NEW OPENING

Searcys and Fat Duck chefs enlisted for new Surrey pub

07-Oct-2015 - Last updated on 08-Oct-2015 at 15:42 GMT

New owner Chris Frederick said the site would be a "cosy pub that sells exceptional food"

Matt Edmonds, head chef at restaurant and bar Searcys, at the top of the Gherkin, London, has taken the job of chef patron at Surrey pub the Grantley Arms, Wonersh, as it re-opens under new management this month.

New owner Chris Frederick, who enlisted Edmonds, said he wanted to make the pub the hub of the village again and that the food offer was critical.

“We’re going to do good British pub food albeit done excellently well – we just want to be a cosy pub that sells exceptional food,” he said.

The site’s 42-cover restaurant will offer two menus, one with traditional pub dishes and a second offering “more towards Pony & Trap fayre”.

Chris Hurter, who worked under Edmonds at Searcy’s and before that at Heston Blumenthal’s three-Michelin star restaurant the Fat Duck, Bray, has also joined the kitchen team at the site.

However, Frederick said the pub’s food offer would not resemble Blumenthal’s iconic eatery.

“It’s a local pub still and you don’t want to marginalise people with your food,” he added. “But this will be a big step up.”