With its prominent, elegant front on busy Cardiff Road, passed by thousands of drivers every day, the Heathcock was for many years a symbol of how difficult the licensed trade has been in Wales' capital.
Then painted cream with golden letters spelling its name across the front, the longstanding pub with a reputation for real ale shut suddenly after more than 30 years in 2011. New landlords came in with new ideas but, despite their hard work, it shut again six years later. A third new team came and went.
Yet quietly at first, a new team took over the pub in 2018 and have built a restaurant and pub business with a reputation which has spread far beyond Cardiff. Now in a much more sober and modern grey and black colour scheme, but still with the historic image of the bird which gives the pub its name hanging from its front, the Heathcock is one of the most prominent symbols of Cardiff's newly feted eating-out scene. Even the notoriously hard-to-please Jay Rayner has praised it.
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At the heart of this transformation have been the husband and wife team who first transformed the The Hare & Hounds in Aberthin into one of the region's most highly-rated pub/restaurants, with a Michelin Bib Gourmand in 2017 and the award of Wales' best in the National Pub and Bar Awards 2021
Sarah and Tom Watts-Jones have only been in the culinary industry as owners for eight years yet they have already built two successful, well-thought-of businesses. Before moving back to Wales after having their first child, Tom worked his way up in the restaurant business in London working at the Anchor and Hope pub, Michelin-starred St John and also at the highly rated The Sportsman in Kent.
The 300-year-old watering hole The Hare and Hounds in Aberthin, near where Tom grew up, was their first project with Tom running the kitchen and Sarah taking care of the accounts, marketing, PR and management. Their mix of high quality cooking, seasonal, local ingredients and approachable pricing but fine dining touch with a regularly changing menu proved to be hugely popular. And it is this that they brought to Cardiff at the Heathcock.
In their Cardiff institution, while Tom remains at the helms of the Hare & Hound kitchen, Sarah, head chef Dave Killick and general manager Natalie George are steering The Heathcock to becoming a Cardiff institution. Bolstered by the success at the Hare, where Dave nurtured his craft as a sous chef, their passion for good, local food, the business and keeping their hardworking and talented team are all integral to their success.
As the industry emerges from the challenges of the Covid pandemic, followed almost immediately by the cost of living crisis, the team have clearly crafted something in somewhere that has clicked to make people keep coming back, at a time where nearly everyone is counting the pennies.
As well as the great food and drink offerings - not to mention two boutique hotel rooms upstairs - Sarah says it is the ethos of her venues to be somewhere for everyone is what is part of the appeal. "It suits any occasion. You can pop in for a few drinks after work or you can come for a celebration and have a nine-course tasting menu with wine matching. I think more than anything it's still a really lovely, friendly, welcoming place."
"We've always made an effort for everybody. Everybody's welcome. We're really child friendly, we're really family-friendly, bring your dog and eat a meal in the bar, we are not fancy and don't want to be, you can relax here."
And on the spring Friday lunchtime when we visit, the cogs which continue to draw in punters are already turning, despite Natalie only having swung open the doors to the commanding building on one of the busiest thoroughfare to the city mere minutes earlier.
On entering it's immediately apparent that the pub, and adjoining restaurants are rooms of all occasions. The large windows let in swathes of the afternoon sunshine while the wooden furniture and fireplaces are reminiscent of cosy winter evenings in your local. The walls are perfectly white with a few select photos framed but windowsills and shelves are adorned with glasses, books and trinkets, evoking a familiar home away from home feeling.
The second dining room is a longer, brighter space again, which we are told is used for private functions such as weddings as well as dining tables from the main restaurant. At one end is a small coffee bar and the white walls are less utilitarian here, with collections of prints adorning the walls ranging from Cardiff skyline to the now famous Heathcock bird.
Outside, the beer garden is primarily made up of wooden picnic benches which more than fit in with the ambiance of the whole establishment, with a small allotment plot in one corner undoubtedly used to provide herbs for the restaurant kept a safe distance away from drinkers hands.
While diners are not yet at their seats in the two dining rooms, the pub is already a hive of activity. A handful of customers have made their way out to the garden armed with pints and packets of crisps, Natalie is joking with one man in the bar as she serves him - his mannerisms and book in hand indicating he is a regular - and another member of staff is checking some arrivals into one of the guest rooms upstairs.
In the kitchen, head chef Dave and his team are preparing ahead of that day's service, but far from the tense atmosphere you'd expect from such a skilled kitchen with incredibly high standards, laughter dominates. The already friendly and welcoming atmosphere serves to make you wonder how infectious it would be at full swing later.
But it is precisely this that makes The Heathcock exactly what it is and what it should be, something Sarah says they want to replicate when they open their third pub in July as they take over The Clifton in Bristol. When asked about how the mastermind of some of Wales' best pubs will transfer that magic over the bridge, Sarah has a clear line of thinking, "It’s sticking to what we know."
"Like here, it's just making everyone feel welcome. And also offers exceptional quality food that supports local businesses. Our lamb supplier, we've been using, for eight years. We started on one lamb a week in the Hare and now it's around three of four a week across both businesses and he will be supplying us in Bristol. It's about sticking to what we do and what we do well which is prioritising good produce and local suppliers."
But for someone who has more than enough to boast about, Sarah is modest but direct when talking about the success of her pubs. After all, it is The Heathcock that proved to one of the UK's most renowned food critics Jay Rayner that the foodie scene in Cardiff was worth revisiting.
"We know we do a good thing. We're so proud of the team and Dave and everything and it's really lovely for them to get that recognition not just from us and the customers on a day-to-day basis but from outside of that too. Like when Jay Rayner came and it was amazing, it’s a real boost.
"So much of what we do is the staff, the teams, we look after people and take good care of them and give them free rein. And I think that works." And she's right, from the outside it appears that once you are taken under Sarah and Tom's wing in the Hare and Heathcock team it is difficult to escape.
They nurture their staff, to the extent that Dave worked alongside Tom in the Hare before taking on the reins of The Heathcock, and Corey Scott who was the sous chef of the Hare once Dave had moved on will now be the head chef of The Clifton once it opens in Bristol.
It's clear that Dave is more comfortable behind a chopping board and in the confines of the kitchen, but once we manage to pin him down to ask exactly what it is about his cooking and The Heathcock that has made it such a success it is obvious just how passionate he is about what he does - and does well.
And with some dishes being two-day processes to get them from kitchen to plate, it's not a passion you can fake. "It’s been great for me. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t enjoy it." But chefs enjoyments don't sell covers, so musing on what exactly is in the magic of his cooking that brings people back time and time again he says "It’s just really honest, solid cooking.
"A lot of work goes into it, some of our dishes are sort of two-day processes to get them from the kitchen to the plate. But at the same time, we don’t want to complicate things, not everything is tweezers and micro herbs and that rubbish.
"We are busy but we create a sort of a relaxed environment for people to work in, there are no egos, no shoutiung or screaming chefs, it’s a calm place to be. That’s what I need and enjoy and it’s great being around like-minded people like that. It’s all about cooking nice food and trying to create a nice friendly atmosphere."
Dave worked under Tom in the Hare when it opened and it is that straightforward approach to good cooking and good food that Tom crafted during his time in London that he instilled in Dave, who has now made a real success of it at The Heathcock. Alongside colleagues, the pair go as far back as schoolmates.
"It’s something that is part of my upbringing being in that pub [The Hare]. Tom contacted me many years ago and I jumped on board and this place sort of came from there then. I had gone as far as I could in the hare so it was either something new or take on another business and then this came along and I am still here now.
"The food in the ethos is exactly the same in terms of seasonality and sourcing local and that sort of stuff but my food is definitely different to what Tom does which I think is great. I don’t want the same menu as Tom and he doesn’t want the same menu as me. We have similar things obviously but everyone is different aren’t they but that’s a good thing.
"I am given absolutely free reign to do whatever I want within the parameters of what we as a team believe in. We put a lot of effort into this job and I am constantly trying to evolve and make things better so it is great that I have that here."
But while the team at The Heathcock make it look easy, it is estimated some 400 pubs closed their doors for the final time across England and Wales in 2022. With the cost of living continuing to bite whether that be from rising energy prices or the cost of produce - which The Heathcock refuses to compromise on quality - something has to give.
Sarah says that at the moment due to their tariff energy prices have yet to bite too badly, but it is the "general cost of everything" that she and Tom as owners have to keep an eye on.
Running the pub each day, general manager Natalie says there has had to be a balance between managing rising costs and retaining customers. After all, she is the one giving punters far less change from their note from a few years ago. But she says that is why the pub has been such a success because the team value fairness for their regulars.
"It’s trying to find the balance, doing great business but also looking after your customers and not overpricing. We want returning customers and everyone is going through it aren’t they? We are lucky that we have such a fantastic restaurant as well as a pub so there are various offerings for what people want.
"We have people who come from all over which is really nice. We have locals who have been coming here for fifty or 60 years." The pub has also started hosting quiz, comedy, and open mic evenings as if they need to remind their customers that they are indeed a pub which just so happens to have an excellent restaurant.
Like Dave, Natalie says that is it Sarah and Tom's commitment at the helm of the business to make sure their staff are supported creatively and practically on a day-to-day level which has nurtured the magic of The Heathcock, and brought with it acclaim.
"It helps us be a lot more creative for sure being given free reign. I think it's that and definitely, the fact we provide both food and drink and a fantastic restaurant and support local businesses."
On being the manager of one of Wales' best pubs she can hardly contain her pride for the team. "It boils down to the team. You come into work, you do your job every single day and then these things happen and you think all the hard work is paying off." And the accolades speak for themselves, the team behind The Heathcock have made something special that is more than paying off.
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