To win two tickets to this concert which includes a 3 course dinner and coffee please answer the following;

Which one of these divas sang a song called ‘I want a little sugar in my bowl?’

Please send your answer to louise@mogford.co.uk

The winner will be the first correct entry drawn at random.

As always, wherever possible, we think about seasonality of ingredients and are inspired by the produce of Rofford Farm. There are dishes utilising the first English rhubarb, local Bibury trout, our own carp, new season blood oranges from Andalucia (ok, they are not local but so redolent of this time of year!). Some dishes to look out for at Quod are; salt cod brandade, blood orange and chicories, the Old Parsonage; crab cakes with aioli, veal tongue with sauce gribiche, slow roasted Rofford beef, artichoke hearts with mushroom duxelle, Gee’s; organic salmon with a chive cream sauce, apple, fennel and radish salad, brochette of calf’s liver and kidneys, our home made pastas and a refreshing apple and calvados sorbet.

We’ve decided to be more adventurous with some of our puddings! One is made from a new chocolate from Spain… choco-vite with salted caramel or at Quod you will find Michael Wright’s new roast pineapple with mango sorbet really refreshing and exotic.

Please let us know what you think of these changes and now you can even follow us on Twitter!

Julian O’Neill

In the 1860s it was often visited by a young academic at Christ Church College, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, better known by his pseudonym, Lewis Carroll.

According to legend he was inspired to incorporate some of the creatures he saw in the museum into his most famous novels ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ and its sequel ‘Through the Looking Glass’.

As he suffered from an acute stammer Do-do-Dodgson seems to have been particularly fond of the Dodo, a large flightless bird from Madagascar which became extinct in the nineteenth-century. An exhibition case in the main hall is devoted to the story of this ill-fated bird.

For other visitors the star attractions include an impressive collection of dinosaur remains, including an Iguanodon and a replica head of a Tyrannosaurus in full cry.

Which makes one think.

What would have happened if Charles Dodgson had preferred a T-Rex to a Dodo? In ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ the Dodo proposes a race where the runners can start and stop whenever they like, guaranteeing that everyone is a winner. Somehow we have the feeling that a rampaging Tyrannosaurus would not have been so sweet-natured!

The Oxford University Museum of Natural History is in Parks Road, Oxford. It is open 10am – 5pm every day; admission is free.

Roger Rosewell

We have acquired a new oil painting. The 1963 portrait of Fred Trueman by Ruskin Spears. The legend, Fred Trueman, was the most accomplished and feared fast bowler ever to grace a Yorkshire and England Test shirt. Like the artist, he came from a desperately humble background. When his father bought him new clothes to wear to his first Yorkshire county game it cost nearly a quarter of a year’s wages. He took 1,745 wickets for his team at an average of 17.12 and had a tempestuous relationship with authority. John Arlott wrote of him ‘he could be harsh and gentle; witty and crude; unbelievably funny and very boring; selfish and wonderfully kind – and he was, when the fire burnt, as fine a fast bowler. Just what the England team needed at the end of January against Pakistan!

Ruskin Spear was born in Hammersmith in 1911 and died in 1990. He initially trained at the Hammersmith School of Art and continued his development at the Royal College Of Art from 1930 – 1934. In fact, later on in his career he taught there. He managed to support his art education with a series of scholarships. Spear went on to become a highly regarded portrait painter. His sitters ranged from distinguished figures in British society such as John Betjeman and Lawrence Olivier to enigmatic characters he met in his local pubs in Hammersmith and Chiswick. In spite of his growing reputation as a skilled painter, Spear defended his status as a ‘working class cockney’. His view of life was well known ‘ars longer, vita brevis’… painting, breathing, drinking!

Come and visit Fred in the Old Bank Hotel lobby, he will be looking down on you from the panelled staircase.

Jeremy Mogford.

22nd February
Polly Gibbons presents
Divas of Jazz and Soul
A celebration of Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, Randy Crawford & Aretha Franklin. Polly reveals fascinating morsels about the lives of these female deities whilst delivering eloquent renditions of their songs.
“… truly exceptional, once in a generation talent, possessing a voice of such sizzling intensity & raw emotion you could fry an egg on it….style and sensuousness by the bucket load.” Jazzwise Magazine

Ticket includes three course dinner £37.50
(excl. 12.5% service charge)

21st March
Natalie Williams and Friends
One of the UK’s premier jazz & soul singers – supported by some of the best musicians from the London jazz scene. Expect an evening of fun, R & B, jazz & soul.
“The moment she starts to sing she becomes a commanding, strutting presence, scatting with an infectious relish.” Daily Telegraph

Ticket includes three course dinner £42.50
(excl. 12.5% service charge.)

25th April
Nina Ferro
‘From Count Basie to George Benson’
Award-winning vocalist & songwriter, Nina Ferro, selects favourite tunes charting the history of jazz and relates these to some of the best moments of her life.
“Nina is a fabulous performer with a knockout voice”. Tony Bennett

Ticket includes three course dinner £37.50
(excl. 12.5% service charge)

To book tickets please telephone Gee’s on 01865 553540.
Book for more than one concert & receive a complimentary glass of champagne at each. For menus please click here.

Weekly jazz continues as usual every Sunday at Quod (5 – 7pm) & Gee’s
(8.00 – 9.45pm) & Wednesdays at the Old Parsonage (6.30 – 8.30pm).

BEEF
Since November, we have been enjoying the amazing quality of pure Rofford Aberdeen Angus beef. All the current menus feature differing versions of slow cooked prime beef & Quod has its own homemade beef carpaccio, which has become one of the most popular starters.

LAMB
The eighty Poll Dorset lambs will be ready by Easter & are, at this very moment, growing fat on the turnips which proved to be so successful last year, giving a very special flavour to the meat.

PORK
Simon Cannings, the Rofford Farm manager, has chosen to continue with his chosen rare breed, Oxford Sandy & Blacks. Simple reason – flavour & the special fat content. They will be periodically available at three different times during the year and the new plan is to produce our own hams and bacon. Keep a look out for this very special pork on our Quod blackboard or on the daily set lunch menus at Gee’s & the Old Parsonage.

CARP
The carp pond is now yielding some amazing fish. So far they have been served at Quod, pan-fried with beurre blanc sauce & cavalo nero.

WALNUTS AND JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES
Thank goodness for some frost! It gives that extra necessary flavour to those artichokes which are currently being made into the most fabulous soup at the Old Parsonage. The walnuts which escaped the voracious appetite of the grey squirrels, now a recognised national pest, are being used with the Harbourne blue cheese, celeriac, apple & walnut salad, again at the Old Parsonage.

So, lots to look forward to..

Jeremy Mogford

Pianist Graham Harvey performs at the Old Parsonage on Wednesday 30^th November. Graham is one of the most witty and playful of the top contemporary UK jazz pianists. He performs with a gravitas and serenity which is moving and calming. He has recently returned from an international tour supporting US singer Stacey Kent and was previously the pianist for Incognito. Graham studied classical piano in America but got bitten badly by the jazz bug whilst there. Featuring some of the longest fingers in the business, he plays in the bar at the Parsonage accompanied by Tim Dawes on double bass.

Another jazz artist not to miss this month is singer Atila who performs at Gee’s twice this month, on Sunday 13^th and 27^th November. Described as the new Frank Sinatra, combining an extraordinary voice with great showmanship, ease and poise, his effortless musical phrasing makes him one of the most popular singers to appear here. Atila is accompanied by Tim Lapthorn on piano and Tim Dawes on double bass.

You can view all our forthcoming jazz listings at Gee’s the Old Parsonage and Quod.

Michael Wright, Head Chef, Quod

The artist’s work often examines the memories and details left by people who are no longer there but have somehow left a ghostly presence ingrained in the interior and exterior of buildings. This is particularly obvious in the Cuban pictures where time and the elements have not only revealed the building’s inner structure but also unearthed colours and details from past generations.

Emmie is the recipient of the Diana Brookes award 2010, and was also artist-in-residence at The Art Room in Oxford. She has exhibited widely in Oxford and in London, and more recently her work was selected from hundreds of entries to represent a major charity, Art for Youth London. Her exhibition at Sarah Wiseman, www.wisegal.com opens on the 7th September and will continue until 1st October.