This week’s Chef’s Restaurant of the Week is The Masons Arms, Knowstone, Devon and courtesy of Great British Chefs
It seems like a new report appears at least once a week bemoaning the decline of the English pub, but Mark Dodson’s pub restaurant The Masons Arms has defied the trend. When Dodson left The Waterside Inn and acquired the property in 2005 with his wife Sarah, it only took a year for his kitchen to win a Michelin star.
The roomy interior of the Masons Arms seems custom-built to straddle the difficult line between luxury and comfort.
As a graduate of a Roux establishment, Mark Dodson is clearly a master of classical French cuisine, with a down-to-earth edge that situates his menu perfectly in the seasonal rhythms of rural British food, using sauces and jus to set his diners’ hearts palpitating.
Recent mains have included John Dory beside a healthy spoonful of parmesan risotto and topped with curly kale and clams, as well as beef fillet served with oxtail, parsnips and a sumptuous Madeira and truffle jus.
Find out more about The Masons Arms on Great British Chefs website. You can also subscribe to Great British Chefs’ bi-monthly newsletter for competitions, recipes and more from Britain’s greatest chefs.