News Archive:

Closing of Bristol Restaurant

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is with unprecedented regret that I announce the closing of the Bristol restaurant.  I am afraid that having taken on such a big site in such a prime position at a time when the economy wasn’t looking too rosy, coupled with a painful, slow recovering broken ankle amongst other complications, meant that my finite pot of money ran dry far too quickly to allow the venture to spread it’s wings.

I am grateful for all of the positive feedback that I’ve received from diners, assuring me that ethics, price, flavour and style were all utterly correct.  It’s unfortunate that the very chain restaurants that The Big Bang Bristol was trying to battle are probably the only ones with pockets deep enough to make a go of such a large space these days.

The Oxford restaurant continues to be one of the most popular  places in the city, so if the craving for ethical, locally sourced Bangers and Mash gets too much, it would be great to see you there -  it’s not that far of a drive.

My thanks for your custom and encouragement. Please do try to frequent independent traders and restaurants, rather than ghastly chains.  We are lucky that Whiteladies Road has a number of fine places, including Planet Pizza, Bar Humbug, Quartier Vert and the spectacular Picture House.  Head on over to Casamia in Westbury on Trym if you ever get the chance, for one of the best meals you could ever experience and add more power to their elbow. It’s a gem that Bristol should never be allowed to lose - excellent enough to rival Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck.

I hope to cross paths with some of you in the future, but for the time being I am leaving Bristol to nurse some wounds!

Warm Regards, Max

New Year's Eve

The Big Bang would like to help you celebrate the coming of 2008 with great food and loads of bubbly. The Oxford restaurant will be serving the normal menu, although we'll have loads of sparkling stuff in stock, so you can celebrate in style. The Bristol restaurant is offering a 5 course fandango of sausage-based spectacles for only £25.00 - Cold meat platters, cucumber and mint sorbet, your choice of any 2 sausages from the menu over delicious creamed mash, fine desserts and an English cheese platter with sparkling wine at Midnight. Please call 01179 239212 for bookings, or click here.

Sizzling Singles Supper

Oxfordshires singles (in their 30s-50s) have an opportunity to get connected at the Sizzling Singles Supper, being held at The Big Bang Oxford. This event will bring together 50 single people to have a fun evening, enjoy good quality local food and raise money for The Hunger Project to empower women and men across the world to end their own hunger. Unlike other events for single people, this one is about combining a love for good quality, local produce (the majority of The Big Bang’s produce is sourced within 20 miles of the restaurant) and contributing to an entrepreneurial organisation called The Hunger Project, which invests in peoples potential enabling them to overcome hunger and poverty.  There’ll be a charity auction on the evening with items such as dinner for 2 at a variety of local restaurants, pamper sessions (for both the women and men), bespoke jewellery and fine wine. 7.30 pm on 24th November. Click here to see the official website of the Sizzling Singles Supper for ticket information.

The Big Bang Celebrates the 10th Annual British Sausage Week in style

Today sees the start of the 10th Annual British Sausage week, a celebration of the food typical to Great Britain. Max Mason at The Big Bang on Walton Street, Jericho, has decided to mark the celebration with a merging of British cuisines – The Curry and the more traditionally regarded Bangers and Mash, in a dish that will be served at the restaurant throughout the week. At the end of the week, the dish will be rated by Phil Tufnell - amongst other dishes of Bangers and Mash - in a celebration in Bristol, where the newest Big Bang is situated. Click here to read more...

Breaking News!

Restaurant Magazine has listed us as a finalist in The Top 10 Dishes in Britain Awards 2007! Fingers crossed!!!

Press Releases

With the opening of our new location in Bristol, we have a few official Press Releases that were sent out to help the local community learn a bit about who we are, what we do, and what we believe in. Feel free to have a look:

1. 24 September 2007 - "Every Self Respecting Town Has Their Own Sausage"

2. "The Big Bang Bristol - What's It All About?"

3. 24 September 2007 - "Restaurant Opens With A Bang"

Nominate the Big Bang!

Please could you help support The Big Bang, by nominating us as your favourite in this year's Best Rural Retailer competition?
 
Anyone can nominate, as many times as you like, for anyone you know that goes that extra mile as an ambassador in their community or to promote local produce, against all the odds. Whether it's a particularly good farm shop or local butcher, an individual who has really diversified their business, a local post office who provide more than just a post office service... There are four categories, so please do nominate in any of the following:

1.   Best Local Food Retailer
2.   Best Village Shop/ Post Office
3.   Best Diversification
4.   Best Traditional Business

The Best Rural Retailer competition aims to celebrate our rural communities through the retailers who work so hard to promote them and keep them together, and local retailers are showing their true colours yet again. The awards aim to recognise and celebrate the UK's small
independent retailers, who often act as ambassadors for their communities as well as promoters of local produce. With the backing of local people, nominees will have a strong chance of gaining national recognition through these prestigious awards.

Nominations can be made online at www.bestruralretailer.co.uk until 6th October or forms can be ordered from the SCA office on 0131 335 0200
 
Overall UK winners will be declared at the House of Lords in February 2008

Vote for the Big Bang!

Official Opening of the Big Bang Bristol!

The Big Bang Bristol flings open its doors on Friday 21 September! In true Big Bang style, the opening will be marked with a launch party - if you're in the area, stop by the Big Bang Bristol at 46 Whiteladies Road at 8pm and sample some of the best local food and drink in the Bristol area. Come and see what we're all about - you know you want to!

Click here to read the official press release for the opening of the Big Bang Bristol.

Christmas Menu

Book early for the cheapest, most unusual and most popular Christmas Dinner! We know that by the middle of December, everyone is bored of the standard Christmas dinners, so we offer a Big Bang alternative. For only £17.50 per person (including VAT) we offer:

A selection of cold cuts, olives, dips and breads as starters

A trio of Festive Sausages
Turkey and Cranberry ~ Pork and Chestnut ~ Wild Winter Game
served with seasonal and festive vegetables over parsley and thyme mashed potato with a rich red wine jus
(vegetarian sausages also available)

Christmas Pudding with Brandy Cream or a Homemade Crumble with Custard

We are now taking bookings in both Oxford and Bristol.
Book now while you still have a chance!

Free Food for Flood Victims

Max and all at The Big Bang teamed up with FM 107.9, Oxford’s radio station, to ensure that any people who had been evicted from their homes because of the rising flood waters had something good to eat, to keep their spirits up through difficult times.  They moved the Baby Bang to the West side of Oxford, at the lapping, coursing edges of the flooding Thames, and began handing out sausages in hot dog rolls to the knee-deep and the needy.  At the end of the evening, to the sounds of the radio being broadcast from Botley Road, we managed to give away 5,000 hot dogs, a record number for the Baby Bang in such a short period of time.

Max comments that "It became apparent that the world’s media were on our doorstep, telling us what hideous conditions Oxford was suffering, yet most people were content to remain indoors and hope the flooding didn’t reach them – We had a festival which was cancelled at which we would have been selling a great number of hot dogs and Sainsbury’s had been kind enough to give us a great volume of bread at cost price, so we wanted to give a little back, in conjunction with the local radio station.  It was the least we could do during such trying circumstances for our county."

Once the word went out on the net, all of the emergency services were turning up for free food during their quieter moments, ensuring that the food got to those most needy folk who were working tirelessly to ensure that our electricity substations and homes remained free from inundation. 

Big Bang to Arrange a Party in a Brewery

Big Bang restaurant owner Max Mason had spent so long being told that he didn't have the skills to organise a p*ss-up in a brewery, let alone run his own restaurant, so he has decided to go ahead and do just that!

Every year, in the first weekend of August he has arranged the party as if to try to encourage people to have a go at achieving their dreams.  He says "I had spent so many years with different plans, yet had been talked out of them by so many people, afraid to take the first step on their own, that this party is a way of encouraging people to have the courage of their convictions."

This year it is being held at the Cotswold Brewing Company in the heart of the Cotswolds, where for just £30 a head, he organises all the lager that guests want, all the food that they desire from the Big Bang Barbecue and live music, this year provided by a four piece band, with the renowned Zena James singing. Transport is arranged both from and back to Oxford and the evening proves to be a great hit every year.

He adds that the well known saying about organising a certain type of party in a brewery is rather unfair, as being able to organise such an affair for up to 300 people is a nerve racking challenge, trying to ensure that nothing gets forgotten for the night!

Bookings can be taken through email or by phone: 01865 511441.

04 August 2007
Bus leaves from outside Taylor's Deli on St. Giles at 7pm
£30 per person - all you can eat and drink plus live music and transportation

The Baby Bang

The Big Bang has, as a result of continued demands, ventured into outdoor catering in style, with the birth of the Baby Bang – a mobile BBQ platform which can be found at Cornbury Festival, Charlbury Riverside Festival, Gay Pride Oxford (for which we are already receiving any number of double entendre comments), The Cowley Road Carnival and The Big Bang Round Table Fireworks Display in South Parks.

The Baby Bang is available for private hire, for outdoor catering, for parties or for festivals throughout the year – Contact thebabybang@thebigbangoxford.co.uk for details and bookings.

Bumps

Max and the crew from The Big Bang will be on the river bank for Bumps this year, selling their trademark Full English Sausage which contains the full array of ingredients that you would expect to find in an English Breakfast – sausage meat, chopped bacon, hard boiled egg, black pudding, mushrooms, tomato and even the humble baked bean.  The sausage is being promoted in conjunction with Oxford’s FM 107.9 radio station to raise money for charity and promote the great British Breakfast!

May Day Morning

Max and others from The Big Bang are to be found out bright and early on May Day morning in residence at The Cape of Good Hope on the Plain, selling their trademark Full English Breakfast fiasco sausage in conjunction with Oxford’s FM 107.9 radio station.  The sausage was created by Max to raise money for charity and to support a FM 107.9 cause to make their DJ’s more famous across Oxford. The breakfast fiasco DJs Adam and Anna will be helping Big Bang staff to sell the sausages to those attending the May Day morning celebrations whilst staff at The Cape of Good Hope will be selling teas and coffees to those awaiting the dawn chorus.

Big Bang Makes Big Ethical Noise

Just Ask Ethical CLA Campaign

We have grown into a nation who are prepared to pay a premium for the quality of soil that a vegetable was grown in and to know whether an animal has led a happy life before being slaughtered, so we should be readily prepared to ensure that food we eat in our restaurants is helping to reinforce the strength of British producers and is also traveling the shortest possible distance before reaching our plates.

The Countryside Landowners Association have taken the lead with a nationwide campaign launched by the Prime Minister during a Downing Street ceremony in January, and in Oxfordshire, where Max Mason and staff at The Big Bang have led the way for the county.  The campaign, coinciding with the CLA's centenary year will, says the CLA, help raise awareness in restaurants, pubs and other food outlets that there is now a demand and preference for locally sourced, quality British food.

Just Ask is aimed at encouraging consumers to ask where the food on their plate comes from whenever they'’re out for a meal - whether in a hotel, restaurant, pub, canteen or roadside café.  CLA South East regional director, Rupert Ashby, said: "British food is better for the environment, better for animal welfare and ensures that local farms and producers have a future, which is why we are keen to gain the support of as many South East food businesses as possible. We are delighted to have The Big Bang on board with this. This is just the sort of business which shows that excellent food and a healthy British farming sector go hand-in-hand".

Max comments that "the idea behind the Big Bang came from a profound dislike of chain restaurants and the way food is centrally, mass procured, processed in another location, then shipped to a number of cloned, glass boxed restaurants nationwide". The Big Bang ethos has always been to source everything practicable from within a 20 mile radius, ensuring they achieve the ethical higher ground over chain restaurants, and are also able to support local suppliers and demonstrate the quality of our local produce in serving the best of British cuisine.

To read more about this campaign, click here to download the press release.

The Big Bang Sponsors Luminox

March 15 - 17

The Big Bang has come on board as a sponsor of Luminox, one of the most exciting visual events of Oxfordshire 2007, the county's year-long millennium celebration. Luminox is a spectacular fire installation in Oxford's historic Broad Street created by renowned French performance company Carabosse, who have cast their magic in cities all over the world.

Luminox will feature fire sculptures plus a giant pendulum made by local artist Ted Dewan which will swing 1000 times each evening to symbolise the passing of the years. There will also be live music coordinated by Oxford Contemporary Music and performed from a specially created wrought iron bandstand.

The evening event, which is the highlight of Oxfordshire 2007's spring season, runs from March 15 to 17 and is free, although a £1 voluntary contribution is invited. Max Mason, owner of The Big Bang said: "Luminox celebrates all that is special about 2007  - and we at The Big Bang applaud creativity in all its forms.

"We believe in getting involved with the life of our community – as a local business we source local products and we support Oxford in many different ways."

Visitors to Luminox are invited to The Big Bang after the show where they will receive 10% off their meal if they produce a Luminox programme.

British Sausage Week

October 30 - November 5

Celebrate British Sausage Week at the Big Bang with a range of spicy and unusually flavoured British sausages. Book your table now if you don't want to miss out!

Big Bang to Trigger Fireworks Over Oxford

The Big Bang has teamed up with Oxford Round Table to sponsor their annual fireworks extravaganza to celebrate Guy Fawkes night and the very beginning of winter on 4th November and expects the display to be the biggest of its kind yet seen in Oxford.

Round Table is a charitable organisation for men between the ages of 18 and 45, they regularly meet with a view to raise money for local causes and endeavour to have fun whilst doing so.  Their main event, as the biggest charitable event in Oxford'’s calendar is the Fireworks Display in South Parks, attracting in excess of 12,000 firework fans and raising in excess of £25,000 for local charities.

The display has been held for each of the last 38 years, it consists of a 30 minute display of choreographed fireworks costing over £10,000, followed by the burning of a 10 metre high bonfire, built frantically during the same day. The event is run entirely free of cost by Oxford Round Table members and connected local volunteers and sponsored this year by Max Mason and The Big Bang.

The fireworks will be held on Saturday 4th November commencing at an earlier than normal 6:15pm by popular demand, to allow the whole family to attend.  Food and drinks will be available to purchase from The Big Bang throughout South Parks.

Tickets cost £12 for a family ticket and £5 for a single ticket if purchased before the event and can also be purchased on the evening at the gates, costing £15 for a family ticket and £6 for a single ticket.

The tickets are available from The Big Bang at 124 Walton Street, Shepherd and Woodward on High Street and in Summertown, Walters on Turle Street, Ecco of New Inn Hall Street and from Johnson’s buildbase of Cowley.

Members of the public willing to help out on the evening can contact Round table through www.roundtable.co.uk or through The Big Bang restaurant.

Discounts will be offered on site for The Big Bang for those who intend on heading over to the restaurant on completion for a warming plate of sausage and mash from the restaurant voted the third best place to eat in Britain for under £50 by the Independent.  Bookings alternatively can be made on 01865 511441 or by emailing bookings@thebigbangoxford.co.uk

Press Release

August 2006 - Innocent Flirting

On Sunday 6th August thousands of people flocked to Regents Park, London to enjoy live music, food and wine tasting and of course the opportunity to flirt.

Doing what he does best some might say, Oxfords' Max Mason; owner of The Big Bang restaurant in Jericho, was invited to compare the flirting area (speed-dating) at Fruitstock 2006; the free festival hosted by Innocent drinks company.

“Innocent recently supported The Fishes Festival in Oxford which was how they heard about me. I was completely taken aback though when they asked me to organise and compare the flirting area. It sounded like great fun; just like the Big Bang, and so I jumped at the opportunity.” Max explained.

Basking in the glorious sunlight Max kept the atmosphere buzzing with his wit and charm. To those of you who are not familiar with today’s speed dating, the rules of the game were simple; sign up, sit down and flirt with a member of the opposite sex for 2 minutes then move on to the next ‘date’.

“It was great fun and I’m now working hard to get Innocent to think about doing something here in Oxford.” Max enthused.

Now in their 5th year of supplying the nation with a fruit smoothies, fruit thickies and juicy waters; Innocent has become a popular household brand name in the UK.

Big Bang Business Networking

Big Bang Business Networking launches Tuesday 22nd August. If you enjoy meeting interesting people and intriguing conversation with fellow business owners this is an event not to be missed. This first event is sponsored by Bartercard and you will have opportunity to discover how swapping apples for pears can help grow your business and improve your profits.

Cost of £10 per person includes wine, beer or soft drinks and an opportunity to sample the delights of The Big bang cuisine. The evening will run from 7.00 to 9.30pm and we would love to see you there. If you wish to bring promotional materials for your company, please feel free to do so.

Click here to book

Announcement

June 2006 - Art Auctions

The Big Bang is now displaying twelve works original works of art from some of Oxfordshire's finest artistic talent. Please see our Art Auctions page for details.

Press Release

May 2006 - TV Fame beckons for local entrepreneur

'Ever Wondered Food?'’ is a new six-part BBC series about different food groups. ' Ever Wondered Sausages?' will feature Max Mason owner of The Big Bang restaurant in Walton Street, Oxford. He discusses why he thinks there has been such resurgence in sausages, the quality of ingredients and the important of buying local produce.

Entrepreneurial flair and cheeky school-boy charm convinced BBC producers to select Max. The BBC One series follows Saturday Kitchen, with a repeat mid-week.

Max Mason (facing) being filmed at The Big Bang

For further information about Max Mason & The Big Bang please contact The Big Bang at 01865 511441 or info@thebigbangoxford.co.uk