43-45 Montpelier Vale, Blackheath, London SE3 0TJ, Tel: 020 8333 2666 www.chaptersrestaurants.com

Chapters restaurant in Blackheath has a good feel to it, set out on two levels the entrance floor is bright and airy with huge picture windows that enable customers to look out across the green space that forms part of the heath, the lower dining area is accessed via a spiral staircase and has a different, perhaps more intimate ambiance. Both are stylish, comfortable and welcoming spaces.

To mark the launch of their summer menu, guests were invited to an evening of beer and oysters. A range of Meantime bottled beers, brewed just up the road in Charlton, were offered to guests. The Meantime stout, had had a good depth of flavour, freshness and some bitterness, the porter had a slightly sweeter treacly flavour and was very palatable, with good body, the pale ale, my favourite, had a good fresh fruity tang and a great creaminess to it. All of these beers were excellent accompaniments to the oysters and bite sized chorizo sausages that were circulating the room. You can find out more about Meantime beers at www.meantimebrewing.com

Chapters’ new menu contains a good range of interesting dishes, but those of which the head Chef, Trevor Tobin, is most proud are the range of dishes cooked in his Josper oven. Very intrigued by this, I asked Trevor if I could see the oven, he agreed and I was impressed! It is essentially a large indoor barbeque, with a tray of hot coals at the bottom, providing the heat, a movable shelf which has close bars, on which the meat is cooked and a heavy door that keeps the heat in. I am told that meat cooked in the oven is given a unique flavour and that this method of cooking gives perfect results every time. The meat being cooked while I was there certainly looked very appetising and I aim to try some soon.

Chapters is open all day offering breakfasts, weekend brunch, an afternoon menu and an a la carte lunch/dinner menu. If this whets your appetite and you are intrigued to try some Josper-cooked meat or one of Trevor’s other creations, you can access the Chapters’ web site for more details from the link above. From my brief observation, it looks well worth trying.