Friday 28 May 2010

Your heart sinks

…when you read the fateful words that a Swiss chef has taken over a pub in Cheshire and relaunched it as a restaurant under the same name. Even worse when it’s the Highwayman at Rainow, of which you have fond memories of when it was a proper pub bursting with character.

10 comments:

  1. He doesn't seem to have a good track record where business is concerned, does he.

    ReplyDelete
  2. And, as the comments to my previous post suggest, that's probably not the right location for a poncey gastropub.

    ReplyDelete
  3. From your previous post the pub was boarded up, now someone's making a go of using the commercial premises for commerce. Surely a good thing?

    Now he may succeed or he may fail, as is the nature of enterprise.

    Not all business succeeds, failure is as important as success for the successful operation of a market economy. Capitalism works on the basis that the profit motive results in the most efficient form of capital allocation. The pub failed, now it becomes a restaurant that might succeed.

    Hey, if he fails, the gaff might get knocked down and turned into something that does work.

    You may prefer the old pub, and lament its passing, but it was already gone before this guy arrived.

    Why be sentimental? It's only a pub. The things to care about are yourself, your missus & any kids you've got.

    Businesses open, businesses close, that's life.

    ReplyDelete
  4. "Why be sentimental? It's only a pub."

    Cruel words for a blogger who has "Pub Curmudgeon" as his moniker...

    ReplyDelete
  5. A pub, particularly a historic pub that has been in existence for hundreds of years, is far more than just another business. On a smaller scale it's like saying "Tatton Hall, just another house. Knock it down and build an estate of executive detacheds instead".

    Even if it's not economically viable (which I am not convinced of) it is still sad to see it go.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Tyson, did you mean Cooking Lager? Anyway Cooking, I don't believe that Curmugeon was being "sentimental" just as I am not being "sentimental" because there now is no smoking in public houses. There is room for every type of establishment that happens to sell alcohol to vie for the market share but the market is being eskewed by legislation to favour 'gastro' pubs unfairly.

    I also believe in falure as a means to make one stronger but if you fail at the same thing often enough you have to think that maybe you should change your career, you never know, you may find your true vocation.

    This is nothing to do with buisness finding it's level, it's about political dogma that deems that the working man should come up to another level, hell or high water.

    ReplyDelete
  7. PC

    Actually I'm not convinced that it isn't economically viable, either. As we know, often it just needs the right management. The new venture seems destined to failure by the looks of it.

    ReplyDelete
  8. There are ‘gastro pubs’ and ‘gastro pubs’. Not sure you can tar them all with the same brush. I’ve had some really good ale in true ‘gastro pubs’ – often better than traditional boozers. There are only really two sorts of pubs: those that serve well kept ale and those that don’t.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I'm all in favour on knocking down Tatton Hall. I'd prefer a Tesco Express.

    ReplyDelete
  10. The last time I went in there (a few years back) it had already turned into an attempt at a gastro pub. Poshed up decor, menu and prices. Shame we found the service not very good and the food a bit better than average.
    We'd called in about a year previous to that and it seemed like a proper pub then with people just drinking as well as those like us eating there that evening.

    ReplyDelete

Comments, especially on older posts, may require prior approval by the blog owner. See here for details of my comment policy.

Please register an account to comment. Unregistered comments will generally be rejected unless I recognise the author. If you want to comment using an unregistered ID, you will need to tell me something about yourself.