Second opening for gastropub
A NORTHUMBERLAND gastropub run by the owners of Jesmond Dene House is enticing in diners after reopening more than a year after it closed its doors.
St Mary’s Inn at Stannington opened to great fanfare in 2014 following a £1.5m refit of former administration offices of an Edwardian hospital.
But the firm decided to close the pub in May 2017, saying the opening had come “ahead of its time” because the rest of the planned Stannington Park – with homes, community centre and sports facilities – was taking so long to be built.
The company, however, vowed to reopen when conditions were
deemed more favourable, saying it was confident it could prosper. It is now open once more, having seen the new estate develop with 200 houses and another 100 set to be built in the immediate pipeline. There are now 31 employees, a combination of previous and new staff, and St Mary’s said it has also re-engaged with its network of predominantly local suppliers.
It has also recently been re-awarded five stars by the AA following an anonymous inspection.
The pub’s Newcastle-born new head chef Chris Cheek, 30, has worked in fine-dining restaurants including the Michelin-starred Northcote Manor in Lancashire
and the two-AA-rosette Jesmond Dene House.
The general manager is Robin Freer, who abandoned a career in construction technology when his student bar job proved more interesting.
Before joining St Mary’s, he was general manager at the Joiners Arms in High Newton and the Lord Crewe Hotel at Bamburgh, overseeing refurbishment of the latter.
He added: “I know how to keep a good beer.
“Food and bedrooms are a big part of what we offer, but St Mary’s is very much a place where the locals come for a drink. We see ourselves as a community pub.”