We love an ‘Experience’ and that’s what Pavilion, the new deli and cookery school opening soon in Market Place is promising. They have said that it’s a deli with a difference, a chef-led food store, a celebration of local and artisan producers that focuses on food theatre, community and education.

We were keen to find out more, so we asked them what the fabulous people of Henley can expect. We think this may become a regular stopping point!

Pavilion, according to it’s owners, is a new deli with a difference and will open its doors in Henley this winter. This is the first site to be launched under the Pavilion Foods brand and at its heart will be a vast open kitchen, from which their chefs will create products for the store’s own shelves and fridges. They will also prepare dishes for customers to take away as a picnic, for a night in or for serving at a dinner party.

For the fine food store the Pavilion’s buyers have spent months scouring the locality and beyond for the finest produce and products from charcuterie, smoked fish and cheeses to teas and coffees and a carefully curated selection of notable beers, ciders, wines and spirits.

The kitchen team is led by head chef Tania Steytler (formerly of Severn & Wye Smokery, Westbury on Severn, and Jeow Jeow, London) and will create uniquely prepared dishes to be taken away or enjoyed on site. We have been told to expect dishes from their rôtisserie, such as porchetta made from Gloucester Old Spot pork slathered with herbs and citrus; or vegan treats such as miso-roasted celeriac with a nutty salsa romesco. Tania says, “Our aim is to provide our customers with restaurant-standard food, drawing on global flavours, that they can easily enjoy at home”.

Sample dishes include a salad of saffron-braised butter beans with fermented Isle of Wight tomatoes and smoked coppa; a classic French onion soup with a sourdough Gruyère croûte; or a New Orleans-style muffuletta – a sunflower-seeded focaccia filled with local charcuterie, Moorland Monster cheese and Pavilion’s own spicy giardiniera. There will be an ever-changing range of salads, soups and sandwiches available too.

Pavilion is the brainchild of Henley resident, Micah Judah, a food lover and Le Cordon Bleu alumnus with many years’ experience in food retail. He sees Pavilion not just as a shop, but as an experience and a way of inspiring and educating people through food.

“At a time when people are trading bricks for clicks, I strongly believe in supporting our high streets through delivering food theatre,” he says. “Our ethos at Pavilion is very much about forging a community through food.”

An on-site cookery school, scheduled to open in early 2022, will give visitors an opportunity to learn specialist cooking tips from Tania and guest chefs over a glass of wine. There will also be an inspiring food education programme for children taking their first steps on the cookery ladder.

For more information visit Pavilion Foods.