Ritchie and Becks pulling the pints at their new pub
THEY last worked together on Guy Ritchie’s King Arthur, where David Beckham played a blue-faced warrior.
Now they are teaming up again to be joint landlords of a London pub, pulling pints together at an ancient wood-panelled inn which is quickly turning into a gourmet celebrity magnet.
The Lore Of The Land secretly opened its doors in London’s Fitzrovia last week, marking Ritchie’s return to pub ownership for the first time since he and Madonna owned the Punch Bowl in Mayfair.
It’s very much a David and Guy collaboration, both of them leveraging their love of beer and pubs into a joint venture. And I can disclose it is more country gent’s high gastronomy than cockney geezer pub fare. Venison is brought from Ritchie’s glorious Wiltshire estate, Ashcombe, where Cecil Beaton formerly lived.
Ritchie is a total foodie, owning more than 14 barbecues at home and has taken incredible care to make sure that every plate, glass and picture in his new boozer has been handpicked by him. No ploughman’s and burgers here: think Porthilly oysters or truffle and white bean pate.
It showcases beers that Ritchie brews on his 1,134-acre estate on the Wiltshire-Dorset border. On tap at £4.50 a pint are English Lore and Winter Lore from the Gritchie Brewing Company, which uses his home-grown barley and water drawn from his own aquifer.
The Lock, Stock director’s brewing technique appears to have secured critics’ approval, as Lore Of The Land has already picked up a Cask Marque for serving ‘great quality real ale’.
And Becks has made sure there are four styles of tequila behind the bar, including Casamigos Reposado, his wife Victoria’s favourite.
Ritchie’s new film, Aladdin, the Disney blockbuster starring Will Smith, is out in May, but apart from the LA premiere and other promotional trips, he intends to be behind the bar as much as he can.
This time, though, there is no cameo film role in Aladdin for Beckham — or ‘old Becksy’, as Ritchie calls him.
The pair’s pub empire is growing. Ritchie and Beckham — who attended his friend’s wedding to model Jacqui Ainsley at Ashcombe in 2015, and went fishing with him in Iceland last year — have also bought the Walmer Castle pub in Notting Hill.
Doubles all round.