Two young first-time landlords have given a Clerkenwell pub a radical makeover.
The Blacksmith and the Toffeemaker, opposite City University on St John Street, opened last week.
Owners Matt Rix and Marc Dalla-Riva, just 25 and 24, took over the Queen Boadicea pub late last year, and for several weeks it has been closed for the revamp.
Rix says, “Some people have said: ‘It’s a complete change!’, while others have said ‘what have you been doing for the last two months?’”
The pub has gone through many owners – and names – in the past few years, but this latest incarnation is very different. A deli counter has been bolted on to the end of the main bar, displaying Scotch eggs, potted salmon and rabbit pie. Next to it is a selection of more than a dozen boutique British gins.
“We’re bang on trend – Scotch eggs and gin,” laughs Rix, and he adds that ten years ago people would have scoffed at seeing such things in a pub, even though they are British institutions.
The pub is named after a song by Rix’s hero, folk singer Jake Thackray.
Asked where the business would sit on the spectrum between gastro pub and student boozer, Rix says, “We shun the term ‘gastro pub’ – it’s a meaningless phrase. Gastro pubs are restaurants that serve beer.”
But he adds: “We’re not a Wetherspoons. We’re not here to stack them high or sell them cheap.” Rix and Dalla-Riva say their rationale is to offer simple food and at a decent price by making as much as possible in house.
The deli menu starts at £2 for a celeriac remoulade to £7.50 for potted crab. Pork pies and Scotch eggs are priced in between. All are made in the pub’s kitchen.
Rix says, “We’re not an everyman pub – some people are going to like it, and some are not.”
“But we’re always going to have a lot of students,” he adds, “so if you want a cheap vodka and coke, it’s £3.50, minus 10 per cent discount for students Monday to Thursday.”
The college friends, both Yorkshiremen from outside Doncaster, started talking about running a pub a year ago on a roadtrip across the US. Dalla-Riva is a chef by background and Rix has worked as a music and club promoter.
The pub’s drastic change is a risk for the duo. When they took over the lease on the premises, it was a profitable business – despite “frozen” food and “overpriced” cocktails. Rix puts this down to its prime location.
But they saw it as an opportunity to make their mark, and Rix says their youth has given them licence “to try and question things: what a pub should be.”
Dalla-Riva and Rix have rid the pub of other familiarities: customers looking for a fillet steak, Smirnoff or “big brand grape varieties” such as Pinot Grigio or Malbec will be disappointed.
Instead they offer lesser-known wines while leaving the prices unchanged from the previous business. The same approach is taken with meat: they promote “unusual and underrated” cuts chosen for flavour.
No trendy London pub would be complete without real ales, and several are on offer, but the pub’s tie-in lease with brewer Scottish and Newcastle explains the presence of the standard lagers on tap like Heineken.
But Rix says there was “no way” they could have afforded the freehold on the pub, which he said was worth £3m.
One week into their first business, and the pair are already thinking about opening “several” other pubs and bars. Why the rush? Rix said: “I’d rather do it while I’m young.”
[…] Blacksmith and The Toffeemaker is a favourite for locals and City students since its opening in 2012 (in previous lives it was the Queen Boadicea – or Queen B, The Bull and the New Red Lion). St […]