General
Desert Island Pubs – Andreas Akerlund, co-owner, Grace Land Pub Group
Andreas Akerlund, co-owner, Grace Land Pub Group 1. Earliest Memory of a Pub I moved to London in the 1980s when I was in my mid-teens. It was a different world back then. I can’t exactly remember my first pub but a stand-out from that time was the Sun Tavern in Barnes. Many Swedes live…
Read MoreCzeching out new Czech bar
Having previously been involved with a London-based Czech lager brewery that left a sour taste in my mouth it has not put me off the country’s lovely lagers. It was therefore enjoyable to visit The Stranded bar on London’s The Strand where Bloomsbury Leisure Group has opened a new venue dedicated to serving Czech lager…
Read MoreNo boring beers at The Mall Tavern
All too often pubs like The Mall Tavern in Notting Hill can disappoint. They look attractive on the outside but their ability to easily attract tourists can lead to sloppy practices and an uninspiring beer list. Andy and Nati Perritt have ensured this is not the case at the pub they’ve been running for around…
Read MoreGood things come in small glasses
While enjoying a beer in the Horse & Groom in Belgravia, another male customer walked in and ordered a bottle of 4.5% lager while his female partner went for a 250ml glass of wine. The exercise was repeated for the next round, with the result that he had consumed a modest three units of alcohol…
Read MoreDesert Island Pubs – Simon Wilkinson, board director at Evolv Collection and TGI Fridays
1. Earliest memory of a pub you can recall? My parents were pub people, every night after my Dad finished work circa 5:20pm we went for two hours pre the evening meal. Most pubs did not allow children in so me and my older brothers spent many an hour in a car with a bottle…
Read MoreBrewing up history and modernity
Visiting Barcelona for tours around the enormous modern Damm facility at the El Prat brewery next to the airport and then the original Old Brewery in the centre of the city, the two experiences could not have been more different. In the former the use of cameras and filming devices is strictly off limits for…
Read MoreBook Review – ‘The Firkin Saga’ by David Bruce
Back in 2001 I was enjoying breakfast with pub wizard David Bruce at Simpson’s on the Strand when he told me about his latest venture the Capital Pub Company that was fundraising at the time. But he deterred me from investing a few quid in it because as an impoverished journalist I would not benefit…
Read MoreSmaller brewers need relief
Visiting Battersea Beer festival in 1987-88 was a revelation for all drinkers present that year because it was the first time a truly golden ale had been produced in the UK. Exmoor Gold from Exmoor Ales in Somerset created a buzz in south west London because it was a lip-smacking departure from the ubiquitous brown…
Read MoreDesert Island Pubs – David Wood, business development consultant, FRP Advisory
David Wood, business development consultant, FRP Advisory 1. Earliest Memory of a Pub It would have been somewhere near Tenby in South Wales, circa 1969. I’d have been about 13, and on a family holiday. Stood outside with half a pint of shandy and a packet of crisps. I can vaguely recall the smell of…
Read MoreRise of the silver servers
When the shuttered Four Sisters pub reopened as The Pocket in Islington with an expansive beer list, I made the short tube trip south for a visit during its opening week. During this early evening jaunt when the pub was particularly quiet, I enquired how things were going to the couple of 20-something’s serving behind…
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