Celebrity chef launches his own beer at The Chequers, Maresfield
Celebrity chef Marco Pierre White has launched his own beer at The Chequers, Maresfield.
Public relations consultant Katie Whirledge tells us about the informal launch here and sheds a little more light on the man.
Katie writes:
I had a phone call at precisely 3.37 pm to say “Do you fancy a pint at the Chequers?”
Now, ordinarily my answer would be “Marco, I’m three hours away and it’s Friday evening traffic” but this was an epoch-turning point: a pint of Marco’s very own beer and the very first one to be served at that.
I was there by just gone seven.
Interesting choice to install the first barrel of The Governor, brewed by family-owned Northern brewery JW Lees, and named after one of his Yorkshireman father’s loyal greyhounds – at his White and Sons Tap Room and Oyster Bar at the Chequers Hotel in Maresfield, East Sussex. But Marco choices are always interesting.
There was an air of contentment around Marco as he quietly sat and savoured his latest creation with local food writer Steve Green.
For those who don’t know, Marco is an ale man through and through – even during his glory days at three star Michelin establishments, ale has always been his drink of choice – and I think there was just a little hint of pride when we agreed in unison he’d created a ‘good un’.
“The motive for launching this is purely romantic,” Marco admitted. “Every bloke wants to own his own pint, I like flavour, that's why I am not a lager drinker."
Marco passionately believes that this beautifully balanced, amber-coloured bitter is the perfect accompaniment to many of the sound British classics, such as shepherd’s pie, game pie and fish and chips, dishes which appear on his Wheeler’s of St James’ menu at the Chequers.
It certainly has a quaffable quality, with pint number two almost down the hatch by 7.40.
"A pint works much better with British food than wine,” he says. “Throughout history British food has traditionally been eaten alongside beer, not wine”.
There is a seemingly honourable thread that runs through Marco's business choices of late.
His vision to create quality yet affordable eating and drinking experiences across the UK under the banner of Wheeler’s of St James’s, together with the desire to own a good honest pint, sits well alongside his book ‘Marco Made Easy’, which is a candid demystification of what it takes to create quality, tasty food.
Also, his take on Bernard Matthews – simply that he was a great man for putting turkey on every working class table - and his recent revelation that he is rather partial to salad cream and ketchup, just makes him a little more accessible to the likes of you, me and the masses.
Suddenly the North/South divide lost relevance – the gentle rub of local banter, the aged solid oak bar with well worn polished pumps, and a delectable platter of steak and kidney pudding, red cabbage and swede set before us, all served to create the perfect stage for The Governor’s first night.
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(Added to site Tuesday, March 15th, 2011)
