British Larder owners sell acclaimed Suffolk gastropub
The couple plan to expand their British Larder brand into areas such as retail, food and chef consultancy, publishing and food journalism.
Bonvini-Hamel said: “The choice had to be made between running the pub and developing the other aspects of the business – Ross and I were working 90 hours a week in the gastropub and as a result weren’t able to give the other opportunities the attention they deserved.”
Bonvini-Hamel and Pike took on the Punch lease, previously called the Cherry Tree, in 2010 after the success of their recipe website www.britishlarder.com.
Under their management the British Larder won several awards including Great British Pub Awards Best Food Pub 2012.
The venue went on to become a Budweiser Budvar Top 50 Gastropubs finalist for three consecutive years.
Bonvini-Hamel added: “It was a very difficult decision to let go of our thriving pub and the relationships we have built with our customers and local suppliers – we have a great fan base and have won a raft of awards recently – but it is the other areas of our business that have got us really excited.
But she said the couple was not ruling out a similar venture in the future.
As well as the running the website and gastropub, Bonvini-Hamel and Pike published The British Larder: A Cookbook For All Seasons in 2012 and regularly contribute to industry titles.
The pair featured on BBC One’s A Taste of Britain in late 2014, showcasing a Digley Dell pork tasting platter.
Last September they developed a range of Christmas themed- snacking items which were sold in Selfridges throughout the holiday period, including a sprayed-gold Scotch egg made from goose meat.
Selfridges marked the product as one of its top five Christmas product sellers across all departments.
The British Larder finished trading on Sunday 15 February.
