Tonight (Friday 6 December) in the Beach Tavern, it looks like we are in for a treat…..
Talking to young Restaurant Manager, Matt Bush, this afternoon as he was getting ready for the launch of the new menu was interesting, because you could see that he meant business.
With a hospitality background that includes a role at Blackboys as the assistant restaurant manager, he is clearly in his element.
Throw into the cocktail mix the fact that he knows the Beach Tavern like the back of his hand and people who have booked for the first night can be assured of a home-grown professional welcome.
With a crisp black shirt and the best polished glasses in the Bay, he is ready for action.
So why the Beach Tavern? ‘It’s exciting and I like a challenge’ is his simple answer. There is something about the natural experience and confidence with which he speaks that makes me think that he is about to make his mark.
‘Did I want to meet the new chef?’
In walks the best catch in the Bay, the man who used to work at the new and well regarded Gastro Pub, the Jolly Poacher in Brighton, which is being talked about as the new hub of the Roundhill community in central of Brighton, just off the Level.
How many chefs in the locality worked for Raymond Blanc in one of his 3 Michelin starred, five Rossetted restaurants? I would hazard a guess that there is only one, and his name Will Silve.
So what have we got on the menu tonight? Try the starter of Baked Camembert, a main of Turkey, Ham and Leek Pie or Sirloin Steak and the Apple and Quince Crumble for dessert and you get the picture, we are talking potential class.
Will talked about how he works with staff and his straightforward approach to the task of creating menus. What he communicated was also not just natural confidence and experience, but, like Matt, an ability, clearly, to make his mark.
New owners Tommy and Caroline have now been joined by Matt and Will, and the table is set for four.
Is the Beach Tavern about to become a destination public house, a place that people search out for the company, good food and drink?
Residents appreciate choice with good local public houses. More choice benefits everyone.
Most certainly people coming to the Bay for a day or evening out appreciate choice when it comes to a good range of different kinds of food, particularly in the evenings.
We seem to have another possibility here that could find a natural place amongst what is already on offer.
As the last minute presentations were made ready and the staff, who have been through a week they are unlikely to forget, with all kinds of problems, particularly with plumbing issues, the baptism of fire is behind them.
Are they about to pass the test with flying colours this evening that will see the profile of the Beach Tavern getting a good set of reviews on Trip Adviser?
Stranger things have happened.
There is Tommy and there is Caroline, a couple whose combined spirit is a headlong breath of fresh air and enthusiasm, and now there is the experience of Matt and Will on board with their knowledge of the hospitality industries.
It is an ensemble. With music at the weekends that people know and love, and now a restaurant right through the week, that has potential, we are looking at an interesting new mix.
Time will tell if the combination has got the kind of sustainability in the formula that we need.
I have yet to try the Baked Camembert, but I will be there next week to give it a go.
Sitting outside after talking to all the people concerned I went over my notes.
There was a point at which I had been sipping my orange juice and Matt was on the phone as Will was headed back to the kitchen. I was waiting to have a word with Tommy to get an update on how he saw things.
I noticed a line that I had jotted in the margin and I circled it with a big chunky ball point pen, so I could use it later on.
I have seen the future of the Beach Tavern, and it works.
THE BEACH TAVERN
Gastropub · Fine dining restaurant · Bands & musicians
Sea Road, Pevensey Bay BN24 6SH
01323 460853
Simon Montgomery
editor, Bay Life
