New team at The Chequers fill gap for Chinese cuisine

April 18, 2025

Gosia, David and Beetoshoke at The Chequers, Watlington

Husband and wife team Beetoshoke De & Malgorzata (Gosia) Jarzebandak-De, and experienced chef David Man, have taken on The Chequers in Watlington.

The team are filling a gap in Watlington for Chinese cuisine, which they are offering to diners, for takeaway and delivery.

Beetoshoke and Gosia have lived in Watlington for four years and used to run the Taj restaurant on Watlington High Street.  They are planning to retain the character of the historic 16th-century pub Chequers, while adding a few Chinese artefacts.  As Beetoshoke says: “We don’t want it to feel overbearing, it has to look a part of Watlington and the beautiful English town it is.”

David,  who is originally from Southern China, has cooked all his life, opening his first restaurant in the UK in 1979. He said: “Cooking is my profession. I have been retired for more than 10 years but now going back to it, life is great. I was getting bored at home.

“What else can you do at home — it is my destiny to cook.”

Beetoshoke added: “Local people are happy to see us open the pub with David and to be offering Chinese food, that previously they had to travel some distance to enjoy.”

The new team have clearly done their homework and identified a ready market for their combination of hospitality skills and quality Chinese food. We look forward to helping them make their business a success.