Pop Up Dinner and Brunch. Charlbury, UK

June 2021

I often wonder if I would have found any of the great foodie havens I write about if it wasn't for Instagram.  And this is definitely one of them.

When I asked a friend if he'd like to join me At What Chloe Cooked Next, his first question was "who's Chloe?".  A logical question! Chloe was trained at Leith's and is the woman behind Oxfork - a cafe on Magdalen Road in Oxford which I actually remember visiting for brunch when I lived in the city back in 2014.  Chloe now lives in Charlbury and hosts a semi-regular Friday night pop-up and Sunday brunch, as well as collaborations with other chefs.

I arrived on a grey and drizzly evening, a little early (I'd cycled faster than expected!) to find there was already a queue through the garden and out on to the street.  From their own kitchen, Chloe and her husband were serving up an Indian inspired feast featuring tofu yellow curry, braised black beans, seaweed and wild garlic korokke, and cucumber and rhubarb salsa, with particularly moorish sesame and maple nuts adding an addictive crunch.  Every component was bursting with freshness, flavour and goodness.  There was also optional soy braised organic beef, and an adventurous vegan chocolate, bay and miso tart for dessert.

There was a wonderful community feel, from chatting to strangers in the queue, to the friendliness of Chloe herself (expertly keeping her cool despite the growing line of hungry people snaking through her garden), to being entertained by her lively children, Violent and Bluebell, whilst sitting at the tables on their terrace on chairs fondly reminiscent of primary school.

What Chloe Cooked Next is back to operating under her original business name Oxfork.  Find it at The Four Gables in Charlbury, and keep an eye on social media for details of events.