The Different Drummer Hotel

92-94 High Street, Stony Stratford, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, MK11 1AH
Telephone: 01908 564733
Fax: 01908 260646
English Tourism Council 2 Stars

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The Different Drummer Hotel, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire

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Just imagine what it must have been like; you've spent six hours in a creaking noisy coach with half a dozen other cramped, perspiring passengers, rattling along the graveled road from London. It's cold, the seats are hard, the road bumpy, the company doubtful, and the horses provided their own air-conditioning for everyone sitting downwind…How must it have felt when those horses finally clattered to a halt on the long, straight High Street of warm, welcoming Stony Stratford?

People often ask what Milton Keynes was like before Milton Keynes was there. The question has a number of answers, but one of them can be answered quite spectacularly by Stony Stratford; a town as rectilinear in its Roman origins as it is beguiling for its beautifully-preserved coaching-era buildings. The neighbouring 'Cock' and 'Bull' pubs and the garbled stories passed from traveler to traveler gave the English language a new expression, and today the tradition of a good hospitality is still pulling in the diners, although they tend to come from Central Milton Keynes in horseless carriages rather then from London or Shrewbury with the Royal Mail.

One of the oldest and best-preserved of these ancient and noble hostelries was known as The Swan in the first documentary evidence, from the year 1470. Richard III held the unfortunate 'little princes' here before transporting them to the Tower of London to meet their final fate in 1483, and the inn passed through the hands of Bradwell Abbey and the de Longueville family before being leased to Lord Grey of Wilton by Queen Elizabeth I.

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Different Drummer

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The Different Drummer Hotel, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire

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However, it is an in that the place had made its reputation and, as 'The Swan with Two Nicks' it was back in business, certainly by 1609. The present Georgian frontage was added after the great fire of Stony Stratford in 1743, and the business continued unabated until it finally changed its name in 1982 to the 'Different Drummer'. A rolling five-year programme of refurbishment was completed in early 1996, bringing the internal accommodations up to 1990's standards; and the rest, as they say, is a testament both to history and to the commitment and investment of the Keswani family, who are the owners.

Those coaching-era travelers would probably find it difficult to understand the luxury of en-suite bathrooms, fitted carpets and central heating - and quite what they'd make of television, video and modern telephone systems we shall never know. Modern-day travelers, whether they're driving up the new, dualled A5 which bypasses Stony Stratford of whether they're looking for somewhere to stay which maintains eighteenth-century levels of hospitality with twentieth-century levels of comfort to gear them up for business in the city of the twenty-first century, still alight with delight at the Different Drummer Hotel. The elegant stone façade remains unchanged from 1743; the side-entrance where the horses were stabled and the creaking coach put to rest for the night are still there, but, inside, light, warmth, and comfort are better than they have ever been.

The bedrooms have been redesigned with the modern traveler in mind and, as well as all the practical accoutrements they've been decorated with sympathetic eye to the building's history; elegant antique furniture sits side-by-side with modern convenience such as, for example, the kind of mattresses which our forefarthers could only have dreamed about - if they could have slept on the unforgiving beds of the day…

…And is there still the rattle of the harness, the call of the ostler, the clattering of horses' hooves out in the street, as today's traveler drifts gratefully of to sleep in luxurious comfort…?

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Restaurant

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If Central Milton Keynes is identified by its almost complete lack of gastronomic choice, the Sony Stratford makes up for it in the diversity of its restaurants, and non more so than A1 Tamborista, where Old English hospitality meets Italian cooking. The Different Drummer'soak-panelled dining room offers a burnished and welcoming glow to the guests, with sunlight streaming in during the day and a warm, confortable, candle-lit ambience at night. The menu makes the best of whatever fresh ingredients are seasonally available and the restaurant has one or two suprises uo tis culinary sleeves as well as all the tried and trusted favourites of Italian cookery.

Starters include classics such as antipasto di salami with sun dried tomatoes, melone al prosciutto. Misto mare and the solendid insalate tricolore. We began an autumnal luncheon, however, with tow of A1 Tamborista's speciailites: 'La Traviata' is a generous portion of Mediterranean king prawns in a delicious sauce with garlic vinaigretter - so good, indeed, that two of our inspectors insisted on having it, strictly against instrucations to try different items from the menu. The other spectacular is the crepe Tamborista- an ingenious dish of wafer-thin pancakes filled with pieces of banana and chicken bound in a mild curryd mayonnaise and deliciously scented with herbs. This is a truly original dish and served in such copiousness that it's almost a lunch in itself. The garlic bread deserves a special mention - Italian pizza-bread richly soaked in garlic butter which simply melts in the mouth and matches the starters to perfection. For the bread enthusiasts there are also ciabatta bread with a choice of olives, sun dried tomatoes, walnuts or olives and fresh garlic.

Pasta in profusion is what you'd expect from A1 Tamborista, and there's a choice of pastas including spaghetti rigatoni, gnoccetti, tortellini as well as lasagna and risotto, with accompaniments as exotic as Norwegian prawns and as traditional as Bolognese sauce. However, we are moving onwards (with the help of a bottle of excellent Chianti Riserva) and, given the generosity of the portions, felt that pasta en route would be gilding the lily as well as quantitatively challenging.

Chicken, veal, steak, lamb and venison are represented on the mother main-course menu - classic basic ingredients but with real imagination: traditional chicken cacciatore, but also pollo gamberoni, with lobster sauce topped with king prawns; glambuoyant entrecote Diane, but also entrecote Tamborista, filled with oysters and served with a cream sauce; plain-grilled Scotch filler steak but also fillettini Pepe, in a Cognac and pepper sauce. We tried three variations - the pollo gamberoni offered a panoply of seafood on tooth-ticklingly tender chicken breasts with a deliciously-delicate sauce. The filletini Pepe provided the very best of well-hung fresh beef in a rich sauce which was probably more alcoholic than the bottle of Amarone into which the Chianti had unaccountably mutated, under the guidance of the sommelier. Agnello saporito is a rack of lamb roasted with herbs in a redcurrant jelly sauce with fresh rosemary, cooked perfectly pink and delicately tender and it proves, as it did the rest, that the chef is as happy with simple dished as he is with the complex flavours of classical Italian cooking. An it also proves, if proof were needed, the good, fresh ingredients are the first, last and only requirement when it comes to good food.

So, to the pudding situation…We're a traditional bunch at theses offices and chocolate, creama dn sundry sweet, fruity items tend to dominate. There's a selection from the trolley and specialties of the day, including a splendid tiramisu, profiteroles with lashings of chocolate and cream, and…Well, you name it. There are cheeses, too.

After the Chianti and the Amarone the pudding demanded something of its own. The wine list is very comprehensive, well-selected and offers excellent house-wine for less than a tenner as well as some varies (such as the Amarone) at modest prices. The average spend on a three-course meal for twopeople sharing a bottle of wine at A1 Tamborista is about £50, all-inclusive, although there's plenty of opportunity to push the boat out if there's something to celebrate. However, back to the dessert and we succumbled to a group desire for the Italian liqueur Amaretto which, in our experience, goes with everything and does so immaculately. That, and a cappuccino or two, set the seal on a magnificent, varied voyage of discovery through an innovative menu.

Now, how about dinner…? And one of those luxurious rooms for the night…?

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Summit Club

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How about a private bar to entertain you guests before dinner…? Drinks and canapés overlooking the old stable courtyard…A discreet mod from the Msitre d' when your table is ready…Special rates for weekend bed-and-breakfast breaks…Luxury transport and privileged seats at Henly, Wimbledon, Ascot and all the major sporting events of the season…That's what the Summit Club is all about.

A years subscription costs £1,000 of which is £900 is creditable against restaurant bills and accommodation, but membership offers so much more in terms of extra services. Milton Keynes provides a white-hot melting-pot for business, but there are times when that business might better be conducted in the unhurried tranquility of private and historic surroundings. The Summit Club offers precisely that service of discretion and privacy, as well as preferential terms throughout the hotel and restaurant.

Trips to the UK's major sporting events are arranged according to members' wishes, and may be anything from a private party, chauffeur-driven, to a luxury coach with Champagne breakfast and stewardess services: everything is tailored to the event and the company.

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