Celebrity chef, restaurateur and stock pot magnate Marco Pierre White will be debuting his new Ale House brand in Felixstowe, Suffolk.
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While White achieved international fame when he became the (then) youngest chef to gain three Michelin stars at the age of 33, in recent decades he has been less focused on fine dining and more on the casual end of the spectrum. Leeds-born White has now pinned his name to a number of concepts, ranging from Wheeler’s Fish & Chips to Marco’s New York Italian.
Two venues will be opening in the port town of Felixstowe Black & White Hospitality Management, which White founded with entrepreneur Nick Taplin. Following a deal with owners the Govindasamy family, both will be situated in what is a Best Western-branded hotel at present, but, a press release says, will be converted into a boutique hotel down the line.
In what is definitely a departure from the sort of dishes that won him acclaim at Harveys, though very much in keeping with the style of food White has glorified as of late, Marco Pierre White Ale House promises classic pub grub: fish and chips, pies and steaks – it’s your choice.
“The Great British pub is more than just a place to drink beer,” Taplin explained. “The best become hubs of their community or places where locals go out to eat. The Marco Pierre White Ale House will offer quality food in a more casual atmosphere and we’re delighted to have teamed up with Muralee and to be opening in this fantastic location.”
In addition to the pub, there will also be a steakhouse opening at the hotel, replacing its restaurant, with the investment in the two venues clocking in at more than £750,000.
This is not White’s first foray into the pub sector. He previously had a stake in The Yew Tree Inn in Hampshire, where parts of his Marco’s Great British Feast television series were filmed. In 2013, White, once the enfant terrible of high end restaurants, was called a “dishonest idiot” by a High Court judge after he alleged that he had been cheated out of his slice of profits from the pub – The Yew Tree Inn was sold to group Cirrus Inns in 2021.
This won’t be White’s first pub in Suffolk either. He caused controversy among the locals of Lavenham a decade ago when he re-painted a historic pub pink – the same pub where he refused to serve lager in case it “encouraged the wrong sort of people”.
The news of these new locations in Felixstowe comes shortly after the closure of the vast Mr White’s steak, pizza and gin house in Leicester Square (also run by Black & White Hospitality). When asked by the Evening Standard ahead of its opening in 2021 what the motivation was behind Mr White’s, White said: “Security for my children. It’s as simple as that. You can’t fall in love with everything you do.”
This article originally appeared on the drinks business.
