The Farmer’s Dog in Burford, Oxfordshire opened its doors on Friday 23 August 2024.
Prior to the opening, operators issued words of wisdom to Clarkson. A number of them urged him to ensure he had the right team around him to help the business run smoothly.
The farmer and publican documented the journey of finding and opening a pub on the latest instalment of Clarkson’s Farm.
In the series, he called upon some famous faces for advice. After outlining how he was “losing sleep” over all the issues and with the pub, he spoke to former co-presenter James May, director Guy Ritchie, singer James Blunt and journalist Piers Morgan, who all have owned pubs for their top tips.
Opening report
Upon opening on the Friday of the August bank holiday weekend last year, there were a number of issues including with beer coolers meaning for each pint being poured, another was lost.
The kitchen also saw problems with extractor fans tripping, sparking concerns lunch service would be a bust.
However, this was rectified by 2pm and the first of the lunches were served.
The next day (Saturday 24 August) saw two waitresses and a pot washer leave as well as the pub running out of food during its first carvery service and all the water in the building being off.
At the time, Clarkson said: “Opening weekend was a disaster...Opening day and yesterday were absolute disasters. I never want to relive them.”
Roaring success
Furthermore, May this year saw Clarkson admit owning a pub was “more stressful” than running his farm, in a report in The Telegraph.
In the newspaper, he wrote: “There are so many things you discover about opening and running a pub that you wouldn’t even consider.
“When you and I go in a pub, you ask for a pint, you get a pint, you sit down, maybe have some pork scratchings or something and it doesn’t look that difficult.
“But there’s an enormous amount of regulation on food hygiene and safety.
“And then you’ve got staffing. You’ve got to try and find chefs, you’ve got to find waitresses and that’s all very complicated.”
