Arc Inspirations to open its third ‘The Pit’ bar and restaurant

Arc Inspirations have invested £1m in the new Pit venture, which will be part buried within Harrogate House on The Ginnel, near Parliament Street. The venue is 7000sq.ft of dining and bar space and a deal of it is located ‘underground’ with the main bar and dining area located below street level.

The venue​

The Pit in Harrogate has 170 covers and serves brunch, lunch and supper. As well as the main bar and dining area, the venue has two private dining rooms. One of these is The White Room, which has windows overlooking the Ginnel and its own bar so customers can serve themselves or attend cocktail making classes. The Pit in Harrogate also features The Green Room, which an underground room available for private or corporate hire.

Upstairs in The Pit are two table tennis tables and table football for customers, where the team intends to run tournaments. The bat also has a balcony space and a lift to allow ease of access to both floors.

The menu on offer at The Pit will revolve around traditional American cooking methods. Executive chef John Richold’s menu includes a number of meat dishes which can be served with the venue’s own cocktails or its selections of wines or craft beers.

Harrogate location​

Arc Inspirations has been expanding lately and invested over £2.5m on two new locations and the refurbishment of one of its existing bars in 2013. This took its portfolio to 10 venues in Yorkshire, including another venue in Harrogate; the Banyan Bar & Kitchen on John Street. The group has two other The Pit bars, with one in central Leeds being very successful for the company. Arc Inspirations’ managing director Martin Wolstencroft believed Harrogate would prove an excellent location for the third bar in The Pit series.

He said: “We are really proud to be opening our newest venture in Harrogate. The location of Harrogate House has given us a blank canvas to tailor The Pit to how we like it. We wanted an architecturally stimulating design that contrasts with the heritage of the Victorian architecture of Harrogate, and The Pit will provide a unique backdrop for our discerning Harrogate customers.

“We have combined our expertise of running a quality location in Harrogate with our experience of managing other Pit sites in Leeds and this mix means we will create one of our leading locations. We also need to recruit 50 new members of staff from the area to fill our full range of positions, just because we want to ensure that The Pit is run by Harrogate's best. Most importantly, we're good at fun, so we just want our customers to kick back and enjoy their Pit experience - it's what we're all about.”