Gastropub news digest....
De Bretton Group Fawkes out
The de Bretton Group, the Yorkshire-based hospitality business, has bought the Guy Fawkes Hotel in High Petergate, York, with plans to convert it into a gastropub. The company plans to rename the venue the Guy Fawkes Inn and add 12 rooms.
Kings Club adds three more
South west-based pub company the Kings Club has taken on three key Greene King sites. Ian Rayner and Miles Johnson, part of the team that launched Bristol gastropub the Albion and who now run the Kensington Arms in Redland, Bristol, have taken on three country pubs: the Kings Arms at Litton, near Bristol, the Ragged Cot in Hyde, Gloucester-shire, and the Kings Arms, Montacute, Somerset.
Brown Dog gang open the Duke
Jamie Prudom, Alan Lemprière and Hilary Fairhurst, the team at the Brown Dog which launched earlier this year, have opened their second gastropub pub, the Duke of Wellington in Marylebone, London. The menu includes starters: lamb, pearl barley and vegetable broth (£5.50); lobster penne with herbs (£8.50); mains: fillet
of wild line-caught cod with cocoa beans, piquillo peppers and saffron aioli (£12.50); pheasant breast wrapped in pancetta with Puy lentils spinach and sherry vinegar (£12); and desserts: chocolate fondant with vanilla ice cream (£5.50); apple and blackberry crumble with custard (£5).
Martin brothers make it five
Ed and Tom Martin have opened their fifth gastropub. The Prince Arthur, in Forest Row, London Fields, holds 50 covers inside and 24 outside. The head chef at the east London pub is Tim Francis.
Ramsay to open third pub in 2008
Gordon Ramsay will be opening his third pub, the Warrington, in London's Maida Vale, in the New Year. The Warrington was built in 1859, originally as a hotel with guest rooms.
Center Parcs to switch to gastros
Two restaurants in British holiday resort Center Parcs are to be converted into gastropubs. Restaurants at the Sherwood and Elveden Forest sites will become gastros as part of a £6.3m investment over the next year.
