Swan glides off with more awards and opens sister restaurant
THE MULTI-award-winning Swan in Devon has recently secured yet more awards for 2019 and its owners have also officially unveiled plans for a new restaurant they are set to open next month (September 2019).
The gastropub with rooms in Bampton has retained its four AA Gold Stars and two AA Rosettes for Culinary Excellence for the fifth year running following a recent visit by the organisation’s inspector.
Chef-patron Paul Berry, who co-owns The Swan with his wife and fellow award-winning chef Donna, said: “This couldn’t have come at a better time for us and we’re delighted. At the start of next month, we’re opening our new restaurant called Spelt.
“We’ve taken on the old bakery shop in Bampton and created a new concept style restaurant and we’re taking bookings now for tables from September 12, so there’s lots going on! Anyone who would like to book in should get in touch soon, as we expect to be run off our feet once we open, as interest has been so high in the run up to this!
“It’s going to be very different from The Swan in style, but we’ll still be very much focused on the wonderful local produce we use and serving up the tastiest dishes going. We’ll offer a selection of dishes that have been developed for sharing, so no starters as such and no mains either, so if two people are going to eat, possibly they’d have four or five plates of food.
“We’ll be offering visitors from further afield, or those who live nearby but fancy a night over, special packages so they can dine at Spelt and stay with us at The Swan too.
“Spelt represents a wonderful adventure for us and it’s great having something new in the pipeline. Whatever happens though, rest assured, we will not be taking our eyes off the ball at The Swan. We have a deep-rooted passion for the pub, and it is just as important to us today, as it was eight years ago when we took it on.”
The Swan is no stranger to celebrations and has had quite a haul of awards already in the past year. A few months ago, the AA named it as the nation’s ‘Inn of the Year’ at a star-studded awards event in London.
In the spring, it was declared for the third year running as one of the best gastropubs in the country too.
It polled in at number 20 in the ‘Estrella Damm’ Top 50 Gastropub Awards, which are voted for by food writers, executive chefs, celebrity and top hospitality industry chefs, pub guide editors, industry chiefs and food operators.
It also received a special award as the highest climber in the list in 2018, when it was rated 28th.
To add to this last year, The Swan was named Gold Tourism Pub of the Year 2018 at the South West Tourism Excellence Awards and being voted Best Dining Pub for 2018 in the Trencherman Awards.
And at the end of the year, chef-patron Donna Berry was also one of three finalists in both the Devon Life and Trencherman Awards too.
Paul added: “Donna is a wonderful chef and Spelt is her vision. Myself, and the our whole team, are very much with her in this new venture. It’s exciting times for us all!”
The team at Spelt is taking bookings officially for September 12 onwards.
To find out more about The Swan and Spelt, please call The Swan on 01398 332248 or visit www.theswan.co or Spelt on 01398 331044. The Spelt phone line will be open from August 19.
