Top chef hopes to Blaise a trail with pub venture
ACHEF who was made redundant from one of Bristol’s most exclusive restaurants earlier in the pandemic has taken over her local pub.
Louise McCrimmon was executive chef at Harvey Nichols Bristol for 12 years, and had worked for the upmarket retailer for 23 years.
She lost her job when the Cabot Circus store closed during the lockdowns and was starting to plan her next move when she spotted her local pub in Henbury for sale.
With her husband, Ian, and neighbours Nicola and Peter Gilbert, the two couples have taken over the Blaise Inn close to Blaise Castle Estate.
They have refurbished the pub, improved the large courtyard beer garden and introduced a food menu.
Louise says: “In some ways, I was quite relieved when I was made redundant because it gave me a chance to think about what I should do next.
“My dad used to say have you thought about the pub because it’s across the road from where I live – I’m literally 20 paces away – and then the couple who had been running it retired and it was up for sale.
“My neighbour Nicola said ‘how about it’ and I laughed at first but then I thought that’s a really good idea.”
The Blaise Inn has always been a popular pub with locals and also visitors to the Blaise Castle estate, including walkers and people walking dogs.
Louise says: “We still want to keep it as a dog-friendly pub and I don’t want to turn the place into a restaurant.
“We’ve got some lovely locals and it’s still their pub. I don’t want anyone to feel they’ve lost their local.”
The response from the locals has been positive and the new owners have plenty of plans for the future.
“Everyone seems genuinely excited and we’ve done a lot of work on it. There’s a massive courtyard at the back, which we cleared out and paved and there’s a small car park.
“We don’t want it to be one of those pubs where people grip the table and stare at you when you walk in!
“A lot of women have already come in on their own for a glass of wine, which probably didn’t happen before. We want it to be really easygoing and welcoming.”
After a break from cooking professionally, Louise is also enjoying the return to the kitchen and bookings are already coming in for the December menu, which costs £30 for three courses and £25 for two courses.
Starters include parsnip soup, crisp apple and spiced butter or beetroot cured salmon, cumin cream and orange vinaigrette, with mains including roast pheasant breast, confit leg, savoy cabbage, pickled walnuts and parsley butter, and beef carbonade, grain mustard croute, roast carrots.
Desserts include creme caramel, mandarin and tuille biscuit, and poached pear, ginger cream and shortbread.
“I love being back in the kitchen. Before I moved to Bristol 12 years ago, I was looking at opening a pub in Leeds,” she said.
“Now that I’m back cooking at the Blaise Inn, I hope there’s another journey to be had before I hang up my clogs.”
And it’s not just the cooking that Louise is enjoying – she’s also serving in the bar when required.
“I’ve been practising my pint pulling and one of the locals has already said I’ve got the hang of it now, which I took as a compliment!”