TV show finalist sells share in pub
The chef-owner of Enterprise Inns lease the Butchers Arms in Hepworth, West Yorkshire, took on the nearby Kaye Arms in Wakefield with his former head chef Chris Kelly, who bought him out.
Bilton, who won the Best Gastropub Award in the Publican’s Morning Advertiser’s Great British Pub Awards 2010, sold his interest to pursue his ambition of taking on a freehold.
His check list includes a restaurant, rooms and space for a cookery school within five to seven miles of the Butchers Arms.
“It will be a similar menu at the new pub but I am looking to lift the food another notch,” said Bilton. “We have been recommended in the Michelin Guide for two years and I want a rising star next year. Ultimately, I want a star. It takes a lot of time and dedication, but I know we can do it.”
For the past two years Bilton has been “playing at” making TB (Timothy Bilton or The Butchers) branded piccalilli, chutneys and jams and from April this will become a serious move.
“Depending on how successful it is we will branch out into more products,” said Bilton. “I don’t want two dozen products, I am going to do six or eight well.”
The products will be sold from Bilton’s pub and local farmers’ shops.
During spring and summer Bilton does a lot of cookery demos, offering another avenue for selling products.
