Menuwatch: Crockers Henley

"The concept is what drew me. You get to showcase everything to your guest and talk to them and show your enthusiasm. Chefs are usually hidden in their dungeon kitchen, and don't see light of day or customers, so it's nice for them to know we're not robots.

"I think it's a modern way of eating now – it's a ‘dinner and a show' at the same time and you get the opportunity to ask questions of professional chefs," explains Payne. He admits that half of the questions he is asked aren't even about the food he is serving. As well as quizzing Payne about how his dessert of British blackberry, pear and vanilla begins to smoke with the addition of a blackberry snow plated at the table (the effect comes from liquid nitrogen that quickly freezes an intense blackberry stock), guests are just as keen to hear tips on how to make the perfect roast potatoes.

One of Payne's signature dishes sounds straightforward – Nutbourne tomato, Ramsbury vodka, basil – but is anything but when plated up. Delicate dots of a tomato and basil emulsion frame sliced raw tomatoes sitting on top of green tomatoes pickled with elderflower. To make the reduction Payne creates an intense tomato purée from blanched, peeled tomatoes, garlic, shallots and red wine vinegar. The meaty flesh is separated from the watery seeds, which are blended and then added to the tomato as it is slowly cooked out before blending again into a purée.

The dish is finished with a teapot of bloody Mary tomato consommé, which takes two days to make from 3kg of tomatoes infused with tabasco, basil, thyme, peppercorns, celery seeds and salt. He uses his hands to break up the fruit, which is pulsed down and then left overnight to infuse before draining through a cheesecloth, resulting in a perfectly clear liquid that is seasoned with vodka.

Payne works closely with two chefs at the Thames Table, even car-pooling their way into work each day. It was on one of these journeys where the inspiration behind one of the most Instagram-friendly snacks on the menu came about.

"I always knew I wanted to do a snack of chicken liver parfait sitting on chicken skin with a few dots of cranberry sauce jam with port and spices. One day we all travelled in together and my partner had bought a couple of packets of Jammie Dodgers, which were on the back seat. By the time we get to work, Luke [Morton, chef de partie] has eaten both packets. So I told him he had to turn something from the menu into a Jammie Dodger that day."

This challenge resulted in Morton taking the chicken liver parfait and creating a savoury Jammie Dodger with the iconic hole to showcase the cranberry sauce jam. "I went straight onto Amazon and bought him the love heart cutter to make it look even more like the biscuit, and the next day it was on the menu."

Payne's seven-course tasting menu (£100 per person) is accompanied by two wine pairings (£50 for the standard pairing and £80 for the prestige option). Payne pushed for a gin to accompany the first course. "I got into my gins in lockdown and I tried Mermaid Gin and thought the flavours were amazing and I wanted to try and pair it with the food. Normally you do the food and then pair the wine, but this was completely the other way around."

Payne took the flavours from the gin's botanicals, including rock samphire, to create an aromatic herb crumb, with an elderflower and vinegar gel which accompanies a delicately poached oyster served in its shell.

Guests have the option of stumbling up the stairs after their meal to one of seven bedrooms, each with exposed beams and its own roll-top bath. Dine and stay packages include a hearty three-course breakfast the next morning. That's if you have any room left after the night before.

From the menu

• Oyster Porthilly oyster, cucumber, elderflower, aromatic herbs
• Beetroot Baby beetroot, horseradish, walnut
• Pigeon Squab pigeon, English apricot, sweetcorn, tarragon
• Scallop Orkney scallop, bacon, apple, celeriac
• Chicken Packington chicken, autumn truffle, cornflakes, Scottish girolles
• Blackberry English blackberries, pear, vanilla
• Chocolate Inaya chocolate, mandarin, buttermilk

Crockers Henley, 20 Market Place, Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire RG9 2AHhttps://henley.crockersuk.com