Pigs across Oxfordshire are sighing in relief at news that Max Mason is quitting his Sausage HQ in Oxford, aka The Big Bang. Oxford will be a far less colourful place without him and his hair-brained, and enormously popular, schemes and bountiful enthusiasm. He will be sorely missed. Here he outlines his Big Bang journey

It is with great regret that I’ll be closing The Big Bang at the Oxford Castle Quarter on July 1, with a huge party this weekend to ensure we’re going out with a bang on the closing weekend of June.

It will close a 10-year chapter for me in Oxford, from scruffy beginnings in Jericho, in a ramshackle building, destined for demolition, back in 2004 suffering great ridicule to be foolish enough to think British people would dine out on bangers & mash.

The premises I traded from for the first eight years was under the sword of Damocles of a rolling four-week tenancy which refused to die, ensuring that décor and appearance was never high on the list of priorities for me, as a business owner.

Yet, we managed to sit 250 diners a day over three floors, in less than ideal surroundings, while restaurateurs all around scratched their head, puzzled at why it worked quite so well. But I knew these were no ordinary bangers – sourcing everything from within 20 miles of Oxford, they were a wonderful taste of the best small producers in Oxfordshire, as were the beers, the soft drinks and even the musicians too, who played weekly in the Jazz Cellar.

My greatest achievement has been to work alongside Springhill Prison, where produce from the gardens, grown by prisoners, has been a permanent fixture on our menus, as prisoners on day release and those recently released have been on my payroll.

The largest challenge I ever tried to face was to revive the fortunes of the closed Carluccio’s premises in the back courtyard of Oxford Castle, which had lain empty for years before I plucked up the courage to do battle with Oxford’s ghost quarter.

I regret that, despite being among the most picturesque parts of the city, the Castle Quarter is not central enough to people’s daily beat to make an independent restaurant, such as mine, sustainable.

We created a breathtaking Snow Factory leading up to last Christmas, we have landed 40 tonnes of sand each summer to create the Oxford Beach, and yet, I’d be surprised if more than one per cent of Oxford’s residents have even been within the complex over the past decade.

So, rather than continue to bang my head against the castle walls, your readers will be delighted to hear that I am freeing up some column space, and decamping to Australia to work with a vineyard in McLaren Vale, along with a restaurant in Adelaide, and a beach bar in Bali, after having spent the past four months on an acquaint there, falling deeply for the Australian way of life.

On reflection, losing British winters won’t be such a painful proposition, I’ll just be mortified to leave the city I have grown to love dearly over the past decade – it has major flaws, largely due to the stranglehold on any change by the university, along with a malaise which deems itself too worthy to try hard in it’s quest for tourism.

And so The Big Bang will be closing with a party weekend with live music and a BBQ on the Oxford Beach, before closing it’s doors on Monday morning.

TRY IT
The Big Bang,
42 Oxford Castle Quarter, Oxford
01865 249413
thebigbangrestaurants.co.uk