The gastropub, which will serve over 90-covers, will be headed by The Lord Clyde’s chef patron Ernst van Zyl.
Van Zyl’s menu will include Poached Duck Egg with Potato and Chive Waffle, Braised Ox Cheek and Haricot Beans, House-cured Mackerel with Cauliflower, Cucumber and Shallot, and Pan-Fried Lamb Rump with Beetroot, Puy Lentils and Wild Mushroom sauce.
Van Zyl told BigHospitality that he views The Lord Clyde as more of a restaurant than a pub whereas The Hanging Gate will be seen, first and foremost, as a pub. He wants the menu to reflect this.
“The food isn’t going to be as experimental or as challenging as The Lord Clyde, with less theatre,” he said.
“It will be more what people recognise and a bit more accessible – things that you find on many-a-gastropub menu, but using the same kind of techniques, mentality and seasonality to drive the dishes that we are doing.”
The other side of the coin
The chef patron hopes that the new venture will build on what has been built at The Lord Clyde, despite being “the other side of the coin,” and that the two pubs will complement each other.
“We have a bit of a presence in Cheshire and hopefully that will drive people to The Hanging Gate as well, having heard or have been to The Lord Clyde. Obviously we will cross-market and they will be both complement each other in different ways. There will be things that are the same like some wines on the list, but the food that they will be serving will be quite different, but in a way they will go hand-in-hand and look after each other,” he said.
Money-can't-buy views
Despite the fact they were not looking for a new property, van Zyl said that there was one aspect of this pub that made sure they could not turn it down.
“We weren’t looking, we weren’t searching for anything. We were approached with this property and we had a look. It’s supposedly one of Cheshire’s highest pubs, around 1,100m above sea-level - it has money-can’t-buy views and that’s what sold it to us,” he said.
“It’s been really rocky and it’s had a tough time, so I guess maybe that’s not a bad place to start if there’s nothing to live up to or no kind of expectation from us. It’s a big puzzle to rebuild with a lot of pieces to pick up, but life would be boring it was easy.”
The Lord Clyde is currently expanding with the kitchen being relocated to make way for a chef’s table, with an extra 20-covers also being added to help the ease the pressure on the pub’s busy nights, bringing the total number of covers to 50.