Join our WhatsApp channel: The Morning Round-Up
Get the biggest pub trade stories straight to your phone. Listen to our one-minute daily news briefing and receive breaking news, exclusives and sector updates throughout the day....just remember to turn notifications on in top right corner!
Stepping through the doors of this Grade II-listed, sandstone-clad gem you’ll find a welcoming lounge bar where regulars come for a pint and a game of darts, or a morning coffee mid-dog walk, while the airy – and air conditioned - conservatory restaurant fills with diners for regular nights like Mussel Mondays or Steak Wednesdays, and relaxed weekend lunches.
A £200,000 joint investment by owners Punch and the Greedy Gordon’s Group has financed an interior refresh, which includes stylish new toilets (check out the beer barrel urinals in the men’s), furniture, flooring and a wine wall.
External excellence
It’s also paid for new kitchen equipment and the development of a loyalty app for customers to help improve its offer.
Outside, the pollinator-friendly blossoming bee(r) garden respects its rural Northamptonshire location and a provides a beautiful backdrop for a G&T made with locally-distilled Warner’s honey gin as the sun sets, while bespoke-made accessible bench tables ensure everyone is welcome.
Indeed, even smokers are included. There’s a semi-enclosed cigar terrace, complete with sofa seating and retro arcade game, where customers can smoke a cigar bought from the pub’s very own cigar humidor.
Multipurpose space
Tucked away at the back is yet more space for dining, drinking and socialising. The Red Lion’s garden bar and restaurant is a multipurpose space, known as ‘Crab and Cocktails’ during the summer months and morphing into a Bavarian-themed space as the weather turns cooler.
It also serves as an event space for weddings, wakes and parties, while a number of 50inch TV screens show national sports events and movies on Sundays.
With chef Richard Gordon at the helm of Greedy Gordon’s (overseen with business partner Sonya Harvey) food is unsurprisingly a big focus at the Red Lion, but its food-centric ethos shapes its community work too.
The Red Lion works with charity Homestart Kettering to provide meals, recipes and slow cookers to local families in need, so no-one in its area goes hungry.
