket toiletries. In the morning, freshly baked croissants, home-made jam, granola, porridge or buttermilk yoghurt are brought to the bedroom door.