Payne’s Glossop restaurant, which will be pitched at a similar level to his highly rated Hayfield pub four miles down the road, will now trade as Almanac.
The self-taught chef told Restaurant the rebrand has cost him nearly £30,000 — £8,000 in branding costs and £20,000 in lost revenue from an associated two-week delay.
“It’s just such bad luck - what are the chances? I came up with the name early on in the project because I wanted it to inform the style and brief.
“I chose Trillium because I have a connection to Ontario (trillium is the Canadian province’s flower) and also because it has three petals, which leans into the idea of a trinity. Each dish at the restaurant will focus on three key ingredients.”
Start again
Payne was alerted to the fact that Purnell was also planning to use the name shortly after announcing his new restaurant project on social media.
Purnell and his business partner Phil Innes trademarked the name on 3 June under a wide range of classes including class 43, the provision of food and drink.
“I contacted them and, though they were friendly and sympathetic, they said that I would have to start again with my branding,” Payne continues.
“This has meant creating a new logo as well as changing the name (it was previously a graphic of the flower). There are lots of pubs called The Pack Horse around us and we just get on with it, so it’s not something I really thought about.
“It’s been devastating to have had the name taken away from us before we have even opened.”
Crowdfunder campaign
Payne is looking to recoup his losses through a crowdfunder campaign hosted on Kickstarter.
Going live at 8pm tonight (1 July), the crowdfunder includes a guest chef dinner at high-profile Suffolk pub The Unruly Pig set for 19 November and lunch and dinner vouchers for Almanac.
Almanac is expected to soft launch on 16 July and will officially launch the following week.
Example dishes include crab with mustard leaves and brown crab and seaweed salad cream; braised trotters with peas and onions; and roast lamb with cockles and samphire.
Revealed by Restaurant earlier this year, Purnell’s Trillium is slated for a September launch.
- This story was originally published in Restaurant here.
