New owners take over Northamptonshire village pub with dry-ice cocktails and G&T fish and chips on the menu

Head chef Emma Fowkes and owner Nate Alexander, pictured by Kirsty Edmonds.

New owners of a Northamptonshire pub are bringing a taste of the creative cocktail bar, The Alchemist, to Yardley Hastings.

Dave Bell and Nate Alexander, from Turvey, have taken over The Red Lion, in High Street, and throw open their doors this weekend to the general public.

Nate said: "The pub is in Yardley Hastings and it's a quintessential thatched roof pub and we have gone for a cosy but edgy feel to the place."

The pub, which is owned by the brewery Charles Wells, closed on March 23 when the country went into the first national lockdown and it did not reopen.

Nate, who got the keys to the pub only last week and had one week to prepare for their grand opening, said: "We started looking at the property about four months ago, it was quite a long process to go through to make sure the business offer was the right fit for the area.

"We have had such positive feedback from social media, the public can't wait to get back in here.

“It's such a lovely pub it needed some family-run community spirit behind it and people can't wait to come through the doors to try the menu.

"We are offering something a little different to other businesses and I think there is that demand for it."

The pub is proud to support local businesses in the UK and local to Northampton for their produce and describe their menu as "high-end dining at an affordable price".

The menu includes gin and tonic flavoured fish and chips, a venison burger and beef cheeks, to name a few, with a focus on a "theatrical" cocktail menu, with drinks similar to The Alchemist bar - including dry ice and smoke bubbles.

Nate added: "There is always going to be an element of apprehension opening a pub during these times but I think people are ready to get out now.

"They have been locked up for most of 2020 and there is a light at the end of the tunnel now for vaccinations.

"We want to make The Red Lion an exciting experience from the moment you arrive to the moment you leave.”