The Times
Tim Hayward was drawn by “urgent whisperings from the gossip sphere” to an old industrial building in this Gloucestershire town now “reimagined” by sculptor Daniel Chadwick (who owns the Woolpack in nearby Slad), where young chefs Oli Glyde (ex-Woolpack) and Will Rees (ex-Wilsons in Bristol) are behind a French- and Italian-inspired menu.
Their cooking brought Tim to repeated peaks of gluttonous ecstasy: vitello tonnato was sliced “as thin as a worn-out credit card” and arrived in a sauce that was “ointment of the Gods”; “great sheets like silk handkerchiefs” of salame rosa, a more rustic version of mortadella, were “posted past my teeth in the most life-affirming act of meditative self-care I’ve managed all year”. Puntarelle all Romana, mousse de canard, steak tartare with pommes allumettes, lamb cutlets and poussin with buttery girolles (among other dishes) were all better than just right.
Poor Tim had to head home early, leaving his companions from the “West Country foodisti” to Juliet’s already-famous tarte tatin, which must be ordered in advance and is shared by the whole table. It arrives in “great steaming wedges with a sharp, lightly fermented cream… They sent me pictures. The bastards.”
Tim usefully added that Juliet is a three-minute walk from the station, which is 90 minutes from Paddington.
Tim Hayward - 2024-11-24The Guardian
Grace Dent gave a big thumbs-up to this modern European bistro from sculptor Daniel Chadwick, owner of the Woolpack in nearby Slad and her “favourite type of hospitality character… vision-led, distinctly non-corporate and propelled by an urge to take old things and re-love them”.
Named after his wife, Juliet serves dishes like mousse de canard with a translucent layer of glorious fat, clams with chickpeas and girolles, and devilled eggs with trout roe, and is “one of those places where diners can lose track of time”.
The apple tarte tatin in particular was particularly good: “one of the best I have ever demolished”, Grace swooned, “caramelised to the point of deepest mahogany, while the fruit somehow still retains its structure… Served with chantilly, it was breathtaking.”
Grace Dent - 2025-01-05Daily Mail
Tom Parker Bowles came over all Romeo at a modern bistro named by its founder, sculptor Dan Chadwick, after his wife Juliet, falling head over heels in love with “a menu that skips across Europe with joyous aplomb”.
“There’s a simplicity to the cooking, but an absolute skill and confidence” in chef Oliver Gyde’s cooking, with dishes like oeuf mayonnaise “as voluptuous as a Titian nude”, pasta “as good as anything you’d find anywhere in the country”, and a tarte tatin “as caramelised and classic as they come”. To seal the passion, “service is divine”.
“I could stay here all night,” Tom concluded, setting up a final love-lorn quip: “And parting is indeed such sweet sorrow.”
Tom Parker Bowles - 2025-03-02The Daily Telegraph
William Sitwell was the latest critic to sing the praises of Dan Chadwick’s new restaurant, “an absolute marvel of non-poncey, unfussy, simply presented, classic great-value dining” whose menu contained
There were also surprises he had not come across before: butifarra, a Catalonian sausage, served in a crab bisque with artichoke. “Sausage in crab sauce? Oh yes, a heavenly mix of soft pork and sweetness.” Panisse with salame rosa was “two long chips of fried chickpeas draped in milky soft mortadella-like ham; a revelation. Think the second coming. In Stroud.”
“If this isn’t my favourite restaurant of 2025 I’m in for a year to remember.”
William Sitwell - 2025-04-06The Times
Giles Coren gave a rare 10/10 score (which he awards “max twice a decade”, he wrote on Twitter/X) to a bistro opened last October by Dan Chadwick (of the Woolpack in nearby Slad) – a “timeless, friendly, entirely unpretentious” operation that Giles felt “couldn’t be improved”.
“Everything here — the menu, the servers, the soft leather banquettes, the linen and paper-covered tables, the menu, the execution of the dishes, the pace of their arrival — is all that you dream of when you think of a bistro. And my score will reflect that shamelessly. Because Juliet is not just great for a boondocks bistro; it’s great for anywhere in the world.”
Giles Coren - 2025-09-07
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