VISITORS flocking to an award-winning Dorset pub which has been heaped with praise may be in for a surprise.
The New Inn at Cerne Abbas which has just been announced as Dorset Dining Pub of the Year in the Good Pub Guide 2012 is closing for six months for renovation from Monday.
Landlord Jeremy Lee – also judged national Landlord of the Year in the awards – is thrilled with the accolades but said they were ill-timed.
Palmers Brewery, which owns the pub, is making a substantial investment with 12 bedrooms instead of six, more space for eating and drinking, a new kitchen and new toilets.
Mr Lee said: “It’s not great timing, as we’re shut from October 10, but we had no idea we were going to get these awards. We’ll lose some short-term trade, definitely, but in the longer term it’s a nice bonus.”
He added: “We’ll be able to reopen with these awards under our belt, as recognition of what we’ve done for the last two years.”
Mr Lee, 42, used to own five pubs in London. He was also a Michelin inspector and a consultant to top international hotel chains.
New Inn chef Dan Brinklow used to work with Mr Lee in London. He also ran the celebrity chef Jean-Christophe Novelli’s cookery academy.
Mr Brinklow said: “I was a bit shell-shocked by the award, really. Neither of us realised that anyone had even been to see us, so I didn’t believe it; I thought Jerry was winding me up to begin with.
“Now I’m very pleased. I think it will make a massive difference for us next year.”
He said that Dorset was ‘unbelievable’ for produce and enjoys cooking locally.
Mr Lee, who also paid tribute to his other eight staff members, said of his chef: “Dan is an incredibly dedicated, talented, hardworking individual with a total passion for what he does and he’s also trained up a team pretty much from scratch.”
The kitchen team also includes Neal Chainey, who joined as an apprentice straight from school in Dorchester, and Stefon Wade, from Weymouth.
Mr Lee said: “I think a pub should be a hostelry, a place of comfort, hospitality and a bit of respite. That’s what pubs were traditionally and that’s what they should be.”
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