Sharing platters, pizza and tapas are being served at a Long Eaton pub with "possibly the world's smallest kitchen." New Mill & Brook landlord Ash Walsh has launched a food menu so drinkers have more to munch on than a bag of crisps with their pint of Hood or glass of Pinot Grigio.
The pub was taken over less than a month ago by Hucknall-based Lincoln Green Brewing Company, which also runs Sir John Borlase Warren in Nottingham, Robin Hood and Little John in Arnold, the Station Hotel in Hucknall and the Brickyard in Carlton. The result is not just a change in ales - which now include Marion pale ale, Hood best bitter and Tuck, a 4.7 per cent porter - there's now some pretty tasty food coming out of what they describe as "possibly the world's smallest kitchen."
Measuring 7ft 6in long and 5ft 8in wide (yes we took a tape measure along for accuracy) it's a tight squeeze in the cooking spot next to the bar, which was barely used by previous landlords. But it hasn't deterred Ash, who said organisation is the key to making it work.
Read more: Couple announce with 'heavy heart' decision to close businesses
When the pub, in Derby Road, was originally built and named the Harrington Arms, it was purely for drinking so there was no need for an extensive kitchen. It was renamed the Mill & Brook after a £270,000 revamp in 2017, which gave it a more contemporary family-friendly vibe.
Everything is made fresh in the small space. That includes a range of tapas - albondigas (meatballs) with fresh chilli sauce, patatas bravas, chicken and chorizo skewers, buffalo chicken bites and beef koftas. They can be bought individually or as part of a grazing board.
There's currently two types of flatbread-style pizza, cheese and tomato and meatball marinara, but Ash plans to add more to the menu which is growing all the time. The latest addition is a 'posh ploughman's', a sharing board with homemade pork pie, cheese, ham, grapes, bread and crackers.
Ash said: "Already two weeks in people are loving the food. The ploughman's platter and grazing boards have flown out. I couldn't believe it this weekend, it was review after review of the food, everyone was loving the food. It is very daunting, especially this being the first pub I've held on my own. I was very nervous, especially on the food side of things as people didn't know it was there, so I've really had to push it on Facebook."
The reviews have been nothing but complimentary. One said: "Good choice of beers and some lovely bar food, including tapas and ploughman's lunch," while someone else praised the good quality ales, adding: "Warm, friendly welcome and tasty bar food."
The compact kitchen is home to a versatile appliance, a combination of air-fryer, convection oven and microwave all rolled into one which speeds up cooking by 80 per cent. With two fridges, two sinks, plates and other utensils, there's little room for anything else but it doesn't stop Ash preparing everything from scratch.
Ash said: "Everything I have on the menu now is made fresh. I prep everything in the morning to get it ready for the evening and daytime. If I'm not behind the bar or sat here doing admin I'll be in the kitchen. At the weekend I did 200 chicken and chorizo skewers.
"I had a couple come in on Saturday and they had a ploughman's with their daughter. The husband then came in with his mother-in-law and child the next day for another ploughman's platter. We use red onion chutney and a lot of people ask what chutney is that? It's a homemade one, not shop bought. It's made by another Lincoln Green landlord.
"We have a lot more to come, this isn't the finalised menu. I've added more and more to it. There's a lot more flatbreads to go on. Currently with this being the first month I want to get the foundations right and grow on that."
Ash will be a familiar face to some in the town. As well as working at nearby cafe bar Copper Cogs as an assistant manager in his teens, he had a job at the Mill & Brook after it changed from the Harrington. He said: "I was here seven years ago as bar supervisor. I achieved my licence here, did my NVQ, I did everything I needed to run my own pub. For years I felt like I wasn't ready and then Lincoln Green came about and I thought 'ooh' and I went for it."
Pub owners Star Pubs & Bars had been advertising for a new tenant for the Mill & Brook since 2019 when the then operator left. For the past four years it has been looked after by Amanda Jones, who also runs Long Eaton pubs, the Sportsman and the Wilsthorpe Tavern.
Ash said: "She had so much going on. She did Star a favour by looking after the place and keeping the doors open, keeping people coming in, whereas now it needs someone to grab it and say this is what we're going to do.
"It actually feels like I'm home. I keep saying to a lot of the regulars I really do feel at home. I love this place and I've been passionate about this place it for so long. It has so much potential. It just needs the right amount of passion and the right amount of care. Having the right person in here will smash it."
Ash first began working in pubs at the age of 16 as a pot washer on Friday and Saturdays. He hated it but it served as a stepping stone, giving him the chance to work with the chefs, which is when he fell in love with cooking.
"I always had this saying that I was too pretty for the kitchen, I'm a people person and belong out front, so the manager at the time got me doing waiting and service and I absolutely loved it. I still love the kitchen though. I'll always do a bit of everything."
He's got plenty of plans for building trade at the dog-friendly pub which is open every day from noon. A pub quiz takes place on Sundays at 7.30pm and there will be live music, starting this Saturday (February 11) with jazz and swing from Roger Bird, from 7pm.
"I can't wait for summer. We're talking about hiring a jerk pit for the garden for a Jamaican day with a reggae band. It would take away the strain from the small kitchen here," said Ash.
READ NEXT:
