The rise and rise of the great British Gastropub

If you're British and you've not been down to your local pub  for a few years chances are it has changed a bit. Since the tightening of drink driving laws pubs have been starting to die out in smaller villages where people used to drive for the beer and the roadside pubs who in there heyday were a stopping point for a refresher on an afternoon jaunt are now all extinct.

The villages near the place where I grew up, on the edge of the Peak District, near Alton Towers are no exception, pubs that used to serve walkers a couple of beers as they trekked through the peaks or Alton Towers guests a swift half while the traffic died down are pretty much gone. In many places the locals were also staying staying at home and drinking cheap booze from the supermarket rather than walking to the pub to get a pint.

This has led to the 3 pubs nearest to me changing tack, and becoming gastro pubs with menus barely recognizable to the old days of bar menus containing scampi and chips or sausage and mash (although having said that these do occasionally show up with much better ingredients than the straight from the freezer stuff of the past). As I was spending a few days at home while staying in the area I was lucky enough to try all three of these local gastro pubs, The Tavern at Denstone, the Duncombe arms at Ellastone and the Rose and Crown at Mayfield.

The three have approached the rise of fine dining in a different way, the tavern added a conservatory and puts its diners in there, the Duncombe has refurnished the whole pub and has a very limited drinking area while the Rose and Crown still looks like a pub inside and has only really changed the menu.

All have gone for a local food slant, serving the meat from local farms as a major selling point to various different dishes. The Duncombe Arms is slightly (and only slightly) more expensive than the other two, it probably offers the most innovative cuisine, with regularly changing monthly menus along side a selection of specials and desserts which really appeal to those with a sweet tooth. Probably the more interesting food can be found in the starters where my personal favourite was the black pudding scotch egg (pictured right), although all the food we ate there was excellent. The mains are a more regular gastropub experience with a menu full of steak, burgers and lamb dishes showing off the quality of meat from the surrounding area.

One thing I would say is that the service in the Duncombe is what you would expect from a local pub, rather than a fine dining restaurant, with many of the waiters and waitresses being young people from the local area. This is not necessarily a criticism, in fact I am very much an advocate of giving young people a chance, especially in areas where the traditional industries such as farming and related sales and manufacture have declined in recent years (I myself worked in this very pub as a spotty 18 year old which gave me my first taste of working in a restaurant and learning from a chef). However I would be very surprised if someone like the Michelin guide, which is suspected to value the waiter service and that of a somellier quite highly when handing out recommendations and stars would be as impressed, which is a shame as the food here was certainly worth a mention.

The Tavern, Denstone also has a special place in my memory, it was where me and my friends (who all grew up in the area) spent many a happy Friday and Saturday night back in the day drinking local beer (normally the excellent Marstons Pedigree) in front of an open fire. The beers here are still well worth a try, brewed just down the road in Burton upon Trent with several cask ales available along side lager and wine to suit those with more modern tastes. The experience here is definitely more of a traditional pub with a small dining area attached, but despite the tables being a small distance from the bar area the service is still attentive and prompt (you can also have your meal in the bar if you are lucky enough to get a table in that section and as with the Duncombe a reservation if there are more than two of you) . The dishes themselves may be a little less imaginative, but the ingredients are again top quality local produce and the execution and presentation of them are still worthy of fine dining (you are also not going to be going home hungry, even the starter portions are pretty ample in their size).

The Rose and Crown in Mayfield is the final gastro pub you should consider in the area, it is the cheapest and probably the most pub like in terms of decor (you wouldn't really think anything had changed in the last 20 years, with the exception of the wooden floor where once there would have been a carpet), this is no bad thing as it feels a lot more like a really authentic experience. We went on a Wednesday and the place was pretty quiet, which was a shame as the menu was comprehensive with some impressive specials.  Again the base of the menu is a showcase of local produce, this is also focused around meat and once again quite a lot of it, all of the dishes we ordered were well cooked and again I would have no hesitation in recommending it to even the fussiest of eaters.

I guess in summary the upshot is that your local pub (if it still exists) may have changed quite a bit and if it is anything like the pubs on the edge of the peak district, then it will be well worth another look. If you are planning on a trip to the peak district or to Alton Towers in the near future any one of these is well worth booking into.