Tony Rowen discovers why a landlord is so optimistic about the future of his village pub
PUBS have ensured difficult times in recent years but just recently the signs have been more encouraging. Only last month, Charles Church of commercial property agents Underwoods reported that pubs are being bought and refurbished with values recovering.
One man who knows the pub trade inside out is Peter Stubbins, who has owned and run pubs for 38 years.
Tony Rowen discovers why a landlord is so optimistic about the future of his village pub
PUBS have ensured difficult times in recent years but just recently the signs have been more encouraging. Only last month, Charles Church of commercial property agents Underwoods reported that pubs are being bought and refurbished with values recovering.
One man who knows the pub trade inside out is Peter Stubbins, who has owned and run pubs for 38 years. As landlord of The White Swan in Holcot, he had ridden out the recession by using all the experience he has gained over the years.
The White Swan is a traditional village pub. It has ambience of an old-fashioned country pub in a pretty village setting, offering a good selection of ales, ciders, lagers, wine and spirits and serving good, home-cooked food.
For the first time in years, Peter is excited about the future prospects for his pub. The reason for his optimism is the arrival of a new head chef. He has just engaged Matt Dowdy, formerly of the Lamplighter in Northampton, to run the kitchen at The White Swan. And working with him is Sophie Fountain, a Young Chef of the Year finalist in this year’s Carlsberg UK Northamptonshire Food and Drink Awards. The winner will be announced later this month.
“Matt came highly recommended and has impressed me since his arrival,” said Peter. “I’m more than happy to step back from kitchen duties and let him and Sophie display their culinary talents.”
On a wet Friday night last month, I visited The White Swan to witness first hand why Peter is so optimistic about the future prospects for his pub. My dining partner on this occasion was Lucia, who is in England for six weeks from Russia visiting her sister Irinia, the wife of my friend James.
The signs were encouraging on our arrival at 7pm. The small car park in front of the pub was full and the lounge bar was full of locals celebrating the end of the working week.
We were the first people in the restaurant, but that didn’t last long as a party of eight arrived shortly afterwards and they were quickly followed by other diners.
The carpeted, cosy dining room can seat a maximum of 32 and is attractively decorated.
Peter had a nice surprise for us while we studied the menu at our table. Earlier that day he’d had a visit from his wine supplier, Nick Cant of Red Pebble Wines in Welton, near Daventry. Hearing that we were visiting that evening, Nick had left us a bottle of Vega del Rayo, a full-bodied Rioja sourced from vineyards whose distinctive stony soils are ideal for the long, even ripening of quality grapes. But even this beautiful wine could not detract us from the job in hand of selecting our meal.
Matt has produced a simple, interesting menu with five starters choices, eight main course options and eight desserts as well as some blackboard specials.
We opted to stick to the main menu with Lucia choosing baked avocado with bacon as cheese to start with, while I dithered between whitebait and homemade salmon and prawn fishcake. Peter resolved the situation for me when he came to take the order by suggesting I had the fishcake with a few whitebait on the side – perfect. Options rejected were tomato and basil soup and roasted tomato, black pudding and red pepper marmalade.
Lucia ingratiated herself with Peter by choosing breast of chicken Wellington for her main course. This is Peter’s signature dish he devised 20 years ago while at The Royal Oak in Walgrave and the only one he has insisted that Matt keeps on the menu, while I chose Duck Montmorency – breast of duck with black cherries.
Other options were fillet steak au poivre, entrecote- White Swan style, fillet of salmon and spinach filo parcel, Mediterranean vegetables and goat’s cheese Wellington, beer battered haddock and steak and ale pie.
The Chicken Wellington was a big hit with Lucia, and could Peter’s fame could be spreading to Russia in the not too distant future, while I can honestly say my main course choice was the best duck I have ever tasted. New potatoes and a selection of vegetables accompanied our dishes.
Lucia went for the vanilla cheesecake and I chose bread and butter pudding and custard from the tempting dessert choice which also included strawberries and cream, Eton Mess, strawberry and cream filo parcel, apple pie, sticky toffee pudding, and fruits of the forest topping.
A two-course meal at The White Swan costs £12.50 with desserts priced at £4.25.
We really enjoyed our meals and it was evident that the other diners were doing the same. This was a completely new experience for Lucia – village pubs don’t exist in Russia – and the signs look more than promising for Peter and The White Swan.
Peter Stubbins and Matt Dowdy have put their heads together to devise The White Swan Christmas menu which will be available from 1 to 24 December at lunch time and in the evening with the option of two courses for £15.25 and three courses for £19.50 at lunch time and £17.25 and £21.50 r4spectively in the evening.
Starters; cream of asparagus soup; traditional prawn cocktail; chicken liver and pork terrine; garlic mushroom filo parcel and moules mariniere.
Main courses: roast turkey parcel; beef Wellington; salmon, cod and prawn bake and balsamic roasted vegetable and potato rosti stack.
Desserts: exotic fruit vasherin; chocolate brownie; cherries jubilee; Christmas pudding and brandy sauce and Stilton and cheddar cheese board.