The operators of a popular York pub are to open a second site, this time on one of the city’s most famous streets.
Pivovar and Thornbridge Brewery, who jointly run The Market Cat in Jubbergate beside Newgate Market, are creating a new bar called The Fawkes and Tiger, in the old Cath Kidston shop in Stonegate.
The building is on the site where Guy Fawkes’s parents lived, and where the gunpowder plotter is believed to have been born.
Simon Webster, chief executive of Thornbridge, said: “It has been a long-thought-out plan. It’s about 12 months since we first identified the site, and we hope to open around next Easter.
“Stonegate is such a great street historically. It’s not the kind of street you get anywhere in the country really. It’s such a beautiful site, and having the opportunity to put something new there is really encouraging. It’s a real privilege.”
Pivovar, founded by York beer entrepreneur Jamie Hawksworth, already operates Pivni, York Tap and Pavement Vaults in the city.
The company has worked closely with Thornbridge over the years, including at the Sheffield Tap, and they collaborated to open The Market Cat at the end of 2018.
Challenging time
Mr Webster said that despite the wide challenges facing the hospitality sector, their venues remained popular and successful, so they were confident of opening another site.
He said: “It is a very, very challenging time for the industry, but it’s great that we are able to buck the trend. We are operating very well elsewhere.
“Things like high energy costs are always going to be an issue, but we have a very strong team of people working very hard and we’re fortunate we are finding a lot of people coming through our doors.
“Jamie’s knowledge of York has given us confidence. People still want to come out and will really choose what to do.”
The original plans for the site were first revealed by YorkMix last year, but have since been amended in response to council input during the planning process, including to remove the plan to use a garden at the back.
The bar area will be on the ground floor, with additional seating upstairs, where two rooms are being renovated. The food plans are still being drawn up, and there will be a wide range of beers from Thornbridge and other leading breweries.
A plaque on the building records the Guy Fawkes history, and Mr Webster said the link would be acknowledged.
The Guy Fawkes Inn, in High Petergate, has long had signs claiming it to be the birthplace of Fawkes, but local historians dispute the claim, and detailed historical records instead show that his parents Edward Fawkes and Edith Jackson were living on Stonegate at the time of his birth in 1570.
Their house is long gone, and the current building dates to the early 1800s.
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