News that The Nut Tree had retained its Michelin Star for the 14th year in a row came as an especial joy for its owners Mike and Imogen North after the couple had to remortgage their beloved Murcott pub, and go back to the beginning, to survive Covid.
“While we are fortunate to own the freehold of The Nut Tree, Covid was a scary time so retaining the star just makes it all worthwhile,” Mike says.
“we are as busy as we can be again, but it will take us a long time to get back to where we were pre-Covid”
“Luckily now we are as busy as we can be again, but it will take us a long time to get back to where we were pre-Covid, having had to remortgage to get through the pandemic,” he adds.”
“So we enjoyed our celebratory glass of champagne, because I know so many business that have gone bankrupt because of the pandemic,” Mike says.
The Nut Tree and Le Manoir retained their stars in 2022’s Michelin Guide, while these 26 Oxfordshire eateries were listed: http://551.326.mywebsitetransfer.com/we-try-to-be-the-best-we-can-be-every-day-le-manoir-and-the-nut-tree-keep-their-michelin-stars/
“We are so pleased, and pretty relieved as well, to retain our star again, because you never know! It’s been a really hard few years so we are really proud of ourselves,” Mike says.
“We never rest on our laurels and while we might not get everything right all the time, we do the best we can every day for our customers.
“We put the same effort in now as we did 15 years ago when we first got our star. So while it is a pressure, Michelin stars are great for business.
As for their enduring success, Mike says that while it’s sometimes tempting to follow the trends he understand that customers like The Nut Tree just the way it is.
“What we do works so if it isn’t broken don’t fix it,” he says. “Instead we are driven by seasonality and quality, and while some dishes are favourites, others change on a daily basis. We modernise and modify our menu, but our taster menus are still the most popular option.”
The only silver lining was it gave Mike and Imogen time to create a better work/life balance so The Nut Tree is now shut on Sundays and Mondays to give them some much needed family time.
The Nut Tree, Murcott: https://www.nuttreeinn.co.uk
