Restaurants don’t always live up to the hype. Some leave you deflated after a mediocre experience, but that can’t be said of the Carpenters Arms Italian Kitchen. It doesn’t just meet expectations, it goes above and beyond.
Rather than feeling flat afterwards, you’ll be happily fat. I was fed so well that I feared that weak road bridge nearby might collapse under the weight of focaccia, pasta and tiramisu on my return journey.
It’s clear to see why Nottinghamshire Live voted it their restaurant of the year in our Notts Bites competition, celebrating the best food and drink in the county.
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To lift the crown after thousands of votes is no mean feat with such stiff competition from popular restaurants Yamas and the Lobster Pot in Nottingham and Hemisphere in West Bridgford. Unless you reside in North Notts, it’s quite a hike to the Italian restaurant, taking me an hour to reach the village of Walesby.
But it’s well worth the trip. Based in a former pub it still has a pub-like feel with the different nooks and crannies and decor, which isn’t blatantly Italian – just a shelf of decorative pasta and the paintings of ingredients such as basil and tomato, by co-owner Louise Boddice.
The Carpenters Arms Italian Kitchen in Walesby
Chefs John Boddice, the husband of Louise, and long-term friend Christian Colarieti took over the ailing pub, which had closed down after the pandemic. John said: “We have slowly grown. Any money we’ve made we’ve chucked back into it.
“We’ve not invested in decoration, in frilly bits, it’s stuff we need. We’ve renovated the kitchen, we’ve redone the electrics. We’ve installed air conditioning, and we’ve installed a walk-in fridge for extra storage.
“Everything else is focused on the guest. We’d rather spend money on cheese and bread and olive oil rather than golden mirrors and fluffy cushions. We spend money on things that matter. We spend twice as much money on olive oil as we do on rent.”
The late great Antonio Carluccio – the man dubbed the godfather of Italian cookery – once told me in an interview that the secret to Italian food is simplicity and taste. He said: “With a few ingredients, you can really create something. I have a motto – ‘mof mof cuisine’, which stands for minimum of fuss, maximum of flavour.”
He’s not wrong. Treat top-quality ingredients with respect, and you will create something magical like the chefs here.
Anyone who crosses the threshold of the Carpenters, would be a fool not to order the focaccia. They bake around 150 kilos every week (around the weight of a Giant Panda).
I’m in bread heaven, as two hulking great slices descend on the table, one plain white and another with tomato and olive. You know that comforting feeling when you wrap yourself in a cosy cardigan or a furry throw – this is it, with the added bonus of oozy confit garlic on the soft bouncy chunks.
With grated butter, balsamic vinegar and olive oil, it’s all too easy to keep nibbling away but top tip – be sure to save some to mop up the delicious sauces later.
Focaccia with grated butter, balsamic and confit garlic at the Carpenters Arms Italian Kitchen
I’m joined for lunch by Louise and their seven-year-old son Roger and rather than order individual dishes off the menu, we’re treated to ‘family service’ where the experts (aka the chefs) send out a selection for the whole table to share making it a fun and sociable way to eat.
The pasta dishes, which can be ordered as starters or mains, are either unique to the restaurant or seasonal, such as the beetroot agnolotti, filled with ricotta cheese.
The vibrant purple pasta is only available during the beetroot season, which reaches its peak during the summer and is grown on the allotment of John’s parents Roger and Jeanie in Mansfield, as is much of their fruit and vegetables.
“We make the pasta out of the beetroot, we make the sauce out of the stems and we make the pesto out of the leaves,” said John, demonstrating that nothing goes to waste.
Vibrant pasta dishes at the Carpenters Arms Italian Kitchen in Walesby
It’s the same with the ravioli al porri – a green-hued leek pasta, filled with caramelised leek in a leek butter sauce with braised oxtail. I can’t speak much Italian but I can tell you it’s bellissimo.
“It’s been really popular. We’ve tried to take it off the menu a couple of times and our guests tell me I’m incorrect so I put it back on. We have some staunch regulars who demand these things stay on the menu,” said John.
One permanent fixture is Merluzzo san Luca. The smoked cod wrapped in prosciutto, with lemon and pea risotto has been there from day one and used to be on the menu when Christian’s dad ran a restaurant and John worked for him in 2005.
Keep an eye out for specials, too, such as the joyously succulent scallops in a buttery sauce using their homegrown tomatoes. The aforementioned focaccia comes in useful for dipping.
“We get as much joy out of doing this as the guests do eating it,” said John, explaining the reason for working into the early hours to prep for the next day. “We make everything from scratch. We grow loads of stuff ourselves and we use the best quality ingredients from Italy. Everything is really old-fashioned, proper cookery
One of the specials – scallops in a tomato butter sauce
“If we were in Italy now, this is what we would be eating, because Italian food is very regional. It just happens that our region of Italy is Walesby. It’s off our doorstep – we are representing our region.”
Anyone who thinks they’re too full for dessert ought to try tiramisu—it might look big, but the coffee-soaked creamy dessert is as light as a feather—or a perfectly wobbly panna cotta with blackberries, passion fruit, and raspberries.
The restaurant has nailed it when it comes to all budgets, starting with a lunchtime meal and drink from £13 right up to the ‘”world’s worst secret”, a bespoke tasting menu and matching wines for £110-a-head. “It’s like a secret club, if you know you know. We don’t advertise it because as I feel it puts people off. You end up thinking we’re a bit more posh than we are,” said John.
Tiramisu – a classic Italian dessert
The restaurant has won multiple accolades since opening just over three years ago but they don’t do it for the glory. John said: “I’m really proud of what we as a team have accomplished. I’m grateful to our guests for nominating and voting for us. There are so many superb restaurants in Nottinghamshire, to be nominated was humbling, but to win seems a little surreal,” said John.
Success is judged by having a full dining room and repeat guests. Customers travel from all over to eat there – even Manchester. “We have explained to them that there are restaurants between Manchester and here.
“Being a touristy area we have holidaymakers who come back every year. There’s a family from Wales, who have been with us from the very first summer, who come back every year. Last year, they ate here eight times in seven days. It gets such positivity from everybody. It’s great. All we try and do is take care of guests. We’ve got a great team. It’s a proper family-run restaurant.
“We’re not trying to compete against anyone. We are literally ‘come in and let’s take care of you. Let’s overfeed you’ and that’s it.”
Dining and Cooking