THE GAZETTE letter's page fairly hummed when the newly-renovated Black Horse at North Nibley opened its doors in August. Few people, it seemed, approved of the fact that the former village pub - and its prices - had "gone up-market" and was now a restaurant with rooms.
After several weeks of letters complaining about the loss of a traditional pub, slow service, the lack of a children's menu and expensive drinks, a tourist from Lancashire wrote to say they were all wrong. The Black Horse, she claimed, was superb.
It was time for Gazette news editor Carole Taylor to visit the new restaurant and discover the truth.
NO point going along to The Black Horse and announcing I was from the Gazette. Forewarned, staff were obviously going to pull out all the stops. So I decided to go incognito.
Having booked in my mother's maiden name, my husband and I set out to see just what the former pub now had to offer.
The first thing to hit us was the thoroughly modern decor. Pale wooden floors, minimalist, yet comfortable furniture, unusual art work and a warm, relaxed atmosphere. The second thing was Victor.
The Black Horse's Portuguese manager, Victor Marques, whirled through the restaurant and bar supervising staff, welcoming guests, producing menus and making sure everyone was being looked after. He appeared to be constantly on the go, but still managed to stop and have a quick chat with every guest. You could tell by the gales of laughter exactly where Victor was in the room.
We had pre-dinner drinks and chose our meals in the pleasant bar - yes, the drinks were a tad pricey but not unreasonably so - before going into the restaurant.
We were offered a free bottle of wine to go with our meal. Victor explained that it was a thank you for dining at The Black Horse.
Settled at a corner table which (luckily) gave a good view of the whole room, we hardly had time to enjoy the olive appetisers and note the fact that there were eight fellow diners (two tables of four) before our starters arrived. No problem with service so far.
The food was faultless. My husband's smoked salmon and prawns and my Thai fishcakes were excellent and set the standard for the meal. Main courses of pork medallions with sauce (him) and tagliatelle with roasted vegetables and garlic bread (me) were beautifully presented and absolutely delicious. Once again the service was prompt, friendly and attentive.
I decided to forego pudding and have coffee instead but my husband could not resist the banoffee tartlet and was not disappointed. "It's the real thing," he said. "The best banoffe I have ever had."
By this time the restaurant was full and the waitresses and Victor were working flat out. There were also a couple of people who had called into the bar for drinks only.
We calculated that a three-course meal at the Black Horse would cost approximately £25 a head. Not expensive given the high-quality food, superb service and the cosy feeling that we were among friends.
With the arrival of coffee I decided to reveal my true colours and discovered that our hard-working waitress was one of the owners Alison Hogben.
Although she was obviously busy - her husband, Easton, was chef that evening - Mrs Hogben had time for a quick chat about their experiences in North Nibley.
When they came to The Black Horse in October 2001 it was in a sorry state, she said. "It was obviously losing money but, as we have several other pubs in Gloucestershire, we decided to see if we could make a go of it. Six months on there was no improvement and it was obvious that we would end up bankrupt if we continued the same course.
"So we decided the only way to succeed was to close it, refurbish it and re-open as an up-market restaurant.
"We closed in April, re-opened in August and the past two months have convinced us that we made the right decision."
Mrs Hogben said that her family and the staff at The Black Horse had been upset by the wave of criticism that greeted their new venture.
"Local people have complained that they have lost their village pub. But they didn't use it when it they had it.
"We can't run a business on the hope that one man and a dog may call in for a pint at 10pm on a Saturday.
"We do accept that we had a few starting problems. We had to train up a completely new staff and initially, there were occasions when service was slow.
She explained that the other establishments she and her husband ran were family oriented, so The Black Horse with its emphasis on adult dining, was a new venture.
"There are a lot of people who prefer to eat in a restaurant where there are no children, however well-behaved the youngsters may be," she said.
"We believe that a village like North Nibley is the right place for a quality restaurant and we are being proved right.
"The Black Horse restaurant and rooms have now taken off and we are delighted with the response."
*The Black Horse, Barrs Lane, North Nibley, can be contacted on 01453 543777. Booking is definitely advisable.
Pictured: The Black Horse owners an d some of their staff GJA811H02
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