Menuwatch: The Three Horseshoes, Somerset

"I'd always dreamed about doing something in the countryside, with all these beautiful country pubs. Then my friend Max called up and said I've bought this pub and I'd love you to help me open it," says New Zealand-born Henderson. "I was deciding whether to do it or not when someone suggested I check out the Rye Bakery at Frome station, which is brilliant, and there was Nye Smith standing on the doorstep and the stars were aligning," she adds, with a grin.

Smith is her head chef at the Three Horseshoes, which opened in April, and while the menu is a joint effort, it's Smith who is left in charge of the eight-strong brigade when Henderson is back in her east London restaurant, Rochelle Canteen. "Nye really understands the food – he has worked with me at Rochelle Canteen, and with my husband Fergus at St John. In fact, staffing didn't turn out to be the problem we had feared as we've got a great team here at the pub,' she declares, their modern British, nose-to-tail ethos an obvious draw.

"Pubs are such a great British institution – they're community hubs, as this once was, and will be again," continues Henderson. The 70-seat dining area is split over two rooms, with further tables and counter dining in the bar itself, which is available for walk-ins. And yes, locals do just pop in for a pint, she confirms – though many will choose a bar snack to accompany it, from a slice of pork pie (£7) to mince on toast (£10), and Cheddar toasties (£9.50).

Outside there are a further 50 seats in the newly landscaped honey-coloured stone terrace, the medieval church, complete with pealing bells, providing a dramatic backdrop. And the pub is open every day, from 12pm to 11pm. "We have five bedrooms, so we have to stay open," she says. Rooms start at £220 per night.

The menu changes daily, the brigade reliant on the regular drops from local suppliers, among them Westcombe Dairy, Brown & Forrest smokery, and organic Feltham's Farm. There are usually around five starters, six main courses and six desserts (plus a cheese course), and up to four specials chalked up on the blackboard.

Best-selling dishes include the treacle tart and the pie, which changes regularly – last week it was eel and bacon, before that chicken and girolles. There's also a soup and rouille, the pork pie sold in the bar, and the fish dishes, for example, halibut with chard and an anchovy mayonnaise, and red mullet with braised fennel and green sauce.

"Look, there's nothing wrong with classic pub food – fish and chips, burgers and the like, and I love it like most people, but it's so much more exciting for chefs to follow the seasons and we celebrate that on the menu," says Henderson.

The pub sells around 300 oysters a week, which Henderson declares rather exciting, along with the grouse, which at the time of writing is listed as a special and typically served whole, with bread sauce and redcurrant jelly. "They're flying out the door – whole tables are even ordering it, which is great to see," she says. The whole grouse is priced at £35, the most expensive item on the menu, though the average spend is around £30-£40, without booze.

"We're reasonably priced, as a pub should be. And we can do that by keeping costs down," she explains, adding that the team do their own butchery. Plates are generous, too, particularly the accompanying veg, some of it from no-dig pioneer Charles Dowding. "This is a pub – definitely not fine dining," she says.

"Our drinks offering is quite small, but we think perfectly formed – it has got to excite," she explains. Alongside the 33-bin French-heavy wine list, which features some skin-contact options, there are plenty of local beers and ciders and four cocktails, but they don't have a coffee machine. "They take up too much space – we're not a coffee shop, so instead we offer cafetières. It's all about keeping it simple and that goes for the interiors, too. But most importantly, we want it to be the beating heart of the village – we hope it already is."

From the menu

• Fish soup and rouille £10
• Flatbread, aubergine and yogurt £12
• Cod's roe, soft boiled egg, and confit potato £12
• Ham and parsley terrine, cornichons £11
• Potato and Ogleshield pie £18
• Lamb chops, runner beans and aioli £22
• Chicken and leek pie £23
• Halibut, chard and anchovy £23
• Onglet, beetroot and horseradish £21
• Raspberry and almond tart £9
• Blackberry pavlova £8
• Vanilla panna cotta and plums £8
• Apple cider sorbet £7

Batcombe, Somerset BA4 6HE

thethreehorseshoesbatcombe.co.uk