MasterChef 2010 finalist to open second restaurant in community-owned pub
Rushmer and Maude, who opened their first restaurant, The Hole in the Wall in Little Wilbraham in June 2011 under their company Murmur Restaurants, were brought in to run the pub where they plan to replicate their success of their first venture.
Maude said: “Alex and I are thrilled to be opening The Green Man in Thriplow. We hope that by providing fresh, seasonal food along with carefully sourced and properly kept beers we can help secure the future of this historic pub in a wonderful village.”
The pair, who opened the pub for a limited service over Easter weekend before officially launching today, have created lunch and dinner menus using locally-sourced and seasonal ingredients to produce dishes such as smoked salmon pâté, lemon and fennel, seared mackerel, rhubarb and orange; roast hake, chorizo and fried potatoes and beef cheek cottage pie.
Bar manager Sam Adams has been recruited to run the bar and has selected some regional beers as well as working on producing a own-brand ale for the pub.
Community pub
The Green Man in Thriplow was acquired by a company formed of 71 shareholders from the village and people connected with property last year who wanted to safeguard its existence as a pub.
The owners decided to refurbish the building, which has been a pub since the 18th Century, before finding tenants to run it.
Kevin Clarke, Thriplow resident and member of the company set up to own the property said: “We are delighted to have partnered with Ben and Alex and are excited at the prospects for the pub.
“All the hard work and money invested so far is testament to how important the local people think a village pub is to Thriplow.”
Politics graduate Rushmer worked as a freelance food writer for three years before taking part in MasterChef in 2010 where he finished as a runner-up. He joined forces with Maude, a fellow Cambridge graduate who had returned to the UK from working in Hong Kong, in 2011 to set up their first restaurant together.
