The Goose to re-open next month under direction of head chef John Footman

The Goose at Britwell Salome, forced to close when staff walked out in February, will re-open next month under the direction of new head chef John Footman.​

Footman, formerly head chef at The Nut Tree in Murcott, Oxfordshire, has been appointed head chef and business partner by the restaurant’s owner Paul Castle.

The opening on 4 April will come two months after former head chef Ryan Simpson walked out on the business, taking all four members of staff with him following a disagreement over the future direction of the restaurant.

Under Footman’s management The Goose, which has also undergone a refurbishment over the past six weeks, will increase average covers from 30 to 60. It will also serve a lighter menu in the bar area, including sandwiches, salads and fishcakes, to cater for walkers or those seeking a quick lunch.

Footman worked at Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons and L’Ortolan before moving to the Nut Tree, where he worked with Michael North, the first chef to gain a Michelin star at The Goose.

He said: “This is my first time of running the whole thing, but it’s what I’ve always wanted to do. I’ve known The Goose for years, I live across the road and my fiancée's family have lived in this village for years, so we are part of the community.

“We want to make it a place where people can come in for a glass of wine and a sandwich if they want as well as a great restaurant.”

Seasonal and local​

The new menu has a seasonal and local focus with dishes including starters of Wood Pigeon and goat’s cheese sandwich with date puree, pan seared Cornish scallops with lemon curd dressing, fennel and coriander salad; mains of belly of Red Lion Farm pork with potato puree and Savoy cabbage choucroute and fillet of Berkshire beef with triple cooked chips and béarnaise sauce. Desserts include banana tart tatin with peanut butter ice-cream and lime caramel and chocolate tart with Guinness ice-cream and raisin puree.

Footman and Castle have devised the wine menu, but will be giving regular customers and locals the chance to choose the beer for the venue at a beer tasting.

Fancy food​

Speaking to BigHospitality about the change of staff at the restaurant, Castle, who’d been accused of criticising Simpson’s food, said he had wanted to make changes to the business before his former head chef's departure, but only to safeguard its future.

“We’d gone from serving 10,000 covers per year to 5,000 covers over the course of a year. In my opinion we’d gone too fancy. This is a local people’s restaurant and they want to be able to come in here and have a pint, or a meal and we weren’t giving them that,” he said.

Castle, a property developer who bought The Goose in 2002, said the staff walk-out had been a blow to business, but he had no hard feelings towards Simpson.

“I don’t blame him for what happened. Ryan’s food was fantastic and there was nothing wrong with it, but it’s just we’re not a destination venue, people have to drive to get here and what we need are people to sit on the seats.”

He said the new style restaurant would have a smaller team than previously - two full-time front of house and three staff in the kitchen, including Footman.