New faces behind the bar at St Cleer's Stag Inn are Pam Dawson and her 18 year old daughter Kelly, who took over the freehold of the village's well known pub on the moor from previous landlord Alan Eberlein, just a week ago.
Pam brings with her a wealth of experience, having spent the last ten years as the manageress of the Jubilee Inn at Pelynt, and says she has been thinking about owning her own pub for some time. 'It was just a case of waiting until the right one came along' she says. 'I walked in the door and had a good feeling about the place right away. There was a friendly atmosphere and it is also a nice building which is well laid out'.
Of particular attraction to Pam on that first visit was the excellent kitchen, for she hopes to make the restaurant, opening tonight (Friday), March 24, an important feature of the Stag. She has re-vamped the menu to put her own personal stamp on it, and with the Jubilee's former landlady Judith Williams as the chef, who has a good reputation for her fayre, it is hoped the Stag will become a popular eating place.
A sample of the delicacies on the menu are starters such as the chef's own homemade soup of the day and crispy crab cakes in sweet ginger sauce, moving on to seared scallops and roasted plum tomatoes, and lamb noisettes with minted orange sauce appearing on the delicious main course list, and finally a selection of mouth watering sweets. The three course meals are £12.50 and a new addition for the restaurant will be a varied wine list.
Pam will also be providing an extensive bar menu, and customers in the summer will have the added attraction of being able to eat in the beautifully cared for beer garden, with wonderful views across to Caradon and Bodmin Moor. Traditional luncheons will be served each Sunday at £8.50 for three courses. There will be a special menu for Mothering Sunday on April 2, so those who want to spoil mum should start booking now.
The restaurant will only open on Friday and Saturday evenings at present so that Pam can gauge the demand, but probably after Easter it will be open more often. 'In the summer I would like to attract visitors as well as the locals' she says, 'but I can assure everyone that we will be continuing to welcome our regulars as before'.
Pam is re-introducing the euchre and darts teams, and in the winter months she intends to find room for a pool table. She will also be having some live entertainment and will be keeping up the tradition of the annual beer festival at the pub over the last weekend in June, a popular event.
Pam is delighted to have the help of daughter Kelly, formerly the housekeeper at The Jubilee, especially as in time The Stag Inn will be offering Bed and Breakfast, and she says she is excited about their new future and is working very hard. Another daughter, 22 year old Sarah, is a student nurse in the Army, but she visited the family's new home on Saturday, bringing six friends from her squad with her, to enjoy a celebratory party, also well attended by the pub's regulars.