A York pub opened its doors again today after a major £300,000 refit.
The Pavement Vaults on Piccadilly had been closed for the biggest overhaul since it opened in the old White Swan building in November 2015.
And this is much more than a refresh of the decor – the whole layout of the pub has been rethought.
It’s run by York pub group Pivovar. Director Jamie Hawksworth told YorkMix: “When we first inherited the building it was architecturally difficult to imagine and open up the internal space within the old building.
“Our original layout looked great but turned out difficult to operate due to pinch points which were impossible to trade when the Coronavirus restrictions landed.
“We quickly responded at significant cost by engaging contractors to refit before we were allowed to reopen with social distancing. It was absolutely the right thing to do at the time but thank heavens we’re back to normal again so we needed to refresh for current times.”
They engaged multi-award winning interior design consultancy Collective Design, based in Newcastle, to rethink the bar and restaurant layout.
“It’s fair to say they have done a tremendous job,” Jamie said.
“The whole design is genius. The new bar layout will work so much better for our customers.”
The Pavement Vaults still retains its winning combination of craft beer, cocktails and barbecue and smoked food – but there are some surprises.
“The kitchen has been revamped with advanced equipment which facilitates our new menu,” Jamie said.
“We have rewritten the menu – the favourites are still there and our head chef Al, has created some amazing new additions.”
He said the whole team couldn’t wait to reopen this lunchtime after the finishing touches were added earlier today.
