The story
In the quiet Oxfordshire village of South Newington, The Duck on the Pond is a small, family-run pub and restaurant that puts the land at the centre of its cooking. The team describes their approach as “farm to fork,” a commitment that earned the spot a Michelin recommendation for its honest, seasonal British cooking.
The atmosphere shifts with the seasons. In winter, the cosy interiors are warmed by a roaring log burner; come summer, the action moves outside to the kitchen garden and terrace. The garden itself is a working plot where the team grows vegetables, salads, and cut flowers using organic practices, planting with the seasons and planning the next year’s harvests from the windowsills. It’s a tangible connection between the kitchen and the plate.
Dining here is flexible. The bar serves casual meals and brunch, while the restaurant offers an à la carte menu alongside weekly changing dishes. A fixed-price menu runs Wednesday to Saturday, featuring the team’s favourite seasonal plates, and on Sundays there are two lunch sittings. For those who want the full picture, a five-course tasting menu highlights signature dishes and the most recent harvests. The cooking champions local meats, freshwater fish, and locally grown produce, with an emphasis on seasonality, availability, and abundance.
Beyond the food, The Duck on the Pond is a community hub. The team hosts events throughout the year—quiz nights, collaboration wine dinners, live music, and workshops like wreath making and flower arranging. The kitchen garden also offers volunteer opportunities and a “pick your own” bucket of cut flowers in summer. It’s a place built on connection, whether that’s over a midweek lunch club with a complimentary carafe of house wine or a celebratory dinner for up to 50 guests.
Recognition
Ambience
Details
History
Visitors to this recently refurbished Cotswold village pub are urged to 'take a walk round our garden to see what we grow’. Now in the hands of chef Hendrik Dutson-Steinfeld and his wife Julie, this set-up reflects the couple's strong commitment to locality and seasonality. After perusing the organic kitchen garden, and strolling past the little duck pond and terrace, you’ll enter the smart rustic interior (polished wooden tables, beams, exposed stone walls, a wood-burning stove) to find a menu where all the main ingredients have their provenance and food miles listed. Choose from the good-value set lunch, a 12-course tasting menu or the carte, which kicks off with a hunk of home-baked bread and home-churned butter plus a little appetiser. Next, there might be mouth-wateringly delicious beer and Cheddar soup (tasting like liquid Welsh rarebit) or a scrupulously described ‘cured retired dairy cow fillet’ that has travelled 37 miles from its farm – the latter slightly overwhelmed by a full-flavoured mound of grated Old Winchester cheese, but well-matched with mustard leaves from the garden (‘0 miles’). While there’s always a vegetarian option along with the occasional fish dish, local meat dominates the main courses. And very good it is too, judging by a serving of succulent chicken poached with wild mushrooms, which came with a pot of deeply savoury and nutty ‘heritage grains’ cooked in chicken stock. Likewise, pork belly was expertly roasted (juicy flesh, crisp crackling), its fattiness countered by a tangy apple sauce and piquant savoy cabbage preserved in apple vinegar. Indulgent desserts provide further evidence that ‘locality’ does not equate with ‘worthiness’. Our aromatic hay custard with caramelised milk crumble and honey/buttermilk ice cream engendered lots of smiles – as did the friendly, prompt service and a well-spread wine list with almost everything available by the glass.
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