A new café and bar has opened on Castlegate, York – and it hopes to become a destination for live music.
The PAB is owned by father-and-son duo from York, Peter and Ben Wilson. It was previously home to the bar and bistro No.3 at Castlegate which went up for sale last year.
It opened today (Friday 1 March).
The PAB – affectionately named after Peter’s three children Phoebe, Annie and Ben – is Peter’s first venture in the hospitality business. His background had been in marketing and property.
“It’s something that I’ve wanted to do for a long time,” Peter told YorkMix. “It’s been a dream of mine for many years.
“It’s harder than I thought. It’s a lot of work – it’s a lifestyle.”
The PAB is a cafe bar that serves lunches and light bites during the day and transitions into a bar at night with regular live music planned.
“It’s a comfortable, cosy and friendly bar,” said Peter.
This isn’t the first time Peter and Ben have worked together – as a couple of years ago they had the opportunity to run Monk Park Farm in Thirsk.
“That was a complete lifestyle change as well,” said Peter. “My daughter Annie worked with us too.”
Peter will be front of house at the PAB, while Ben will mainly be in the kitchen. Ben had previously been a chef at Fancy Hanks on Goodramgate and recently left to help out at the PAB.
“I’ll be helping to develop the menu further and things like that,” Ben said.
For now, the food offering includes toasties and paninis (from £5.90), nachos (from £8.97), and soup (£5.50). On Sundays, the PAB will also offer breakfasts – with delicious bites like a bacon or sausage sandwich (£6.20) and a full English (£8.50).
The bar will include a range of beers, spirits, wines and a few cocktails. They are hoping to stock Brew York ales soon. At the moment it’s all bottles on the bar, but they are looking at getting draught in.
The PAB is aiming to be a haven for local live music.
“We’re both big music fans,” said Peter. “York has got a really good community in terms of the music scene, it’s close knit. I want to support as many York artists and bands as possible here – we hope people will come along and enjoy the music.”
“It gives another space in York where we can host small music events,” added Ben. “It opens the door for more of that.”
The first gig hosted at the PAB will be York singer-songwriter Adam Dawson, who will be playing on launch night, tomorrow from 9pm.
They are hoping to host regular live music – at least weekly – and also start an open mic night. If any York musicians are interested in playing at the PAB please get in touch at [email protected].
“Maybe Shed Seven could come down – I’m sure they probably won’t,” Peter half-joked.
The PAB will be open six days a week, Tuesday to Sunday. It will be open 10:30am to 6pm Tuesday to Thursday, 10:30am to midnight Friday and Saturday, and 12pm to 5pm on Sundays.
At the moment it’s just Peter and Ben working at the PAB – but they’re looking to expand to three or four jobs in the near future. Please email [email protected] if you’re interested.
For more information visit the PAB’s website.
Gallery
