Food Review: The Cross Keys, Kinnerley, unlocks its potential
After a choppy two years, thanks to Covid, The Cross Keys has emerged serving unfussy but delicious dishes, as Andy Richardson discovers.

We last visited at the start of 2020. Remember that? Masks were something worn by wrestlers, Prime Ministers were renowned for telling the truth and we were pretty sure we’d be seeing £350 million a week paid into the NHS.
Fast forward two years and we are living in the much-vaunted sunlit uplands. Hallelujah. These are the days that we dreamed of, when unicorns roam the region and there’s a pot of gold at the end of each rainbow.
Meanwhile, those with feet on terra firma have lived a different experience. Lockdown paralysed the pub trade with hospitality an industry that suffered more than most. The on-off-on nature of regulations meant beer was poured down the drain, food was given away to locals and staff were laid off or asked to hang on in there without being paid. It’s not been good.
In the case of The Cross Keys, at Kinnerley, it’s been worse than it has for most. It opened at the end of 2019 amid a battalion of good intentions. Serving a population of just 1,000 people, it intended to be the beating heart of the local community as its owners set about to save an under-threat rural pub. The Cross Keys had been in danger of being turned into homes before a local businessman and his wife stepped forward to ensure its future. A community group was jubilant and landlords Matt Tommey and Kay Phasey stepped up to the plate, taking over a venue that had an important place in the hearts of locals.

They started brilliantly, building on the considerable experience they’d amassed elsewhere. Tommey had formerly worked for Hobsons Brewery before moving into management and running the Charlton Arms and Church Inn for Claude and Cedric Bosi. He ran his own pub, Bennetts End, at Knowbury, in south Shropshire, before moving north to Oswestry.
His partner had enjoyed similar professional experiences and the two were looking to settle in the small-but-perfectly-formed village with their young family. What could go wrong? They were about to live the dream. Not only was the décor good and the support from the community exceptional, but they’d also agreed terms with head chef Warwick Kidd, another former Ludlovian who was among the county’s best.
Kidd had got a decent number two: Alex Lloyd, a popular sous chef who has worked in Oswestry’s better restaurants, including the Townhouse and Sebastians.
And so the Fab Four set sail in late 2019, enjoying a blistering start to their new life in a small village. And then Covid. Damn that flippin’ Covid.