No 4 Wood Street
Mansfield, Nottinghamshire
Danny Phillips and Maggie Kind were once fired with an ambition to open a quality restaurant, the sort that they really enjoyed themselves, in Mansfield, somewhere that they felt was woefully lacking in anywhere really good at the time.
They already owned a suitable building, two hundred years old and listed, and spent a small fortune on converting it to the needs of a modern restaurant. However, vital to their plans was finding the right chef, someone who shared their passion for food and creating a special dining out experience. Luckily they found Michael Sindall, a local lad from Mansfield, who was keen to come home; he had trained in such excellent local kitchens as Hart's and The Bay Tree before heading to the bright lights of London for the tutorage of the Roux Brothers and Marco Pierre White.
Michael has now taken over the business and it appears to be going from strength to strength. Cater Magazine recently featured him and the restaurant as "bright young things". When you visit restaurants day-in, day-out it is easy to become a little jaded; however, at Wood Street I'm convinced Michelin will come calling with their big red book. Let's just hope that No. 4 Wood Street is the start of a renaissance of good food in Mansfield, rather than an oasis in the desert.
