Fine dining is popping up on Saturday nights in Oundle

AN exciting recent addition to Oundle’s neighbourhood dining scene – pop-up restaurant Ora Cultro - has now launched a regular Saturday fine dining evening in the town.

The concept was launched in March by Oundle chef Chris Huggett in a bid to bring an exciting new fine dining experience to the town.

Initially a pop up restaurant providing six-course taster menus at different venues once a month, Ora Cultro is now open every Saturday evening with an exciting new menu – and a new home.

‘The Hub’ café at Fletton House, off Glapthorn Road, is now transformed into a fine-dining restaurant every Saturday evening as the new venue for Ora Cultro.

Chris said: “The initial concept behind Ora Cultro was to provide a different dining experience for people in Oundle and the surrounding area to what is already available in the town, and one that would evolve as time goes on.

Hopefully, we are already starting to do just that with our new venue and Saturday evening menu.”

Using locally-sourced produce where possible, Ora Cultro aims to offer a feast of fresh ingredients and bold flavours with menus prepared by chef Chris, formerly of the wellrenowned Olive Branch at Clipsham.

Chris, who is also a chef at The Chubby Castor, which achieved a place in the Michelin Guide within just a few months of opening, explained: “We are going to continue to hold the six-course taster events once a month, but run a more restaurant-style menu on the other Saturday evenings.”

Dishes on offer include the likes of mouth-watering starters such as wild boar tortelloni in a wild mushroom sauce, pan-fried scallops with parma ham and a parsley foam, delicious main courses including Chris’s signature crab lasagne, and divine desserts such as salted caramel and chocolate tart with black cherry icecream.

Two six-course events are planned for between now and the end of the year. The first upcoming taster event is a joint venture with Oundlebased Amps Wine Merchants on Saturday, 24th November. The menu is very much about Autumn flavours with culinary delights such as venison with quince and chestnuts and features wines specifically chosen to complement each course by Philip Amps.

A Victorian-themed Christmas Banquet will be the final taster event of the year, and is to be held at Ora Cultro on Thursday, 20th December.

Chris said: “We have tried to do something a bit different for our Christmas event and taken inspiration from Victorian menus.”

The festive fayre will include a creative take on the traditional ‘mince pie’ with an appetiser of game encrusted in sweet shortcrust pastry, a mock-turtle soup, as well as a whole suckling pig for the main course. Chris added: “The taster menu will both start and end with a course which combines sweet and savoury – the mince pie as an appetiser and a port and Stilton cheese truffle at the end. It is a flavour combination which does work!”