Customers go wild for Shropshire restaurant

Wild Shropshire, a restaurant in TernHill, has won in two categories in the Restaurant Awards 2019, for Fine Dining Restaurant of the Year and Outstanding Restaurant of the Year.

Owner, founder and chef at Wild Shropshire, James Sherwin, said he was pleasantly surprised to have won the awards, especially for such a young restaurant.

He said: "When I first found out I thought, what is going on. But when I spoke to people about it, like guests at the restaurant, it started to sink in. I was not expecting anything to come of the nominations.

"The last few days have been a real high, these things do not happen everyday. It has been cice to speak to customers because it comes from them really so I have them to thank."

The awards were held last Monday at the Holiday Inn, Birmingham City Centre and are based on nominations from restaurant visitors.

James' restaurant is known for offering its guests fresh, seasonal food from a taster menu, that is not really a menu at all.

The chefs at Wild Shropshire decide the day before what they will provide for guests based on what looks good at the time, what is available when they are foraging for ingredients and what the butchers have in that day.

James said: "Our menu changes constantly because we like to give you a proper idea of what Shropshire has on offer. We go off the idea that if you closed your eyes whilst eating you would know what food you are eating and where it has come from.

"There is no pre-conceived ideas or judging this way. The response to the food is completely based on how it tastes and the flavours of something, which are affected by where it grows.

"The concept is so different that it is nice to speak to visitors about what they're eating and what it's all about because they might not have had an experience like that before.

"The initial concept started about three and a half years ago as a pop-up restaurant in Shrewsbury. But it will be two years at Christmas since the restaurant officially opened.

"It's nice that less than two years since opening we are being talked about in this kind of way."

Bookings for James' restaurant can be made at www.wildshropshire.net/