Desert Island Pubs – Jonathon Swaine
Beer Insider is pleased to bring you the latest in a new monthly column, supported by Black Sheep Brewery, involving leading figures in pubs and brewing, along with the industry’s wider eco-system, revealing the pubs that have meant the most to them over their careers.
These are their Desert Island Pubs. To add to their difficulties choosing their favourite venues they are also being asked to select the single beer they would take with them to the Desert Island.
Jonathon Swaine, managing director of pubs – Shepherd Neame
1. Earliest memory of a pub
I am pretty sure that my earliest pub memory was the pungent smell of beer emanating from The Royal Oak, a Courage pub on Ealing Broadway in West London. This was in the mid 70’s when I would have been four or five years old and I was walking along the Uxbridge Road with my mum on a hot summer’s day. It’s no longer there, having made way in the mid 80’s for the shopping centre development.
A few years later, I would watch my dad play the piano at another West London pub, The Red Lion, Brentford High Street. My dad was a part-time musician in a jazz trio called Phase Three and I would watch intently as ales in dimpled jugs were lined up for him on the top board. The Red Lion was demolished in the 90’s and is now a McDonald’s.
2. Most Inspirational Pub to My Career
You can always learn, discover, or remember something in every pub you visit. The first pints I pulled were at the Catholic social club attached to Ealing Abbey, where I was an altar boy and my mum was a cleaner. It was managed by a rather reserved Irishman called Bill, and I worked there from aged 15 (first bottling up and collecting glasses) until my early twenties. A local couple, Gerardine and Phelim took over from Bill and they hosted our wedding reception (with Lasagne and Guinness) nearly 25 years ago. I learnt a lot working with Irish publicans, and am drawn to the genius that they can create in pubs like The Churchill Arms in Kensington (Gerry O’Brien and now James Keogh) and, of course, The Devonshire, W1 (Oisin Rogers)
3. My Current Local
I now live in Isleworth, South-West London. We are not far from the river, which is blessed with many great Fuller’s and Young’s pubs. Five hundred yards from our house is the rather pretty Red Lion (another one!) which is a free-of-tie lease that keeps good beer and has a rather eccentric feel. Before a Brentford FC home game, The Black Dog, is our ‘constitutional’ meeting point and boasts a truly stunning and ever-changing menu of cask and keg beers.
4. My favourite Pub
For someone that loves pubs as much as I do, I am going to fudge this by saying that I have many pubs that I love – but not one favourite. I am currently very drawn to the Jamaica Wine House in the City of London. It is timeless, has a rich history and reminds me that pubs still stand proud whilst all around them has changed. It’s run by Steve and his excellent team who pride themselves on serving customers very, very quickly!
5. The Pub you’d like to take to the Island
Being stranded on an island, with a pub to myself, I think I would want to be enveloped by memories of family and friends – and great beer. When we first moved to Brentford, with a two-year old daughter and another on the way, our local was The Griffin. We would meet other families on a Friday evening and sit at picnic tables with crisps and fizzy drinks for the kids, and pints of top-notch London Pride for me. This was in the early 2000’s and it was run by Sue (lovely and welcoming) and Ralph (very dry, laconic) who together hosted a collection of proper Brentford characters, including one Rat Scabies, drummer of The Damned, who would play poker in the upstairs room.
6. The Beer (unlimited supply) you’d take to the desert island.
If I could convince The Griffin to stock a beer for everyday refreshment, I would drink First Drop Session IPA, brewed by Shepherd Neame, Britain’s oldest brewer. For those contemplative evenings, staring out at the blue horizon and watching the sun go down, it would have to be a bottle of Samuel Smith’s Nut Brown Ale, which is still brewed in stone Yorkshire squares.
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