The owners of the award-winning Parkers Arms in the Ribble Valley have spoken of their joy at having been voted the best gastropub in the north.
The pub, just outside Clitheroe, was named the second best in the UK at the Top 50 Gastropubs awards in Manchester yesterday.
“Isn’t it wonderful,” chef and co-owner Stosie Madi told the Manchester Evening News.
“It shows how resilient we are, it shows how fantastic we are, and it shows what great hospitality we have in the north west, and to have it happen here in Manchester is the cherry on the cake.
“But I’ve no idea what’s made us so popular! Because everyone in hospitality works so hard, and this list is voted for us by our contemporaries, our peers, by food writers and the food industry and everyone on the list is deserving. What made us number two? I don’t know, but I guess we’re quite good at what we’re doing.”
The pub has rattled its way through top food pubs list in the eight years it’s been nominated, from 48th in 2017 to number two this year.
It was only beaten to the top spot by The Unruly Pig in Woodbridge, Suffolk, which was named number one at the ceremony at Escape To Freight Island.
Four of the top five pubs this year are in the north, with The Parkers joined by The Star Inn in Harome, The Angel at Hetton, near Skipton, and the Freemasons at Wiswell, also near Clitheroe.
“There were points at the very, very beginning of lockdown when I was worried about the business, but then when we sat down and thought about it, we realised that we had to find a way through it, and I wasn’t worried anymore,” she added.
“It’s taught us that we will always survive and find a way, so we adapted. We did takeaway, we did meal boxes, we hosted people in marquees outside. We did everything we had to do. As hospitality, we are chameleons, and we adapt well.”
Whether the likes of takeaways and meal kits will endure post-lockdown, she added: “Well some people are still nervous to come out, and that’s fine. We have to find a way to make a living. For now, though, we hope to go back to normality.”
And as for hitting number one next year, Stosie added: “Well we won’t rule it out now!”
