Exclusive
SOUR TASTE
We live by restaurant packed with Love Island & Premier League stars – but it’s such a nuisance we can’t use our gardens
NEIGHBOURS of a restaurant loved by Love Island and Premier League stars have told how the posh customer base is a nuisance.
The Dog and Pickle in Moreton, Essex, has been attracting huge stars like Rod Stewart, Denise van Outen and Olly Murs since opening two years ago.
3
3
Landlord Dave Smith rescued the 500-year-old inn and created the flourishing eaterie with a terraced garden.
Customers have also included a host of soccer legends including West Ham star Jarrod Bowen – and Sir Trevor Brooking, Paul Gascoigne and Teddy Sheringham who took part in a celeb fund-raising charity auction.
And next month top soccer boss Harry Redknapp is hosting a three-course charity supper to raise money for a local hospice.
Other diners spotted in the smart pub have been Mark Wright of TOWIE and Michelle Keegan as well as former Love Island contestant Dani Dyer and Joey Essex’s sister Frankie.
Read More on pubs
The diner may have attracted rave reviews but not everyone in the tiny community is happy.
One neighbour who did not want to be named said: ”It is unbearable at weekends – the music played in the pub garden is very loud and goes on until midnight. You can’t sit outside in your garden because of the racket.”
Another claimed the noise from the restaurant guide Hardens-winning eaterie ruined the tranquillity of the village and affected the peace and quite of the community’s main street lined with a mixture of modern homes and timber-framed properties.
The village is seen a desirable place to live because it is in the middle of the countryside but only half an hour from the middle of London.
Most read in Money
Landlord and dad-of-two young children Dave, 38, puts the pub’s growing success down the hard work and the support of his 30-strong staff.
He said:”We have poured everything we have into the this place and it’s proved popular - we do up to 900 covers a week and have got nearly 40,000 Instagram and Facebook followers.
”We have wines that cost £200 and offer a wagyu steak which costs £85 – but we also offer three-course meals for £30..
“We have done a lot here and like to think we have a good relationship with the village. We grow all our own herbs among other things and we must be doing something right – 90% of our reviews on Google are 4.5 out of five.”
Another supportive villager said: "Dave has done wonders with the pub and has also done as lot for the community – he has even helped solve the village primary school’s parking problems buy allowing mums dropping off children to use his car park.”
The Dog and Pickle is opposite the village’s other pub The White Hart where landlady Carla Ince has nothing but praise for the transformation of the “rival” pub.
She said:”The place was an empty eyesore for a couple of years but it has been saved. There had been a few efforts to make it work but none had been successful until Dave arrived. The pub is a welcome addition to village life and there is no rivalry – what they do is very different from our role as a traditional village local pub.
“I know there have been a couple of issues with noise – and Dave has my sympathy - but if people buy a property close to a pub what do they expect?”
READ MORE SUN STORIES
Parish council Chairman Ewan Crosbie said:”Where there have been issues with noise there has been a dialogue with the landlord and he has has dealt with them. He is in compliance with the terms of his licence.”
A spokesperson for The Dog and Pickle said: "The complaints are historic as we have not received any complaints this year and there have been no issues at all with the council and their EHO."
3
Topics