Opinion: Pubs at the cutting edge of dining out

10-Dec-2012 - Last updated on 11-Mar-2017 at 22:17 GMT

Related tags Good food guide Public house Inn

Carter: The new breed of British pub speaks to the moment's casual ethos

A journalist from Singapore contacted me recently wanting to know what I thought of the “global proliferation of gastropubs, particularly in a place like Singapore”. For someone who has always avoided anything British themed when abroad, “horrified” seemed to sum it up nicely, writes Elizabeth Carter.

Then I thought, hold on, perhaps I’m out of date here. What about Birmingham-born chef April Bloomfield and the Spotted Pig? She took a worldly view on a British concept and to great acclaim introduced the gastropub to New York.

So I asked what we should expect from a gastropub in Singapore? Lovely things, it seems: the pairing of heritage dishes and street food (or updated versions of these) with craft ales. And along the way these pubs have raised the standard of casual eating in Singapore.

How thing change. Remember pubs of old? Remember when British food was an international joke? Now, fuelled by the huge resurgence of pride in British cooking at home, the reputation of British chefs, food and produce has indeed grown worldwide and pubs are in the vanguard.

Tavern, hostelry, boozer, local, whatever you call it, the British pub with its many limitations and share of flaws is the most inspiring kind of restaurant story. It’s in a pub that Tom Kerridge (the Hand & Flowers, Marlow, Buckinghamshire) rose to prominence.

It’s here that chefs such as Steve Harris (the Sportsman, Seasalter, Kent) stimulated the artisanal food movement and Stephen Terry (the Hardwick, Abergavenny, Monmouthshire) and Dominic Chapman (the Royal Oak, Paley Street, Berkshire) found their groove. And it’s in a pub, according to a recent report, that most of us prefer to eat.

Why? Because the new breed of British pub speaks to the moment’s casual ethos; the new breed of pub recognises that the way people want to eat has changed. And that means flexible opening hours, simple but well- sourced menus, old-fashioned hospitality and good value.

You really couldn’t ask for a more straightforward formula for success. You just have to flick through the pages of The Good Food Guide to see that the very best are establishing a gold standard and it’s this ability to change that makes the pub such a great British institution.

OK, 18 pubs may close every week, some to become supermarkets or converted into fast-food joints, even private houses — and for many communities this is a big threat to their social fabric — but what isn’t widely reported are the number of down-at-heel pubs being given a new lease of life by talented chefs and visionary investors. As I start to compile the list for the next edition of The Good Food Guide I’m seeing more and more of these bold pubs.

If the family behind the White Horse at Brancaster Staithe, Norfolk, and the Fox at Willian, Hertfordshire, can turn a failed first-floor nightclub in the centre of Hitchin, Hertfordshire, into Hermitage Rd, a pub that ticks every box in the formula for success, it speaks volumes for the versatility of the modern pub system.

It works. Even abroad.