The nouvelle hell of the gastropub

Surely one of the best things that has happened to the British pub in the past couple of decades — and there haven't been many — is the rise and rise of the gastropub.

By focusing on the food, rather than the paraphernalia that so often surrounds fine dining, they have succeeded in overcoming traditional Brit unease with the idea of posh eating out, and in doing so have made inspired cooking accessible to more people in this country than ever — not to mention giving a lot of pubs a new lease of life.

But why in the name of all that's holy was the name "gastropub" chosen to describe this wonderful, benign and civilising movement?

I should perhaps declare an interest here. My company is the sponsor of the Best Gastropub Category in the Great British Pub Awards and although I love the subject, the name gives me the shudders.

I suppose it's because to me it always sounds more norovirus than nouvelle cuisine; it's a name that suggests gastric nightmare, rather than gastronomic delight.

I know I am not alone in this feeling and, at the risk of being accused of giving away secrets from the confessional, a colleague who sat on this year's awards panel told me that a number of the entrants in their written submissions jibbed at their outlets being described as gastropubs.

They felt, like me, that the ugliness of the name and its unfortunate connotations detracted, to say the least, from the image they were endeavouring to convey.

Whoever dreamed up the name? What we do know is that it is generally accepted that the Eagle in London's Farringdon Road was the first outlet to be given this less than felicitous title.

Maybe it was somebody like a pickled egg manufacturer who had a vested interest in nipping this gastronomic initiative in the bud. That was 29 years ago, in 1981, so the trail has gone somewhat cold since then — not that I mind as all I want is to see this hideous name ditched for something more descriptive and appealing.

Maybe it's got itself too embedded in the language and in the industry to be easily eliminated now.

But if the Morning Advertiser​ editor were to run a competition for a name to replace this misshapen semantic monster, we at Budvar would certainly put up the prize.

More importantly, the winner would gain the gratitude and admiration of everyone in the sector.