page_title: The Hind's Head
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: The Hind's Head / History
caption_attribution_description: A scotch egg cut in half from the Hinds Head, Bray. It is made with a quail egg.
context_page_description: The Hind's Head, also called The Hinds Head, is a gastropub in Bray, Berkshire. The pub dates from the 15th century, and was converted into a restaurant in the 1920s. It was awarded a single Michelin star in the 2013 edition of the Michelin Guide. It has been owned by chef Heston Blumenthal since 2004.
context_section_description: The precise original purpose of the building is not known, but it is thought that it was either a hunting lodge or an abbot's guesthouse. It was subsequently operated as a pub, until 1928 when it was purchased by Kitty Henry who combined it with the cottage next door and expanded the premises to operate the premises as a restaurant.
  In 1947, Philip Mountbatten (now the Duke of Edinburgh) held his bachelor party at The Hind's Head prior to his marriage to Princess Elizabeth of the United Kingdom. Prince Philip returned in 1963 along with a party of fifty guests which also included Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Charles, the Princess Royal and King Olav V of Norway. Diana, Princess of Wales, would dine with her sons Princes William and Harry, after visiting them while they were staying at nearby Eton College.
  It was sold by a brewery to chef Heston Blumenthal in 2004. Blumenthal purchased the pub with funds released from his previous investment in the Riverside Brasserie, also in Bray. He had bought the premises to use the car parking and offices for his nearby Fat Duck restaurant. He made the decision to serve British cuisine rather than the molecular gastronomy at his nearby restaurant.
  In 2008, The Hind's Head made £51,088 profit overall for the year. Head chef Dominic Chapman left the Hinds Head to run The Royal Oak in Maidenhead, and was awarded a Michelin star at the new premises shortly afterwards. His replacement, Clive Dixon, also left the pub shortly afterwards to work at Koffman's restaurant at The Berkeley hotel in London. He was replaced by Kevin Love who had previously worked at the Hinds Head for eighteen months as the sous chef. By 2010, the profit made by the pub year on year had increased to £136,196. Following the announcement of his purchase of the nearby pub the Crown; Blumenthal admitted that the Hinds Head had become a destination for good food rather than a local tavern, and instead the Crown was acting as the village's local drinking establishment.
  The pub entered itself in the 2012 Scotch Egg Challenge, as judged by Tom Parker Bowles, Gizzi Erskine and Eric Lanlard. The entry from the pub placed second; it was an Iberico pork sausage-meat covered quail's egg, coated in a breadcrumb mixture seasoned with salt infused with vinegar.
caption: A scotch egg from The Hind's Head using a quail's egg.
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